The city of Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province is accelerating its mini new town and station area redevelopment projects aimed at revitalizing the old downtown area.
On the 14th, the city announced that following a residents' briefing session held last month, it plans to select the redevelopment project sites by July through a public contest scheduled for next month.
The mini new town pilot project is an urban redevelopment model that improves residential environments by developing the deteriorated old downtown, where large-scale redevelopment was previously difficult, on a metropolitan scale. Selected sites will receive benefits such as zoning upgrades up to quasi-residential (400%) and floor area ratio (FAR) relaxations up to 1.2 times the legal limit.
The target sites are areas with concentrated aging housing requiring redevelopment, covering at least 100,000㎡, with 50% or more of the buildings being old or substandard. Applications require consent from more than 10% of landowners, and pre-consultation must be completed before the public contest application next month.
The city plans to select two sites by July and aims to designate redevelopment promotion districts by the end of this year, followed by establishing redevelopment promotion plans by next year.
Mayor Jo Yong-ik of Bucheon is giving a greeting at the residents' briefing session for the old downtown redevelopment project held last March. Bucheon City
The Bucheon-style station area redevelopment project will proceed through "combined redevelopment." This method involves merging two or more non-adjacent zones into a single redevelopment district to carry out the project.
High-density development will improve the functions and conditions of station areas, and in old downtown areas where redevelopment was difficult due to low profitability, infrastructure will be installed to address shortages of parks and parking lots. Selected sites will have zoning upgraded to quasi-residential (FAR 400%), along with various regulatory relaxations and expedited administrative support.
For station areas, applications are possible if over 50% of the total redevelopment district area is residential within 500 meters of a railway platform, with 60% or more old or substandard buildings, and the area including the combined old downtown zone is at least 20,000㎡. For the old downtown, the application area must be between 1,500 and 3,000㎡, meeting conditions such as 60% or more old and substandard buildings.
Both areas can apply together or separately, and during the mandatory pre-consultation, the scale and suitability of the combined target areas will be evaluated and guided. The city plans to select sites by July through a public contest next month and proceed with redevelopment district designation and plan establishment next year.
Additionally, the city has been working on institutional improvements to enhance project feasibility. Last year, it completed amendments to the "Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Ordinance" and the "Urban Redevelopment Promotion Ordinance," which included easing rental housing construction ratios and planning requirements.
This year, the city will pursue changes to the "Basic Plan for Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance" and further amendments to the "Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Ordinance." These will improve project feasibility by relaxing mandatory net burden ratios, providing FAR incentives, introducing zoning upgrades, and stipulating detailed provisions for combined redevelopment implementation.
A Bucheon city official stated, "We will transform the paradigm of old downtown redevelopment projects to enhance feasibility, reduce residents' burdens, and lay the foundation for creating a pleasant residential environment that citizens can feel. We will do our best to radically transform the deteriorated residential environment so that new towns and old downtown areas can develop in balance."
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