Nation's First Apartment Name Guide Established
Encouraging Use of Native Place Names, Limiting Foreign Words, and Appropriate Character Count
Guidelines have been issued to bring changes to apartment names that are difficult to understand and remember, such as 'Central', 'Palace', 'First', and 'Elium'.
On the 28th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has published a booklet titled "A New Guide to Naming Apartment Complexes - Beautiful and Easy-to-Pronounce Names, Bringing Apartment Communities Closer," aimed at helping establish apartment names that are easy and convenient by incorporating Hangul and native place names.
The booklet presents five guidelines: ▲ refraining from using difficult foreign words ▲ utilizing native place names ▲ avoiding nicknames (pet names) ▲ maintaining an appropriate number of characters ▲ following the naming procedures desired by residents.
Apartment names have become complicated due to nicknames (pet names) attached before or after apartment brand names to emphasize the location's characteristics and unique features. The Seoul Metropolitan Government points out that long apartment names actually make it harder to differentiate complexes.
In the 1990s, the average apartment name length was 4.2 characters, which increased to 6.1 characters in the 2000s and reached 9.84 characters in 2019. Since the 1990s, construction companies began to prioritize branding and competed to create brand names using foreign words.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained, "This booklet was created reflecting expert and industry opinions that a guideline at the recommendation level is necessary for naming apartments with public interest and autonomy," adding, "Since the end of 2022, after three rounds of discussions with academia, reconstruction and redevelopment associations, and construction companies, an improvement plan was prepared and produced and distributed for the first time by a local government."
At the third discussion meeting held late last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and 11 public and private construction companies also held a 'Declaration Ceremony for Participation in Apartment Name Improvement.' The city plans to distribute this guideline to each district office, associations, and construction companies. It can also be downloaded from the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Comprehensive Maintenance Project Information Center.
Han Byung-yong, Director of the Housing Policy Office of Seoul, said, "The discussions and stakeholder meetings began from concerns that unfamiliar foreign words and excessively long apartment names might cause inconvenience to citizens' daily lives," adding, "We hope that through this carefully considered and discussed guide, beautiful and easy-to-pronounce apartment names in beautiful Hangul will be actively created in the future."
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