First Cancellation of Sintong Planning... Severe Resident Conflicts in Suyu and Namgajadong

Two Candidate Sites with Over 30% Resident Opposition

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to cancel for the first time a candidate site for the Rapid Integration Planning that is practically difficult to redevelop due to strong resident opposition.

On the 30th of last month, Seoul held a redevelopment candidate site review committee and announced on the 1st that it had canceled the Rapid Integration Planning redevelopment for two areas: 170-1 Suyu-dong, Gangbuk-gu, and 337-8 Namgajwa-dong, Seodaemun-gu. As a result, the total number of Rapid Integration Planning redevelopment zones has decreased to 83.

These areas had more than 30% resident opposition, making project advancement uncertain, and experienced serious conflicts and disputes among residents. It was also difficult to meet the future requirements for initiating designation of maintenance zones (50% approval) and for establishing associations (75% approval).

This decision is the first case since the city revised the 'Basic Plan for Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance' in February this year, introducing a new standard that allows 'cancellation of initiation' if more than 25% of landowners or owners of more than half of the land area oppose at the planning stage. This is the first application of the principle to exclude Rapid Integration Planning in areas with severe resident conflicts.

The reference date for rights assessment (the date for eligibility to purchase buildings), which was announced when the sites were selected as candidates, will be automatically invalidated. The land transaction permission zones and building permit restrictions will also be lifted after administrative procedures such as hearing opinions from autonomous districts.

The 170-1 Suyu-dong area, selected as a Rapid Integration Planning candidate site in December 2021, proceeded with initiation procedures but faced slow progress due to concerns about low project feasibility; opposition consent rate reached 30%, while approval consent rate was only 29%. The 337-8 Namgajwa-dong area, selected as a candidate site in December 2022, saw intensifying opposition complaints and a continuously increasing opposition consent rate. With Rapid Integration Planning halted, and after three rounds of resident opinion collection, the opposition consent rate reached 32%, making it impossible to initiate maintenance plans within the sunset period (2 years) approaching the end of this year.

Han Byung-yong, Director of the Housing Office at Seoul City, explained, "In areas with resident conflicts, even if designated as maintenance zones, prolonged project stagnation causes property rights infringement and entrenched conflicts, resulting in significant negative effects on the local community. This cancellation decision for candidate sites is a measure to prevent such issues in advance."