Public Redevelopment Accelerates... Opposition Voices Grow Louder from the Emergency Committee

24 Districts Promoted Only in Seoul, 8 Recently Added
Achievements Visible in Securing Resident Consent and Selecting Contractors
Opposition Grows... Protest Rally by Emergency Committee at Seoul City Hall

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The public redevelopment project, which began two years ago, is gaining momentum. Some cases have come forward where the maintenance plan formulation is nearing or a construction company has been selected. However, as the project becomes more tangible, residents opposing the project are raising their voices, causing ongoing friction. There are criticisms that the initial resident consent rate design, set to increase the project target areas and accelerate the promotion speed, is becoming a stumbling block.

According to Seoul City on the 31st, currently, 32 districts in Seoul have been selected as candidates for public redevelopment and are progressing with the project. Eight districts were added on the 26th to the existing 24 candidates. Public redevelopment is a project method created to improve residential conditions in areas that are aging and require redevelopment but have poor project feasibility and thus cannot proceed quickly. It was initiated during the Moon Jae-in administration but has been continued under the current government.

As the number of candidate sites increases and two years have passed since implementation, more project sites are becoming tangible. According to Seoul City's comprehensive maintenance project information, as of the end of July, 21 out of 24 project sites have started formulating maintenance plans. Dongdaemun-gu Sinseol 1 district and Jeonnong 9 district completed pre-planning and began the formal maintenance plan formulation process earlier this month with the proposal for maintenance plan formulation. They aim to pass the plan within the year through procedures such as consultations with related organizations and public viewing by residents. Dongdaemun-gu Yongdu 1-6 district, which completed pre-planning review, selected a consortium of Hyundai Engineering and HDC Hyundai Development Company as the construction company for the public redevelopment project on the 27th. This is the first case of construction company selection among Seoul's public redevelopment candidates.

Geoyeo Saemaeul in Songpa-gu is also accelerating the formulation of the maintenance plan by holding a resident briefing session on the pre-planning proposal on the 17th. At this session, the pre-planning proposal was discussed to be changed from the previous floor area ratio of 231% and maximum height of 25 floors to a floor area ratio of 273.63% and a maximum height of 35 floors, reflecting residents' opinions. The resident briefing session is a preliminary step to prepare the final pre-planning proposal, after which the maintenance plan formulation procedure will begin.

However, noise over support and opposition to public redevelopment continues in these candidate sites. While it is common for opposing residents to form emergency committees in private redevelopment project sites, these groups appear to be increasing their collective voice through collective action.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The emergency committee opposing public redevelopment, centered in Seoul, held a large-scale rally in front of Seoul City Hall the day before, urging a fundamental re-examination of the project. The committee includes the emergency committees of Heukseok 2 district, the first public redevelopment project site, as well as the aforementioned Geoyeo Saemaeul, Singil 1 district, and Yongdu 1-6 district.

The committee stated, "The districts opposing public redevelopment have clearly expressed their opposition through interview requests and submission of petitions, but the project is being pushed forward without reasonable procedures such as public hearings or persuading residents. The division among residents has escalated conflicts to the extreme," adding, "We will use all procedures, including rallies, unconstitutional law trials, and constitutional complaints, until public redevelopment is canceled." In fact, the Heukseok 2 district emergency committee filed a cancellation lawsuit against Dongjak-gu Office last December regarding the approval of the residents' representative meeting and the designation of Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) as the project implementer, but it was dismissed. Gangbuk 5 district is currently undergoing a lawsuit to cancel the designation of the project implementer.

In the maintenance industry, there are criticisms that the resident consent rate design, created to encourage applications for public redevelopment and accelerate project speed, has rather made project promotion difficult. Initially, public redevelopment could be applied for with a low resident consent rate of 10%, and the required resident consent rate for promotion was designed to be 66.7%, lower than private redevelopment (landowners 75%). In cases where there is an association, designation of public project implementers such as LH or SH was possible with only 50% consent from the association. After controversy, the application consent rate was expanded to 30%, and additional consent acquisition is being encouraged, but opposition voices still rely on this in existing project sites.

Especially in cases like Heukseok 2 district and Gangbuk 5 district, where commercial buildings are densely located and are existing redevelopment promotion zones, there is strong opposition to the exclusion of area requirements. Many commercial building owners oppose because they cannot earn rental income during the redevelopment period. However, redevelopment promotion zones apply the Special Act on Urban Redevelopment Promotion (Dochokbeop), allowing the selection of project implementers if only 50% resident consent is achieved. In effect, the area requirement is omitted. According to the emergency committee, in Heukseok 2 district, the resident consent rate exceeded 60%, but in terms of land area, the supporting residents own only about 4,290㎡ (approximately 13%) out of 31,107㎡.

As the project gains speed, opposition voices are also growing louder, and the growing pains are expected to continue for some time. An industry official said, "Friction at various sites could slow down the project even more."