About 60,000 households' resident proposals poured in for the call for applications for the Urban Public Housing Complex Project (hereinafter the urban complex project), which builds new apartments in aging areas within the city such as around subway stations or old low-rise residential neighborhoods.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 17th that it closed the call for candidate sites for the urban complex project in Seoul on the 8th, and tallied proposals for 44 locations from 16 autonomous districts, including the three Gangnam districts (Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa).
The urban complex project targets aging urban areas where private redevelopment and reconstruction have stalled due to weak profitability or resident conflict. In exchange for the public sector boosting profitability, it skips cumbersome administrative procedures such as forming an association or drafting a management and disposal plan to speed up the supply of dwellings.
This call for candidate sites proceeded in a format in which residents directly proposed locations. When the relevant autonomous district submits candidate sites to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) after review, a selection committee jointly formed by MOLIT, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and others will closely examine them and announce the results in July.
If the intention-to-participate rate exceeds 30%, the site receives a perfect score in the bonus points during candidate site evaluation, and MOLIT said that 27 of the 44 sites that submitted proposals—about 61%—met that threshold.
Breaking down the 44 sites (total area 2,816,000㎡) that received proposals by type: ▲ station areas (high-density residential-commercial districts) 16 sites (674,000㎡) ▲ low-rise residential areas (dwelling supply activation districts) 25 sites (1,983,000㎡) ▲ quasi-industrial areas (residential-industry convergence districts) 3 sites (159,000㎡).
Among these, the station area and low-rise residential types are eligible, for three years until April 2029, for a regulatory exception that expands floor area ratio in Type 3 general residential and semi-residential zones to up to 1.4 times the legal cap.
Of the 49 existing urban complex project sites (totaling 87,000 households) managed by the government, 29 sites (48,000 households) have already been designated as districts, and among them, 9 sites (13,000 households) have passed the stage of project approval by local governments.
The government expects that the complex district near Incheon Jemulpo Station (3,500 households) will break ground within this year. It will be the first groundbreaking achievement five years after designation as a candidate site. Starting with this, full-scale construction in Seoul is also expected to begin one after another from next year.
Lee Jae-pyeong, director-general for dwelling supply policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Residents' high interest and participation in this call show on-the-ground expectations for the urban complex project," adding, "Based on the improved system, we will actively support the project so that it proceeds quickly and smoothly even after candidate sites are selected."