Seoul City Confirms Rapid Integrated Planning for Redevelopment in Suyudong and Cheongnyangnidong Areas

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 10th that the redevelopment of the areas around Suyu-dong and Cheongnyangni-dong in Gangbuk-gu has been confirmed as a rapid integrated planning project.

According to Seoul City, a residential complex with 230 households and a height of 20 floors will be constructed in the area around 170-1 Suyu-dong. Currently designated as a Type 2, 7-floor zone, this area will be upgraded to a Type 2 general residential zone with an increased floor area ratio (FAR) from the standard 170% to 190%, and the height limit will be applied accordingly. Considering the ongoing street housing maintenance projects in the nearby areas, a skyline of up to approximately 20 floors will be formed.

This area is home to active commercial districts such as Gangbuk General Market and Suyu Food Alley, as well as natural resources like the Uicheon Stream. By connecting the existing commercial district within the target site to the market commercial district, the flow will be continued, and streets that were previously dead ends and vulnerable in terms of safety will be redeveloped into open living streets to facilitate easier access to Uicheon Stream.

To compensate for the lack of green spaces in the aging low-rise residential area, a pilotis structure will be actively utilized. Most of the first floor will be composed of open green spaces with pilotis, and various living convenience facilities will be placed where existing alleys and pocket parks meet, creating a park-like complex for rest and leisure.

Through a 'ㄷ'-shaped architectural layout mixing tower-type and slab-type residential buildings, residents' living spaces (children's playground, kids drop zone, senior citizens' center, etc.) and living street fronts open to the public (shops, public library) will be spatially separated to create specialized zones for each area.

A residential complex with 930 households and a height of 35 floors will be constructed in the area around 19 Cheongnyangni-dong. Although most of the target site is currently designated as a Type 2, 7-floor zone, considering that the Cheongnyangni area is being developed as a metropolitan center with high-rise buildings and is adjacent to general commercial zones and main roads, the zoning has been upgraded to a Type 3 residential zone.

The Dongdaemun Senior Welfare Center and the Municipal Youth Center located on the northern side of the site provide free meals and youth experience activities to hundreds of elderly people daily. This plan includes improvements to the environment of local social welfare facilities as a public contribution resulting from the zoning upgrade.

An access road will be constructed for users of the senior welfare center (including shuttle buses), and parking spaces will be secured within the facility. Additionally, a barrier-free public pedestrian path will be planned to allow anyone to easily access the bus stop along Jegiro Street from the welfare facilities.

Since a height difference of more than 10 meters within the complex is inevitable during the construction of the apartment complex, the terrain's elevation difference will be actively utilized to create community facilities such as sports facilities and terraced outdoor resting spaces, and flower beds and eco-friendly retaining walls will be installed in areas where retaining walls occur.

With the confirmation of the rapid integrated planning projects for the areas of Suyu-dong and Cheongnyangni-dong, the city expects the maintenance plan decisions to be completed within the year. Due to the simplification of procedures in rapid integrated planning, the review by the Urban Planning Committee's delegated subcommittee and the integration of related reviews during the project implementation plan stage are expected to significantly shorten the project period.

Jo Nam-jun, Director of the Seoul City Urban Planning Bureau, said, "The redevelopment projects, which have been a long-standing wish of the residents, have been able to get on track with the support of rapid integrated planning," and added, "We will do our best to ensure that all 21 rapid integrated planning projects for redevelopment candidate sites in 2021 are completed smoothly within the first half of this year."