Seoul City Eases Sindebang District Unit Plan...Relaxed Floor Area Ratios and Maximum Building Heights

Location map of the Sindaebangjigu District Unit Planning Area. Seoul

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 25th that it has created development conditions tailored to the area, including overhauling the floor area ratio system, by changing the District Unit Plan for the Sindebang District in Dongjak-gu.

The city said that on the previous day, at the 3rd Joint Urban and Architecture Committee meeting, it approved with amendments the agenda item titled "Decision (Change) on the Sindebang District Unit Planning Area and Plan (Draft)."

The area in question centers on Sindebangsamgeori Station on Subway Line 7, stretching west toward Boramae Station and east toward Jangseungbaegi Station.

This reorganization of the District Unit Plan was promoted to establish development conditions for buildings that are suitable for the central status of the Sindebang District, in response to changes in local conditions since 2014. Taking into account the floating population around the stations, the plan also includes the introduction of ground-floor street-activating uses and measures to improve the pedestrian environment.

The draft amendment to the District Unit Plan includes a reorganization of the floor area ratio system under the plan (from 300% to 600% in neighborhood commercial areas, and from 250% to 400% in quasi-residential areas) and a relaxation of maximum building heights (from 70 meters to 100 meters in neighborhood commercial areas, and from 40 meters to 90 meters in quasi-residential areas). It also includes deletion of public pedestrian passages that had been planned but are difficult to realize, removal of wall setback lines, reduction of designated and recommended joint development zones, and abolition of the maximum development scale. The city explained that by minimizing regulatory elements, it aims to create favorable development conditions around the station areas and to stimulate local revitalization.

Ahn Daehee, Director General of the Urban Space Planning Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "Through the changes to the Sindebang District Unit Plan, we expect to invigorate the city by strengthening the mixed commercial and business functions of the station areas and reinforcing the district's central role."