[Exclusive] Seoul City Responds to Yoon's Redevelopment Policy... Pungnap-dong 1,000-Unit Moa Town

President Yoon Shows Interest in Moa Town for "Urban Small Housing Supply"

Fungnap 1-dong, Songpa-gu, Prime Land Slum for Decades

Seoul City Eases Regulations, Allows Up to 20-Story Buildings

Old Residential Area to Transform into Large Complex... Residents Welcome

A Moa Town complex with 20 above-ground floors and approximately 1,000 households will be built in Pungnap 1-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, an area densely packed with old residential houses. President Yoon Suk-yeol stated in his New Year's address, "We will review redevelopment and reconstruction project procedures from scratch to accelerate project speed and expand the supply of small-sized housing suitable for one- to two-person households." In line with this, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to ease building regulations applied to Moa Town in Pungnap-dong to supply a large-scale new complex.

Struggling with Dual Regulations Due to Pungnap Fortress and Olympic-daero

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 4th, the city has decided to relax building regulations for Moa Town being constructed near Cheonho Station on Line 5 in Pungnap 1-dong. Moa Town is a small-scale housing maintenance project by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. It is characterized by quickly renovating old residential areas under 100,000㎡ by combining them into one, which is difficult for large-scale redevelopment. Existing redevelopment projects usually take about 10 years. Moa Town is relatively smaller in scale and reduces procedures to enable move-in within five years. On the 21st of last month, President Yoon visited the Moa Town site in Junghwa 2-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul, with Mayor Oh Se-hoon. There, President Yoon said, "In the future, the criteria for starting redevelopment and reconstruction should be completely changed to obsolescence."

Pungnap 1-dong Moa Town is one of the 'Moa Town Public Management Pilot Sites' involving SH Seoul Housing Corporation. It will be built on a 46,687㎡ site around 483-10 Pungnap-dong. This project was initially subject to dual regulations. The first obstacle was the height restriction around cultural heritage due to Pungnap Fortress. Pungnap Fortress is National Historic Site No. 11. Seoul restricts building heights in historical and cultural environment preservation areas. This is a measure under the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Buildings can only be constructed within a 27-degree 'angle of elevation' (angle looking upward) from the boundary point with the cultural heritage. Therefore, the Moa Town apartments to be built close to Pungnap Fortress were limited to six floors. The plan was to increase floors diagonally up to 15 floors as the distance from the fortress increased.

However, the second regulation also became a hindrance. The cause was Olympic-daero located right next to the Moa Town site. Seoul had designated the Olympic-daero roadside as a 'Scenic Road Specialized Landscape District' to manage the surrounding landscape. Buildings within this district are limited to six floors in height. Accordingly, the opposite side of Pungnap Fortress faced a situation where floors would rise to 15 but suddenly drop to six floors.

▲Current view of 483-10 Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, where Moa Town will be built. Old houses are gathered together.

Seoul City Lifts Regulations, Up to 20 Floors and 940 Households

Local politicians and residents requested Mayor Oh to lift the dual regulations. For example, in June last year, Seoul City Council member Kim Gyu-nam asked during a regular session, "Regarding Pungnap-dong Moa housing, please designate it as a special building district that can ease building regulations along with special supply for residents." During the management planning process, Seoul decided to lift the Scenic Road Specialized Landscape District designation. By designating it as a special building district, buildings can be raised up to 20 floors. Accordingly, the number of apartment units increased from about 600 to 940. The units range from 49㎡ to 84㎡ in exclusive area.

Local residents are welcoming the change. A resident running a small business in Pungnap 1-dong said, "Even though it is prime land right next to the Han River with good transportation, redevelopment has been canceled several times," adding, "Because empty houses and old houses are mixed, slumification has been progressing for decades, so residents hope for redevelopment as soon as possible." Another resident said, "It is important that residents of this area are given priority to move in once Moa Town is built," adding, "Given their circumstances, people living here cannot even dream of moving to other neighborhoods in Seoul."

Once the Moa Town management plan is finalized, a residents' briefing session will be held to gather opinions. Then, the plan must be approved and announced after going through the Seoul Small-scale Housing Maintenance Integrated Deliberation Committee. Last month, Seoul passed management plans for Moa Towns in Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu, and Beon-dong and Suyu-dong, Gangbuk-gu. Mayor Oh stated in this year's New Year's address, "We will accelerate the promotion of projects for 81 Moa Towns to revitalize the supply of quality housing."

▲Current view of 483-10 Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, where Moa Town will be built. Uninhabited houses blocked by iron bars, demolished sites, and houses where residents live are mixed together.