10 More Regulations Abolished, Total Reaches 103 in Three Months
Easing Ecological Area Ratio for Parking-Only Buildings and Urban Revitalization
Reducing Economic Burdens in New Growth Industries and Culture & Arts
From now on, it will be easier to renovate slum-like traditional markets. Until now, renovation projects were only possible if various conditions such as vacancy rates and aging levels were met, but now renovations can proceed based on the judgment of the district mayor.
On the 30th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced a total of 10 regulatory abolition plans, including 'Relaxation of Conditions for Allowing Traditional Market Renovation Projects,' to eliminate excessive standards that hinder urban development and renovation. These abolition plans are examples where city officials viewed the sites from the citizens' perspective, directly identified inconveniences, improved procedures, and relaxed standards. Since starting regulatory abolition in January, Seoul has eliminated or eased a total of 103 regulations over three months.
Yeonseo Market, Bulgwang-dong
'Expansion of the Scope of Eligible Targets for Renovation Projects' (No. 94) was prepared to facilitate easier renovation of traditional markets. Until now, traditional markets had to be very old and worn out to qualify for renovation projects, with conditions such as ▲ vacancy rate of 30% or more ▲ aging level (over 30 years old with 60% or more or safety grade D or higher) ▲ a decrease of 10% or more in floating population over three years.
Accordingly, Seoul decided to utilize Article 31, Paragraph 2, Item 3 of the Special Act on the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts, which states "markets that the district mayor recognizes as necessary for revitalizing commercial areas and urban development." By using this condition, traditional markets within urban management plan areas such as redevelopment promotion districts or district unit planning zones can proceed with renovation projects if they meet only the aging condition. Through this regulatory abolition, renovation projects can be promoted in 47 aging traditional markets starting with Macheon Market in Songpa-gu and Yeonseo Market in Eunpyeong-gu. The plan is to implement this immediately from April.
Regulatory abolition No. 95 is 'Relaxation of Ecological Area Ratio Application for Parking-Only Buildings.' Under current regulations, parking-only buildings must secure an ecological area ratio of 20% or more. The ecological area ratio quantifies the proportion of soil area with natural circulation functions within the building site area, including ▲ natural/artificial ground greenery ▲ wall greening ▲ water spaces ▲ rooftop greening ▲ permeable pavement blocks. The main content is to exclude parking-only buildings, which find it difficult to secure this ecological area ratio, from the application target. Once this measure is implemented, project operators will be able to secure the maximum number of parking spaces in line with the purpose of building construction.
No. 96 is 'Simplification of the Procedure for Selecting Preliminary Negotiation Sites.' Previously, when selecting sites for preliminary negotiations for urban planning changes, two advisory steps with similar functions?the 'Large-scale Site Development Policy TF' and the 'Urban Architecture Joint Committee'?had to be passed. These have now been integrated and conducted solely by the 'Large-scale Site Development Policy TF.'
No. 97 is 'Expansion of the Use Scope of Seoul-type R&D Labor Costs.' In the R&D fields of six new growth industries?AI (Artificial Intelligence), bio, quantum, robotics, creative industries, and fintech?and companies participating in the Seoul Innovation Challenge project, labor costs could only be applied up to 70% of the project funds when hiring new personnel. This plan increases that to 100%.
To alleviate financial burdens on small business owners, 'Change in the Calculation Method of Guarantee Fees for Debt Refinancing Guarantees' (No. 98) is also being promoted. For this, the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation will revise the guarantee fee calculation standards so that small business owners applying for debt refinancing guarantees can continue to apply the existing guarantee fee rate of 1% or less.
Regulatory abolition No. 99 is 'Simplification of the Approval Procedure for Establishing Nonprofit Corporations Related to Culture and Arts.' The purpose is to improve the practice of requiring additional documents at the level of public interest corporation establishment beyond the essential documents under civil law when approving the establishment of nonprofit corporations related to culture and arts.
No. 100 is to 'Integrate and Reorganize the Preliminary Procedures of the Public Design Promotion Committee' to improve the efficiency and quality of public design projects. Seoul plans to abolish the universal design preliminary consulting procedure and instead strengthen the pre-consultation function before the Public Design Promotion Committee's review, thereby enhancing public design quality and establishing a more systematic and effective review system.
Improvements for vulnerable groups are also underway. Regulatory abolition No. 101 is 'Improvement of Household Division Criteria for Water Charges in Multi-family Housing.' Currently, in multi-family housing with many households using a single water meter, water charges are levied per household based on the number of units permitted in the building to reduce the water charge burden. However, if the number of resident households is small, household division reports could not be made, and when water charge reductions were applied to vulnerable groups, if the number of permitted units and actual resident households differed, the reduction benefits were not properly received. Accordingly, the system will be improved to allow household division applications based on the actual number of resident households regardless of the number of permitted units.
Efforts will also be made to 'Simplify the Cost Support Procedure for Hanok Repairs' (No. 102). Previously, Hanok owners had to apply for review sequentially through the district office and then Seoul City after completing Hanok construction to receive support funds, but from now on, they only need to directly report completion to Seoul City. Regulatory abolition No. 103 is the 'Introduction of a Voluntary Indoor Air Quality Inspection System for Multi-use Facilities.' Last year, on-site guidance and inspections were conducted at 5,464 management targets, with violation detection cases accounting for only 1.2% (36 sites), leading to demands for regulatory relaxation of the inspection method. With the introduction of voluntary inspections, citizen inconvenience will be reduced, and more detailed on-site inspections will be conducted for facilities suspected of exceeding indoor air quality standards.
Kim Hyung-rae, Seoul City Planning Officer, said, "This improvement plan was developed as public officials listened to voices from the field while performing their duties, re-examined even small inconveniences of citizens, and directly discovered improvement tasks," adding, "Going forward, frontline public officials will continue to have a sense of problem awareness and willingness to improve, and based on this, will persistently abolish regulations that provide practical help to citizens' lives."
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