As Dongtan phase 1 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, once considered a "quasi-new-town," enters its 20th year of occupancy, managing aging multifamily housing has emerged as a new task. With the first apartments, which began move-ins in 2007, successively surpassing the threshold for expansion-style remodeling, Hwaseong said it will analyze remodeling demand and the impact on infrastructure for 374 multifamily housing complexes, including those in the Dongtan area.
According to Hwaseong on the 2nd, the city is pushing a service to establish a "basic plan for multifamily housing remodeling," with 2035 as the target year. The core is to identify the aging and project demand of multifamily housing by area and to prepare management measures by zone and phase so that multiple complexes do not undertake projects all at once. The city plans to publish the basic plan at the end of 2027.
The plan covers 374 multifamily housing complexes in Hwaseong that will be 15 years past completion inspection by 2035. Multifamily housing with fewer than 30 households was excluded. Of these, 160 complexes are in Dongtan District, accounting for about 43% of the total. Although not all Dongtan District complexes are in Dongtan phase 1 new town, the Dongtan phase 1 area, which was the first in Hwaseong to enter the aging segment, is expected to be a key review area.
Hwaseong plans to survey each complex's completion time and size, existing floor area ratio, and the status of parking lots and community facilities to forecast remodeling demand. It will also analyze how household-increase remodeling, which raises the number of units, affects infrastructure such as roads, schools, and water and sewer systems.
The city will also manage implementation timing by zone so that remodeling projects do not concentrate in a specific period. It plans to comprehensively review urban landscape, access to sunlight, traffic volume, and school capacity, and to prepare support measures suited to each complex's conditions.
Dongtan phase 1 new town was the first among the second-phase new towns in the greater Seoul area to begin move-ins. After pilot complexes such as Hanbit Village and Daeun Village began occupancy in early 2007, apartments in Yedang Village, Solbit Village, Naru Village, and the Neung-dong and Pureun Village areas were built in sequence. The initial complexes mark their 20th year of occupancy this year.
A considerable number of Dongtan phase 1 apartments were completed between 2007 and 2011. Multifamily housing can pursue expansion-style remodeling 15 years after completion inspection, so many complexes have already met the legal threshold. By 2035, complexes that began occupancy in 2007 will be 28 years past completion, and those that began in 2011 will be more than 24 years.
Remodeling can be considered as a way to improve the residential environment in Dongtan phase 1 because there is still time before the redevelopment eligibility period. Another variable is that many complexes were assigned relatively high floor area ratios at the time of development. When the floor area ratio is high, the number of units and general pre-sale supply that can be added through redevelopment decreases, which can make securing profitability difficult. However, because floor area ratio, land share, building layout, and construction costs differ by complex, a separate analysis is needed to determine whether remodeling or redevelopment is more advantageous.
Not only in Dongtan phase 1 but also in existing urban areas such as Byeongjeom, Jin-an, and Banwol, many apartments were completed from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. In Bongdam and Hyangnam, the number of complexes surpassing the threshold for expansion-style remodeling is expected to increase by 2035. Even in Dongtan phase 2 new town, where there are relatively many new apartments, some of the initial move-in complexes are included in the plan's scope.
A Hwaseong official said, "With more than 40% of the target complexes located in Dongtan District, it will become a key review area," adding, "This is not a plan premised on promoting remodeling for a specific complex; it aims to analyze the status and demand of aging multifamily housing across Hwaseong and establish management standards."