GTX-A and Elevated Highway Park... Attention Focused on Hwaseong

20 Minutes to Gangnam... Expecting Influx of Companies and Workforce
Unified Living Zone in New Town through Expressway Undergrounding

The growth momentum of Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province has taken off. Having surpassed a population of 1 million at the end of last year and preparing for designation as the fifth special city, it is gaining attention with the upcoming opening of the Seoul Metropolitan Area Express Train (GTX) Line A on the 30th and the straightening project of the Gyeongbu Expressway. Additionally, as a corporate city attracting about 28,000 large and small companies, it has established an economic foundation, making it recognized as the city with the greatest growth potential in the metropolitan area.

Hwaseong City Attracting Companies and People, GTX Gives It Wings

Jung Myung-geun, mayor of Hwaseong City, stated, "The opening of GTX-A will serve as an opportunity to raise the city's recognition among people who were unaware of Hwaseong's high-quality jobs and residential environment, which had been relatively undervalued due to a lack of railway infrastructure," adding, "We will accelerate the completion of 'Hwaseong, a city where everyone wants to live' by attracting key talents to Hwaseong's advanced companies."

The platform at Dongtan Station on the GTX A Line, a metropolitan express railway in the Seoul metropolitan area, which will open on the 30th.
[Photo by Hwaseong City]

Once GTX-A line opens, it will take only 20 minutes to travel from Dongtan Station in Dongtan New Town, Hwaseong’s representative residential hub, to Suseo Station. This will dramatically improve accessibility to Seoul’s Gangnam area, which had previously relied heavily on expressways. GTX-A is scheduled to operate at an average interval of 17 minutes during rush hours.

In particular, following the opening of GTX-A, eight projects including the Seohae Line, Sinansan Line, Dongtan-Indeokwon Line, and Dongtan Tram are scheduled to open by 2029, which the city expects will further enhance accessibility to major metropolitan areas.

Expectations for the influx of talent are also high. Mayor Jung emphasized, "When meeting with advanced companies, the first challenge they mention is securing talent," and added, "Since there will be a revolutionary change in accessibility, GTX will play a significant role in attracting companies."

Gyeongbu Expressway Upper Park, Resolving Division and Expanding Urban Parks

Another positive development that will bring changes to the Hwaseong city map is the Gyeongbu Expressway straightening and underground project. This project involves straightening the Gyeongbu Expressway that runs through Dongtan New Town and undergrounding a 1.2 km section of it. The northbound lane toward Seoul opened in March last year, and the southbound lane toward Busan will open on the 28th.

A bird's-eye view of the park being created above the Dongtan New Town section of the Gyeongbu Expressway. [Image source=Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

The city plans to start construction in May on six connecting roads above the expressway to link the Dongtan area, which had been divided by the Gyeongbu Expressway. Once these six connecting roads open sequentially, the eastern and western areas divided by the expressway will form a single living zone, expected to revitalize commercial districts and enable efficient administration.

What draws attention is the upper park that will be created by undergrounding the expressway. The city, in cooperation with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), will create a 60,000㎡ park above the underground section of the Gyeongbu Expressway right next to Dongtan Station. This park will connect to Yeoul Park, where the exhibition greenhouse of Mayor Jung’s key pledge 'Botanic Garden Hwaseong' will be located, forming a green corridor.

Mayor Jung said, "If the 'Botanic Garden Hwaseong' project expands to the upper park of the Gyeongbu Expressway, it will complete a space where people can enjoy nature in their daily lives through exhibitions, viewing, experiences, and relaxation."

House Prices Stirred by Successive Positive Developments

House prices are also stirring due to successive positive developments. For example, the 84㎡ (exclusive area) unit in Dongtan Station Shibeom The Sharp Central City saw its asking and actual transaction prices fall to 1 billion KRW early last year. However, as expectations for the GTX opening were fully reflected, the actual transaction price recovered to around 1.28 billion KRW. Currently, the asking price for this apartment has soared to 1.4 billion KRW.

The same-sized apartment in the mixed-use Dongtan Station Lotte Castle, located right in front of Dongtan Station, saw asking prices rise to 1.8 billion KRW, approaching the price levels of apartments in the Pangyo New Town area. Some mid-to-large-sized apartments, such as the 102㎡ unit in this apartment (2.2 billion KRW) and the 116㎡ unit in Dongtan Lin Strauss The Lake (2.1 billion KRW), have consecutively recorded new highs.

A representative from real estate agency A in the area said, "Homeowners around Dongtan Station are continuously raising prices," adding, "Although transactions are not frequent due to the overall real estate market downturn and the gap between asking and bidding prices, once GTX opens and its effects are felt, buying demand is likely to intensify."