9 Candidate Sites Selected in Ilsan, Wondang, Neunggok, Haengsin, Goyang, Gwansandong... Sequential Promotion
No.1 Haengsin-dong Future Town Regional Integration Promotion... No.2 Ilsandong Management Plan Establishment
Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang, "No.3 Future Town Promotion... Continuous Improvement of Old Downtown Environment"
Goyang Special City (Mayor Lee Dong-hwan) is promoting a small-scale housing maintenance project called ‘Mirae Town’ to renovate the deteriorated old downtown residential areas and is actively supporting rapid project implementation as well as systematic and planned maintenance.
According to Goyang Special City on the 6th, Mirae Town refers to a small-scale housing maintenance management plan within 100,000㎡ and has the characteristics of a district unit plan. Seoul City operates a similar project named ‘Moa Town,’ while Goyang City is the first local government in the country to operate under the project name ‘Mirae Town.’
Once designated as Mirae Town, the path to upward zoning of residential areas opens, significantly improving project feasibility. Half of the increased floor area ratio is supplied as rental apartments to secure public interest, and by providing pleasant residential areas, high-quality infrastructure can be expanded. Another advantage is the rapid project progress. Previously, individual projects were limited to an implementation area of 10,000㎡ or less, but Mirae Town expands the scope to a basic 20,000㎡ and up to 40,000㎡ with public participation. This allows for expansion into medium-sized complexes instead of isolated apartments caused by small project areas, improving the residential environment.
From 2020 to 2022, the city conducted a research project on ‘Activation Measures for Small-scale Housing Maintenance Projects’ and selected nine candidate sites for Mirae Town (small-scale housing maintenance management areas) in the old downtown areas of Ilsan, Wondang, Neunggok, Haengsin, Goyang, and Gwansan-dong, where urgent maintenance is needed. These candidate sites are New Town areas that have been difficult to promote as general maintenance projects due to low feasibility or have been deregulated from maintenance zones. The old downtown areas are severely deteriorated with dense low-rise aging buildings, lacking infrastructure such as roads, water supply and sewage, and parks, and suffering from serious parking and traffic problems, necessitating maintenance.
Goyang Special City applied for the Haengsin-dong Garamoe area as a candidate site for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s small-scale housing maintenance management area contest in 2022 and was designated as a suitable candidate for project promotion. The city secured the budget in 2023 to start the project and received final approval from Gyeonggi Province in June last year, officially designating and announcing it as Mirae Town.
Yeonse Villa in Haengsin-dong established a street housing maintenance project association in 2021, but project progress was sluggish due to limited floor area ratio, low feasibility, and lack of infrastructure. However, since being designated as Mirae Town, the project is progressing smoothly as the first integrated project within the management area, including Yeonse Villa and nearby Eunha row houses and multi-family housing sites. The city directly met with multi-family housing owners who opposed the integration to actively explain the effects of project promotion, successfully uniting residents’ opinions.
The city is currently working on establishing a management plan for the second Mirae Town, targeting the Se-in Apartment area in Ilsan-dong. The project started in March last year, held a residents’ briefing session in October, went through public inspection in December, and plans to receive approval from Gyeonggi Province in the first half of the new year. With block-level integrated development, medium-sized or larger residential area development is possible, greatly improving overall project feasibility, and expansion of infrastructure such as roads and parks is expected to improve the residential environment.
The Se-in Apartment small-scale reconstruction project association was approved in 2021, and the Miju 6th small-scale reconstruction project association was approved in 2023. The city has held several residents’ meetings to encourage integration of individually promoted small-scale projects and is directly collecting opinions from residents.
In Ilsan-dong, the city is conducting a study by selecting priority areas for project promotion as Phase 1, and nearby areas not included in this plan will be promoted as Phase 2, considering the progress and potential for activation of the projects. Residents generally welcome the management plan led by Goyang City. The city expects that once the management plan is established, it will also help alleviate the chronic traffic congestion near Ilsan Market.
Based on the experience gained from the Haengsin-dong case, Goyang Special City established the ‘Mirae Town Management Plan Guidelines’ last June to create a distinctive management plan unique to Goyang City and shared it with citizens by posting it in the administrative data room on the Goyang City website.
The guidelines include a basic understanding of Mirae Town, necessary contents for the management plan, and directions for sector-specific management plans. The guidelines are being applied to the ongoing Ilsan-dong Mirae Town plan and will serve as basic data for future Mirae Town management plan establishment.
To increase residents’ participation and understanding, Goyang Special City held three small-scale housing maintenance project citizen lectures from July to December last year. Experts including legal, accounting, appraisal, and maintenance project representatives, as well as the general manager of Gyeongwon Row House, Goyang City’s first street housing maintenance project, served as lecturers for association members and general citizens interested in maintenance projects. The professional content was taught in an easy-to-understand manner tailored to residents’ level, receiving positive responses.
Mayor Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang Special City stated, “Following the first Mirae Town in Haengsin-dong and the second in Ilsan-dong, we plan to secure supplementary budget in 2025 to establish an additional management plan for a third Mirae Town. We will spare no support for systematic maintenance and improvement of living environments in the old downtown areas.”
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