Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, "Yongsan Will Be the Hottest Residential Area in 10 Years"

Innovations in Housing, Transportation, and Jobs Await Yongsan
"We Will Properly Create a City Where People Want to Live"
Manual Compiling Relocation Know-how from Hannam 3 District Also in the Works

"Rail transportation is now centered more on Yongsan Station than Seoul Station. Housing, transportation, and jobs?none of these are lacking. Even if the entire Yongsan area is redeveloped, the population will only increase by about 40,000 in 10 years. However, with developments like the Yongsan International Business District and Yongsan Electronics Market (Yongsan Meta Valley), jobs will increase significantly, and the daily population will grow by more than 350,000 compared to now."

On the 21st of last month, Park Hee-young, the mayor of Yongsan District, Seoul, whom I met in the district office, said, "The brand value of Yongsan District is continuously changing," and added, "We will properly make Yongsan a city where people want to live." He said, "We are creating a balanced city that reflects the unique characteristics and charm of Yongsan District," and "We will ensure that major development projects become 'Yongsan-like' projects."

Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 21st of last month, "We are designing the city with a vision for Yongsan 20 years ahead." Provided by Yongsan District Office.

Hannam New Town is the earliest project in terms of timing among the major changes in Yongsan. As of the end of last month, the relocation rate for Hannam 3 District is 99.64%. Once the remaining 30 households relocate soon, full-scale demolition will proceed, followed by construction.

Mayor Park said, "The redevelopment of Hannam New Town is a project that requires many considerations due to its scale," and added, "The district office is carefully managing it to become a successful and exemplary case." The reason Park thought of producing a ‘Redevelopment Relocation Management Support Manual’ based on the Hannam 3 District relocation case is for this reason. This manual, to be unveiled around the end of the year, will comprehensively cover various considerations and solutions that arose during the Hannam 3 District relocation. It will serve as a guideline for systematically managing relocations in other districts within Hannam New Town, as well as sharing know-how and preserving historical records.

Mayor Park said, "We plan to share the contents so that it can be used not only in Yongsan but also by local governments nationwide facing large-scale relocations." He added, "We will compile not only relocation plans, safety management, crime prevention and vacant house management, waste disposal, and joint patrols conducted within the district, but also the results of services promoted by the district in response to protecting vulnerable groups and changes caused by development."

The redevelopment of Hannam 2, 3, 4, and 5 Districts covers a total area of 844,941㎡ and will include 12,276 apartment units. Among these, Hannam 3 District accounts for 47% of the total. In Hannam 3 District, out of about 8,300 households subject to relocation, approximately 6,500 are tenants, which is a high proportion. Therefore, Mayor Park believes that conflicts arising during the relocation process must be minimized and any potentially hurtful incidents must be carefully monitored.

The district has paid particular attention to crime prevention measures in vulnerable areas such as vacant houses, safety measures for dangerous buildings, issues related to illegal dumping and large waste disposal, as well as administrative support for rental housing and moving expenses for housing-vulnerable groups. They have also meticulously managed abandoned cat care and animal protection measures due to the destruction of stray cat habitats.

Since the entire Yongsan area is being developed, there are numerous issues to manage and coordinate. Regarding this, Mayor Park said, "The district must proactively intervene to prevent indiscriminate development of various development projects planned and underway by different entities throughout Yongsan," and added, "The district is designing the city with a 20-year outlook in terms of transportation, population, and living infrastructure."

Through the ‘Comprehensive Transportation System Improvement and Management Plan Establishment Service’ completed by the district at the end of last year, alternatives were established for the transportation network severed by the Yongsan U.S. military base and the above-ground railroads Gyeongbu Line and Gyeongwon Line. Also, the ‘Population Change Response Research Service,’ which produced similar results around the same time, is the outcome of efforts to propose customized population strategies and a population policy roadmap through future population structure changes and population forecast predictions.

A service for the second phase extension of the Shinbundang Line connecting Sinsa Station on Subway Line 3 and Yongsan Station will also begin this month. Mayor Park said, "We will start a feasibility study for the tentative Bogwang Station in conjunction with the Hannam New Town development this month and plan to complete it by the end of the year," adding, "Through this service, we will comprehensively review the route location, necessity of the new station, and cost-sharing."