The government is reviewing ways to speed up the supply of 27,000 dwellings in quasi-industrial zones in Seoul.
According to the government and others on the 9th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is looking into this as one of the dwelling supply measures to be announced this month.
A quasi-industrial zone is a designated land-use area that allows the coexistence of residential, commercial, and other functions while maintaining industrial functions. Representative quasi-industrial zones in Seoul include Mullae-dong and Yangpyeong-dong in Yeongdeungpo District; the Guro and Geumcheon areas; and Seongsu-dong in Seongdong District. Covering 19.97㎢ (about 6.04 million pyeong), they account for 3.3% of Seoul's area. Yeongdeungpo District is the largest at 5.02㎢, followed by Guro District (4.19㎢), Geumcheon District (4.13㎢), Gangseo District (2.92㎢), and Yangcheon District (0.09㎢).
Earlier, the Seoul city government raised the maximum floor area ratio for quasi-industrial zones in 2024 from 250% or lower to up to 400% and is pushing to supply about 27,000 dwellings.
Seoul also asked the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to ease the requirement for securing industrial facilities in industrial innovation zones to induce additional private development. Under MOLIT's current Guidelines on Planning, Maintenance, and Operation for the Management and Revitalization of Urban Industrial Areas, mixed-use facility sites are defined as facility sites combining two or more uses, including industrial facilities, and require the gross floor area of industrial facilities to be secured at 50% or more of the total. Seoul requested that this ratio be lowered to around 30%.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) official said, "If the government's direction to expand the supply of dwellings is set, we can review it considering the overall situation," and, regarding the plan to lower the industrial facility ratio to 30%, noted, "An internal review is necessary."
In addition, the government is reviewing a plan to supply 20,000-plus-alpha dwellings in downtown Seoul, including the three Gangnam districts (Seocho, Gangnam, and Songpa), through new candidate sites for the urban public dwelling complex project (hereinafter urban complex project), along with quasi-industrial zones.
The urban complex project is a project to swiftly supply dwellings in aging downtown areas—such as station influence areas where private redevelopment is difficult, quasi-industrial zones, and low-rise residential areas—by having the public sector lead the project and omitting procedures such as forming associations and management and disposal plans.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) received proposals from 44 sites in 16 autonomous districts in Seoul, including the three Gangnam districts, in the resident proposal contest that closed in May. If all proposed candidate sites were reflected, the supply volume was expected to be about 60,000 dwellings, but as unsuitable candidate sites were excluded during the review process, the final supply volume is understood to be likely at the 20,000-plus-alpha level. The government is finalizing the target districts and supply volume.