Partial Deregulation of Semi-Industrial Areas in Seoul and Floor Area Ratio Relaxed up to 400%... Yeongdeungpo and Guro Beneficiaries (Comprehensive)

Mayor Oh Se-hoon Announces 'Seonam District Grand Transformation Plan'
82% of Seoul's Semi-Industrial Areas Concentrated in Seonam District
Relaxation of Apartment Floor Area Ratio, Ordinance Revision Within the Year
Guro Machinery Market to Become Future-Oriented Business and Industrial Hub
Geumcheon Air Force Base to Be Designated as 'Spatial Innovation Zone'

The skyline of Seoul's southwestern region, including Yeongdeungpo and Guro, which houses 82% of the city's semi-industrial zones, is set to undergo a dramatic transformation. The current floor area ratio (FAR) of 250% in semi-industrial zones will be increased up to 400%, and former distribution industry hubs such as the Guro Machinery and Tool Market will be transformed into future-oriented industrial hubs. Large-scale sites adjacent to metropolitan cities, such as Onsu Industrial Complex and Geumcheon Air Force Base, will be developed through customized projects.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the Seoul Southwest Area Grand Renovation Plan on the 27th to enhance the city's competitiveness. Once a hub for consumption and manufacturing industries in the 1960s and 70s, the Seoul Southwest Area, now considered the most underdeveloped region in Seoul, will begin its transformation into a future advanced city where work (職), residence (住), and leisure (樂) harmoniously coexist. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the 'Southwestern Region Grand Renovation Plan' on the 27th, outlining these initiatives. According to this plan, the city will begin institutional improvements and basic planning for each district within the year. Significant changes are expected to appear as early as 2026 in Seoul's southwestern districts, including Yeongdeungpo, Guro, Geumcheon, Gangseo, Yangcheon, Gwanak, and Dongjak.

The southwestern region was once the center of consumption and manufacturing industries, but despite changes in the industrial structure, opportunities for transformation were limited due to semi-industrial zone regulations focused on protecting manufacturing. Among Seoul's five regions, it has the lowest apartment price per pyeong (38.96 million KRW) and the largest youth population (ages 19-34) of 737,000.

Mayor Oh said, "Recently, there has been a trend in urban planning to place workplaces and residences close together, but the southwestern region, concentrated with semi-industrial zones, has functioned as an obstacle to urban development. By moving away from the traditional manufacturing-centered zoning and adjusting partial areas, we can create new spaces comparable to new towns in the vacant areas," he explained.

Declaration of 'Dismantling Seoul's Semi-Industrial Zones'... Increasing FAR and Changing Land Use

This plan is significant because Seoul City has proposed 'dismantling semi-industrial zones.' Until now, all factory sites in Seoul were designated as semi-industrial zones, and the Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act's 'factory total quantity system' was used as a regulatory tool for these zones. Even if semi-industrial zones were reduced, restoration was difficult, making dismantling challenging. Given the reduced need to maintain semi-industrial zones due to industrial structural changes, Seoul plans to boldly dismantle zones where necessary.

Mayor Oh emphasized, "Seoul has been cautious about dismantling semi-industrial zones because if there is a need to revive manufacturing-centered industries, it would be difficult to reuse previously dismantled semi-industrial zones. However, the likelihood of returning to that manufacturing-centered era is slim. It is important to start dismantling semi-industrial zones and develop them into residential areas and green spaces."

The city plans to transform semi-industrial zones, which have been managed mainly through total quantity control and regulations, into converged spaces that meet diverse urban demands. Seoul will designate areas requiring high-tech company attraction and complex development as 'Industrial Innovation Zones,' a special urban regulation system, and consider changing central urban areas like Yeongdeungpo to commercial zones if necessary.

Cho Nam-jun, head of Seoul's Urban Space Headquarters, said, "Yeongdeungpo is one of Seoul's three major downtowns, but the area in front of Yeongdeungpo Station is relatively underdeveloped, so these areas have a high possibility of being changed to commercial zones. Daerim and Gasan, which are metropolitan centers, are also designated as semi-industrial zones, making new attempts difficult, but we can expect changes," he said.

As a residential innovation measure, Seoul proposed easing the floor area ratio from the current 250% to a maximum of 400% for apartments in semi-industrial zones, a long-standing demand of residents. A 400% FAR corresponds to that of the Yeouido pilot apartments. Apartments in Yeongdeungpo and Guro districts are expected to benefit.

