Closed School Abandoned for Years Due to Declining Student Numbers... Seoul to Transform It into Accommodation Facilities

Seoul City and Education Office Proceed with Property Transfer Agreement
First Case of Closed School Converted to Accommodation... Starting with Safety Inspection
Project Budget of 150 Billion Won... Construction to Begin After Design and Implementation Competitions
Transformation of Closed Schools... Discussions on Public Rental Housing and Community Spaces

Gonghang High School, located in Banghwa-dong, Gangseo District, Seoul, will be converted into a youth hostel. The school had been left abandoned after its closure due to a decline in student numbers, but this marks the first case in which the Seoul Metropolitan Government has purchased a closed school to convert it into accommodation facilities.

According to the maintenance industry on the 17th, the city recently began discussions with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education regarding a property transfer agreement for the paid acquisition of Gonghang High School, and has decided to conduct a detailed safety inspection of the building.

The number of closed schools is increasing in Seoul. The photos show Hwayang Elementary School in Gwangjin District, Seoul (left), and Gonghang High School in Gangseo District, both confirmed to be closed. Photo by Asia Economy DB

Gonghang High School opened in Banghwa-dong in 1983, but moved to Magok in 2019 due to a decrease in the local student population and the demand for new high schools in the Magok area. Since then, the site had been left unused, but in 2023, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced its "Accommodation Facility Expansion Plan," which aims to convert existing buildings into lodging facilities and promote the construction of tourist accommodation. This led to discussions about utilizing the Gonghang High School site.

The site contains a building with one basement level and four above-ground floors, as well as annex buildings. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to remodel the facilities and utilize the idle land, taking into account trends in the youth population and demand for youth facilities. The project budget is 150 billion won. Once the safety inspection is completed and the design and implementation competitions are finished, construction is expected to begin.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is discussing various ways to utilize closed schools, as more closures are expected in the future. According to the school status from the second half of last year in the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's educational statistics, a total of 176 schools?72 elementary schools, 76 middle schools, and 28 high schools?are classified as "small-scale schools." Elementary schools with 240 or fewer students, and middle and high schools with 300 or fewer students, are considered small-scale. Excluding schools that are temporarily closed, 13.4% of the 1,310 elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul are at risk of closure. Furthermore, the number of small-scale elementary schools is expected to increase by 55 to 127 by 2029, compared to the second half of last year.

This is why the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been pursuing a plan to remodel closed schools and provide them as youth hostels for both domestic and international youth. While it is not possible to build commercial or residential facilities on closed school sites other than educational facilities, converting them into youth hostels for student training purposes poses no significant issues.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is also considering converting closed schools into public rental housing or community centers for residents. The Seoul Metropolitan Council amended an ordinance last year to allow closed school sites to be used for senior welfare housing, and recently began research and studies on ways for the public sector to utilize closed schools. Last year, Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) selected the site of Seoul Hyoje Elementary School, located at 255-4 Hyoje-dong, Jongno District, as a pilot project for school complex development and began work on detailed development plans. This approach involves reorganizing schools experiencing a sharp decline in student numbers and supplying residential and office facilities on the remaining land, in order to maintain "appropriately sized schools."

Discussions on utilizing closed schools are also gaining momentum in provincial areas, where the decline in student numbers is even more severe. With support from the central government, closed schools are being used as community centers, educational and experiential spaces, tourist facilities, and accommodation. In Jeongseon County and Chuncheon City in Gangwon Province, some closed schools have been transformed into youth training centers and cultural complexes, while in Cheongsong County, North Gyeongsang Province, they have become youth entrepreneurship support centers and agricultural research institutes.

However, securing funding and opposition from nearby residents are cited as variables in the process of utilizing these sites. For example, in the case of Hwayang Elementary School in Gwangjin District, Seoul, which closed in 2023, there were discussions about building a dormitory to alleviate housing costs for university students, but the project has stalled due to opposition from local landlords. The Gonghang High School youth hostel is a project undertaken solely by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and due to the financial burden of the paid transfer, an installment payment method is being pursued. An official from a local government stated, "Since schools at risk of closure in Seoul and across the country are often located in good locations, more diverse ways to coexist with the local community should be discussed," adding, "Institutional and financial support from both the central and local governments is also necessary."