"City Regeneration Reduction" Halted for Oh Se-hoon? City Council Orders Research Project

Photo / On the morning of the 22nd, at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, the online inauguration ceremony of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was held, during which Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Kim In-ho, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, shook hands. April 22, 2021 / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] The Seoul Metropolitan Council has commissioned a research project aimed at revitalizing urban regeneration projects. Coincidentally, this overlaps with the period when Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon proposed an organizational restructuring plan that effectively reduces or abolishes urban regeneration policies. This highlights the contrasting perceptions of urban regeneration between Mayor Oh and the council, drawing attention to whether it will influence the approval of the restructuring plan.

According to the Public Procurement Service on the 12th, the council announced a research project titled "Study on the Introduction of Package Lab for the Revitalization of Seoul's Urban Regeneration Projects" on the 10th. This was a reannouncement six days after the initial bid on the 4th failed due to no bidders.

The research clearly emphasizes revitalization through a paradigm shift in urban regeneration policies. The proposal document includes research objectives such as "the need for new policies to promote urban regeneration" and "establishing standard indicators for urban regeneration revitalization." The aim is to prepare measures to enact or amend ordinances related to urban regeneration through this study.

This is interpreted as a stance completely opposite to that of Mayor Oh, who is pushing an organizational restructuring plan that effectively dismantles the Urban Regeneration Office (Grade 1). Through the restructuring, Mayor Oh intends to maintain only the residential regeneration function of urban regeneration while focusing on strengthening redevelopment and reconstruction projects.

However, a council official cautioned against overinterpretation, stating, "The commissioning was carried out according to the research plan set at the beginning of the year before the new mayor took office."

Ultimately, the fate of urban regeneration policies seems to hinge on whether the council agrees to Mayor Oh’s restructuring plan. It is reported that on the same day, Chairman Kim In-ho of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, along with other chairpersons and standing committee heads, held a meeting to discuss whether to convene a special session to handle the approval of Mayor Oh’s restructuring plan.