Seoul city opposed a plan to transfer the authority to designate redevelopment and reconstruction districts with 500 households or fewer to district offices, calling it an "ineffective measure that shows little understanding of on-the-ground conditions of Seoul's urban renewal projects." The city argued the devolution is more likely to fuel haphazard development and resident conflict due to differing standards by district than to expand the supply of dwellings or shorten project timelines.
On the 24th, Seoul city said in a statement, "Given the scale of urban renewal projects underway in Seoul and the actual permitting procedures, transferring authority for projects with 500 households or fewer to district offices will not dramatically increase the supply of dwellings or shorten project periods." The comment responded to the Democratic Party of Korea's announcement a day earlier of plans to improve the system by granting basic local government heads authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects with 500 households or fewer.
Seoul city emphasized that, because Seoul functions as a single metropolitan living area, the designation process for renewal districts must review not only floor area ratio and height but also urban infrastructure such as water and sewer, roads, and parks. If districts designate renewal zones on their own, consistency with Seoul's higher-level plans will suffer, and differences in public contribution ratios or use standards could trigger fairness disputes and issues of favoritism and speculation.
It particularly noted that, for renewal districts abutting district boundaries, differing standards by district office could intensify resident conflicts. It also raised the possibility that sites could be artificially split or certain areas excluded to meet the 500-household threshold.
Seoul city also refuted claims that administrative bottlenecks at city hall are causing delays in renewal projects. Of nine major permitting authorities in current renewal projects, seven—such as association establishment, project implementation, and management and disposal—are handled by districts, while the city is responsible for two procedures: reviews for district designation and integrated reviews for project implementation.
According to the city, these two reviews take about four months. Based on the city's estimate of 12 years for the overall duration of a renewal project, the portion attributable to the city's processing time is about 2.7%.
Of 193 renewal projects with 500 households or fewer currently underway in Seoul, 31 are at the district designation stage, accounting for 16% of the total. The city said, "The vast majority of sites are already in the district permitting process," adding, "The claim that small-scale renewal projects are facing bottlenecks because of the city's district designation authority is also not true."
Instead, the city pointed to government regulations—such as restrictions on relocation loan financing and limits on transfers of association member status—as factors slowing projects in the field. It also emphasized that, by operating measures including project acceleration meetings jointly with districts, the overall duration of renewal projects has been shortened from 18.5 years to 12 years.
It also cited cases of delays at the district permitting stage as a problem. The city said, "Even after meeting legal requirements, some districts have put off approving designation of project implementers for two months, or formed public-private task forces (TFs) for 'conflict prevention' at sites that already passed the integrated review."
It added, "Residents have already experienced multiple instances where district permitting was delayed due to opposition complaints," and said, "There is concern in the field that transferring authority to districts could actually slow the designation of renewal districts because of opposition complaints."
The city said, "Providing proper dwellings quickly and stably cannot be solved merely by dividing authority," and added, "The government and the ruling party should completely reexamine policies that lack effectiveness and only heighten confusion on the ground, and move to provide stronger, more substantive support so that renewal projects already underway can proceed with speed."