Redevelopment Confirmed for Yeongdeungpo Station Area with Remaining 'Jipchangchon'

Mullae 1~3-ga Maintenance Plan Revised... Subdivided into 5 Areas to Reflect Regional Characteristics

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim On-yu] The area around Yeongdeungpo Station in Seoul, where red-light districts and old factories coexist, will be redeveloped.

On the 7th, Seoul City held an urban planning committee meeting and announced on the 8th that it had amended and approved the urban maintenance-type redevelopment maintenance district and maintenance plan decision for the Yeongdeungpo-dong 4-ga area in Yeongdeungpo-gu.

The target site covers an area of 23,094㎡ at 431-6 Yeongdeungpo-dong 4-ga, classified as a general commercial area and semi-industrial area. Despite its proximity to Yeongdeungpo Station, red-light districts and old factories were mixed. Among the total 112 buildings, 44.7% were related to prostitution facilities, and factories and warehouses accounted for 20.5%. As a result, it failed to harmonize with the nearby Times Square and Yeongdeungpo station commercial district.

However, Yeongdeungpo is one of Seoul's three downtown areas (Hanyangdoseong, Gangnam, Yeongdeungpo), and redevelopment was decided to enhance its central function and rational land use.

Except for the building-type entrance of the Sinansan Line, it was planned as a single project implementation district. The height was set at 150m for high-density development focused on commercial and business use in Yeongdeungpo, and residential use was also allowed to realize proximity between residence and workplace and to prevent downtown hollowing.

This maintenance plan will serve as a public maintenance plan guideline when establishing future project plans, and specific project plans including development use and public facility burden plans will be finalized through resident proposals.

A Seoul city official said, "The red-light district, which was practically the last remaining in Seoul, will be maintained, and Yeongdeungpo is expected to gain momentum to leap forward as the center of Seoul's downtown and southwestern area."

On the same day, the urban maintenance-type redevelopment maintenance district and maintenance plan changes and landscape review for the area of Mullae-dong 1-3 ga in Yeongdeungpo-gu were also amended and approved by the urban planning committee.

In 2013, maintenance plans for two large-scale maintenance districts of about 180,000㎡ were decided, but the projects had not been promoted for a long time, so a reorganization of the maintenance plan reflecting changes in local conditions was required.

Accordingly, Seoul City decided to subdivide the maintenance district into five areas considering various local characteristics, plan feasibility, and residents' opinions. The area along Gyeongin-ro was planned as a general maintenance type developed in medium and small block units, and the Mullae ironworks and creative village area was planned with a small-scale management method inducing joint development at the lot level. In addition, a plan to secure rental industrial spaces for existing machinery metal and cultural industry workers was also prepared.

A Seoul city official said, "With this decision, the development project of the semi-industrial area centered on Gyeongin-ro will gain momentum, and as the working environment of existing industries gradually improves, the deteriorated downtown industrial space is expected to be reorganized to match the status of Yeongdeungpo downtown."