Incheon City Selects 33 Redevelopment Candidate Sites in Old Downtown Including Usin District... Scale of 50,000 Households

Considering Urgency of Residential Environment Improvement... 9 Sites in Namdong-gu, 8 Sites in Bupyeong-gu
Implementation of Redevelopment and Reconstruction Revitalization Plans

Incheon City announced on the 13th that it has selected 33 redevelopment project candidate sites to improve the residential environment in the old downtown area and expand the supply of new housing. Once redevelopment projects in these areas are completed, approximately 50,000 housing units can be supplied.

In September, the city reviewed 42 districts that applied for the '2023 2nd Redevelopment Project Candidate Site Contest' and selected 33 sites considering the urgency of residential environment improvement, feasibility of project implementation, and impact on the surrounding environment. The selected candidate sites include 9 locations such as Usin District in Namdong-gu, 8 locations such as Sintree Park South District in Bupyeong-gu, 6 locations such as Dohwa Station North District in Michuhol-gu, 6 locations such as Seoknam Station South District in Seo-gu, 3 locations such as Gyesan Station North District in Gyeyang-gu, and Yulmok-dong District in Jung-gu.

Notably, this 2nd contest applied the contest criteria reflecting residents' opinions and improvements on issues raised during the 1st contest in June, in accordance with Incheon City's 'Plan to Promote Revitalization of Maintenance Projects.' Since only 10 out of 45 applicants, including Dowon District in Jung-gu, were selected in the 1st contest, causing dissatisfaction among residents, the 2nd contest did not pre-set the number of candidate sites to be selected and formed an expert review committee to examine project feasibility.

Incheon Original Downtown
Photo by Incheon City

The city imposed conditions for establishing maintenance plans on 32 out of the 33 candidate sites, each with a scale of about 50,000 housing units, to be reflected during plan formulation. The district heads, who have the authority to establish maintenance plans, will proceed with the procedures for drafting the maintenance plans for the districts selected as redevelopment project candidates. Local autonomous districts will determine the timing to start maintenance plan services for each district considering financial and regional conditions.

An official from Incheon City stated, "We plan to accelerate the promotion of maintenance projects to enhance the competitiveness of the stagnant old downtown area," and added, "We will do our best to provide administrative support such as operating an integrated review system for maintenance projects."

Meanwhile, earlier, Incheon City prepared a plan to promote revitalization of maintenance projects to invigorate the old downtown area by expanding residents' participation opportunities in redevelopment and reconstruction projects and improving procedures to lower barriers.

First, the city will diversify the implementation methods of maintenance projects by reflecting residents' intentions. Residents within the project area will be able to propose the drafting of maintenance districts with the consent of two-thirds of the residents, and from January next year, the maintenance projects, which were previously operated through a redevelopment candidate site contest system, will be converted to a 'Maintenance Plan Drafting Request System' where residents can request drafting. For areas where private projects are difficult due to lack of profitability, such as residentially vulnerable areas, 'Public Redevelopment Projects' will be promoted, and maintenance projects linked with policy projects such as station area revitalization pilot projects and river restoration will also be implemented.

Additionally, unreasonable systems will be improved and procedures simplified. From the planning stage, expert advice will be sought to balance project profitability and public interest, and during the project implementation stage, administrative procedures will be drastically shortened through 'integrated reviews' covering urban planning, architecture, landscape, traffic, education, environment, and cultural heritage.

Along with this, the city plans to implement an exit strategy by excluding candidate sites that fail to meet the maintenance plan establishment requirements (two-thirds consent) within two years after the start of the maintenance plan service (with a one-year extension allowed once) or where more than 30% of residents oppose the project.