To create workplaces close to residences, the city will also improve systems such as revising urban planning ordinances within the year. The criteria for adjusting land use zones will be made more flexible. In areas where residential complexes have already been widely developed within semi-industrial zones, the land use will be changed to residential or quasi-residential zones to prevent inappropriate facilities from being built in residential areas. A representative example is the Yeomchang-dong area, which is a semi-industrial zone but densely populated with residential buildings.

Seoul's plan is to maintain semi-industrial zones rather than fully dismantle them, but to increase FAR or boldly convert necessary areas into commercial or residential zones. It is expected that less than 10% of Seoul's total semi-industrial zones will be dismantled. Cho Nam-jun explained, "Easing the FAR requires revising urban planning ordinances. We plan to revise the ordinances in the second half of the year. When promoting redevelopment projects in semi-industrial zones, we will create workplace-residence integrated urban spaces by boldly adjusting land use zones in cases where factory ratios are low after thorough review."

For aging apartment complexes in Gangseo and Yangcheon districts where reconstruction is difficult under current regulations, the city will establish a package-type redevelopment plan including FAR easing and exemption from safety inspections under the 'Special Act on Aging Planned Cities.' Among the 81 Moa Town sites, 30 are concentrated in the southwestern region, and public-led low-rise residential area redevelopment projects will be strengthened. On-site support teams will be dispatched to mediate resident conflicts, and a 'Public Management Moa Town Pilot Project' involving SH Corporation will also be promoted. The city will continue to ease height restrictions around Gimpo Airport and established an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) dedicated team in January.

Cho Nam-jun said, "For the Deungchon and Gayang housing districts built in the mid-1990s, height restrictions make free planning difficult, but we plan to develop plans in conjunction with easing height restrictions in height control zones. From the second half of the year, we will coordinate with autonomous districts to establish redevelopment plans," he said.

Innovating Semi-Industrial Zones into Converged Industrial Spaces

Former metropolitan industrial distribution hubs such as Guro Machinery and Tool Market, Guro Central Distribution Complex, and Yeongdeungpo Distribution Market will be utilized as core industrial hubs combining urban logistics and future-oriented office functions. A 'private support process' for distribution facility development will be established to support customized pre-planning and incentives for introducing mixed uses.

The Onsu Industrial Complex, developed in the 1970s and left without development plans, will have a development plan established next year to restructure it as a high-tech manufacturing-centered space. The Geumcheon Air Force Base, whose development has been repeatedly canceled, will be developed into a hub for high-tech industries, startup support spaces, and urban housing clusters. Seoul submitted the Geumcheon Air Force Base site as a leading project candidate to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to freely develop it with relaxed FAR and land use regulations by applying the Spatial Innovation Zone system. Near Seoul National University and Nakseong Venture Valley, the 'Gwanak S-Valley Venture Startup Hub' will be created, including AI research clusters and startup support facilities. A development plan will be prepared, and a feasibility study will begin next year.

Additionally, the city plans to rename Gimpo Airport to 'Seoul Gimpo Airport' and expand international routes up to 3,000 km. Expanding the international flight radius from the current 2,000 km to 3,000 km will enable new routes to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China. Currently, seven international routes operate, including Kansai and Haneda in Japan, Songshan and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, and Shoudu, Daxing, and Shanghai in China. The city plans to request new route approvals from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the second half of the year. Alongside this, with the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) Gimpo Airport?Yeouido route selected as a phase 2 demonstration route in May next year, a vertical takeoff and landing airport (vertiport) will be completed in Yeouido within the year. A UAM integrated transfer center will also be established in the Gimpo Airport Innovation District.

Green and waterfront spaces linked to residential redevelopment projects will also be created. The National Assembly Boulevard and Western Arterial Road are undergoing undergrounding projects to clear the road surface and create green spaces above. The pedestrian and green network connecting Seoul Botanical Garden and the Han River in Gangseo-gu, from Gungsan to Jeungmisan, is scheduled for completion in 2026. Areas lacking riverbanks will be developed into water parks similar to New York's Little Island pier park. Covered streams such as Bongcheoncheon and Dorimcheon will be restored as ecological streams by 2026. Key parks such as Yeouido Park, National Cemetery, and Gwanaksan Park will be restructured into spaces combining nature and culture.

Mayor Oh stated, "For workplaces and residences to coexist, with commercial districts alive even after work hours, cultural and leisure spaces must also be activated. Through this grand urban renovation, we plan to enhance Seoul's urban competitiveness and will sequentially announce plans for the northeastern and southwestern regions in the future."