[Report] "Many Residents Supported It, But It Didn't Happen?" The Sighs of Yangjae 2-dong Left Out of Redevelopment

Despite 71.2% Resident Consent Rate... Excluded from Urban Complex Project
Seoul City "Site Selection is Government Authority" vs Ministry of Land "Difficult to Ignore Local Government Opinions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] On the afternoon of the 27th, I visited a residential area in Yangjae 2-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The narrow alley between old villas made of red bricks was barely wide enough for one car to pass through. In every corner of the alley, semi-basement windows with iron bars caught my eye. Above the alley, old electric wires were tangled complicatedly with aged pine trees, looking dangerous at a glance.

On the afternoon of the 27th, in the alleys of the residential area of Yangjae 2-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, one could see old villas intertwined with aging electric wires.
[Photo by Kwak Minjae]

Choi Hyo-sook (49), a resident of Yangjae 2-dong, said, "Last year, there was an accident where a couple with a four-year-old child electrocuted while trying to retrieve an object hanging from the electric wires here, and in August this year, the semi-basement flooding damage due to heavy rain was severe." She added, "In Yangjae 2-dong 1 District, 48.7% of residential buildings are semi-basement buildings." Another resident, Kim Ki-hyun (73), lamented, "Most of the old houses in Yangjae 2-dong 1 District have an extreme shortage of parking spaces, so after work hours, neighbors often argue loudly over illegal parking issues. Prompt redevelopment is necessary."

On the 27th, I visited the office of the 'Yangjae 2-dong District 1 Redevelopment Promotion Committee' in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Kwak Minjae

Yangjae 2-dong, urgently needing redevelopment due to aging, ultimately was not selected as the 9th candidate site for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Urban Public Housing Complex Project. Yangjae 2-dong 1 District initially recorded a resident consent rate of 71.20%, meeting the project requirements and was considered a strong candidate for the urban complex project, but it is known that the project was halted during consultations between the Ministry and local governments. In fact, the redevelopment promotion committee office of Yangjae 2-dong 1 District, which I visited directly, was filled with silence. More than ten residents wore disappointed expressions and sighed repeatedly.

Kim Jeong-seon, a promotion committee member of the Urban Complex Project in Yangjae 2-dong 1 District, said, "Despite achieving the highest resident consent rate of 71.20% after about a year of sending mail and visiting residents to persuade them, we were not selected as a candidate site. In contrast, 21 places including Eunpyeong-gu and Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul were withdrawn from candidacy due to low resident consent rates. It is hard to understand the authorities' decision that candidate sites cannot be selected solely based on resident consent rates at this point."

Since it is realistically difficult to promote private redevelopment in Yangjae 2-dong, residents' frustration is even greater. Although there are many old villas in Yangjae 2-dong, new villas are being built, so the aging level is not considered severe. Kim, the promotion committee member, said, "In 1 District, assuming no more new villas will be built, even waiting another 10 years, private redevelopment remains uncertain, so this result is even more painful."

The promotion committee, desperate to be selected for the urban complex project, reportedly had a separate meeting with Seoul City officials on December 20 before the project announcement. They were concerned that Yangjae 2-dong might not be selected as a candidate site due to Seoul City's 'Yangjae AI Innovation District Activation Plan.' Kim said, "During the meeting, we were told that the AI special zone was unrelated to the urban complex project, but eventually, we received an answer from the Ministry of Land that the reason for not being selected was the AI special zone," expressing anger. Last December, Seoul City announced the 'Yangjae AI Innovation District Activation Plan' to develop the Yangjae and Umyeon-dong areas in Seocho-dong as an AI industry innovation hub. The Yangjae 2-dong area was selected as a target site for the ICT Special Development Promotion District.

However, despite this situation, Seoul City and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are shifting responsibility to each other, further angering residents. Seoul City holds the authority to approve projects, while the Ministry holds the authority to select candidate sites.

Response from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the complaint raised by the Yangjae 2-dong District 1 Urban Complex Project Promotion Committee.
[Photo by Kwak Minjae]

A Seoul City official explained, "We reviewed the urban planning conditions, including the district unit plan that prohibits apartments on land developed for single-family housing in Yangjae 2-dong and the selection as an ICT Special Development Promotion District, and only conveyed this to the Ministry of Land. We never specifically stated that it should not be selected as an urban complex project." He added, "The authority to select urban complex project candidate sites lies with the Ministry of Land."

In response, a Ministry of Land official said, "We received opinions from Seoul City that they preferred low-rise, low-density single-family housing management instead of the high-rise, high-density urban complex project model, and that the area was selected as an ICT Special Development Promotion District. We interpreted this as Yangjae 2-dong being inappropriate for selection as an urban complex project. We were well aware of the high resident consent rate and wanted to select Yangjae 2-dong as a candidate site, but we could not ignore Seoul City's opinion from an urban management planning perspective," he rebutted.