102 Sites Participate in Seoul City's 'Rapid Integrated Planning Redevelopment' Contest

Only 11 Applications from Yongsan, Seongbuk, and Eunpyeong... None from Seocho
About 25 Candidate Sites to Be Selected Within the Year... Speeding Up Zone Designation Within 2 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] A total of 102 sites participated in the 'Rapid Integrated Planning' private redevelopment contest, a key policy of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to expand housing supply.

Seoul City announced on the 31st that, after closing the contest at 5 p.m. on the 29th, a total of 102 sites from 24 autonomous districts, excluding Seocho-gu, participated. This greatly exceeds last year's 70 sites that applied for public redevelopment. A Seoul city official said, "This is a turnout beyond the figures we had identified," adding, "It reflects the strong desire of citizens for development."

By district, Yongsan, Seongbuk, and Eunpyeong-gu each submitted 11 applications, showing the highest participation rates. This was followed by ▲Mapo 7 sites ▲Jongno 6 sites ▲Seongdong, Gangbuk, Yeongdeungpo 5 sites each ▲Dongdaemun, Jungnang, Guro, Gangnam 4 sites each ▲Dobong, Yangcheon, Dongjak, Gwanak, Gangdong 3 sites each ▲Gwangjin, Seodaemun, Songpa 2 sites each ▲Jung-gu, Nowon, Gangseo, Geumcheon 1 site each.

Redevelopment through Rapid Integrated Planning is a form where the project entity is managed by a union, and Seoul City provides support. While Seoul City participates from the early stages of the project to secure public interest, the designation period for maintenance zones is shortened from 5 years to 2 years. To this end, six major regulations, including the abolition of the Residential Maintenance Index system, have been lifted.

For the final selection of candidate sites, autonomous districts recommend up to four sites to the city, and Seoul City selects around 25 sites through a selection committee.

First, autonomous districts plan to recommend areas deemed suitable for the private redevelopment contest by the end of next month, judging whether the maintenance zone designation requirements are met, reviewing consent rates, and checking for exclusion criteria. For urban regeneration areas, regions requiring urban management and preservation according to city policies, and cultural heritage protection zones, consultations with the project management departments must be completed within the autonomous district's preliminary review period.

Subsequently, the city will form a selection committee consisting of external experts in urban planning, architecture, law, and city council members to finalize candidate sites within the year. The selection committee will maintain a composition similar to that during public redevelopment but will add experts related to regeneration areas. They will comprehensively consider strategic evaluation scores reflecting physical conditions such as aging, the status of low-rise residential areas by district, housing supply plans, apartment development plans, district balance, and housing price trends.

For areas selected as candidate sites, immediate anti-speculation measures will be implemented to block the influx of speculative forces. These measures include restrictions on construction permits limiting new construction activities, designation of land transaction permission zones allowing transactions only by actual owners, and public announcements of the rights calculation reference date to prevent share splitting.

The city has reflected a budget in next year's budget plan to support half of the costs for establishing maintenance plans for the selected candidate sites, preparing so that autonomous districts can immediately start maintenance plan establishment services.

Kim Seong-bo, Director of Seoul City's Housing Policy Office, said, "More districts applied for this contest than expected. This shows the strong will of citizens for housing supply and residential environment improvement," adding, "We will select candidate sites through fair screening with a sense of mission to meet citizens' expectations, and make every administrative and financial effort to complete zone designation within 2023 by applying Rapid Integrated Planning."