Gwangju Nam-gu Creates Parking Lots and Vegetable Gardens on Vacant Lots

Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, will begin full-scale work to demolish vacant houses scattered throughout the district and create vegetable gardens and parking lots.

Nam-gu announced on the 12th that it plans to demolish 31 vacant houses in the district this year by investing 665 million KRW to renovate the vacant houses.

Vegetable gardens and parking lots for residents' convenience will be created on the sites of the demolished vacant houses.

Nam-gu plans to carry out large-scale renovation of vacant houses in the district twice this year, starting in June with the renovation of 11 vacant houses in Seodong, Gudong, Wolsan-dong, and Yangnim-dong, which are legal neighborhoods in the old downtown area.

These houses have been neglected and unmanaged for a long time, and Nam-gu intends to process waste from the demolition by September and then create vegetable gardens and parking lots on the sites.

Prior to this, a demand survey for the demolition of vacant houses in this area was conducted starting in March last year, and by April, asbestos surveys and design services for demolition and waste disposal had been completed.

From October, demolition work will proceed on vacant house sites located in other areas such as Baegun-dong and Juwol-dong in the old downtown area.

The renovation targets are about 20 vacant houses that received a grade of 3 to 4 due to poor aging conditions, surrounding landscape, and hygiene based on a field survey.

Design services will be conducted to safely handle asbestos and waste generated during the demolition process, and once the results are out, renovation work will begin immediately, according to Nam-gu.

A Nam-gu official said, “Vacant houses left unattended pose a high risk of safety accidents such as fire and collapse, and there is a high possibility of being misused as crime scenes. We will create spaces necessary for residents' daily lives, such as parking lots, vegetable gardens, and parks, on the vacant house sites so that they can be used effectively.”