Seon Seok-gi, Seoul City Councilor: "Sinnae Compact City Retention Basin Must Be Covered"

Calls for Covering Retention Ponds to Expand Park Areas Actually Usable by Residents

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Jeon Seok-gi, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Urban Safety and Construction Committee (Democratic Party, Jungnang 4), criticized, “Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation created a large elongated detention basin the size of a soccer field in the center of the apartment complex during the development of the Sinnae 3 District without detailed urban planning review, dividing the residential living area.”

Jeon further stated, “Along with the promotion of the compact city project for the upper structure of the Northern Arterial Road, this detention basin should be covered, and the actual park area used by residents should be expanded.”

The ‘Sinnae 3 District Permanent Detention Basin’ was constructed by Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) as part of the Sinnae 3 District development project from September 2010 to August 2014. The floor area is 3,912 m², and the outer area is approximately 7,500 m², which is about the size of a soccer field (7,140 m²).

Jeon said, “The detention basin in the 3 District was transferred from SH Corporation to Jungnang District Office for management, but there are no records of rainwater being detained in the past five years, raising suspicion of errors in the rainwater flow review during the planning stage.”

He also suggested specific measures that have been reviewed so far, saying, “The detention basin, which has low utilization and divides the apartment complex living area, can be covered using the ‘Gangseo-gu Balsan Neighborhood Park Detention Facility Covering and Safety Education Center Construction Project’ as a model, which would require a budget of about 5 billion KRW.”

Regarding securing the necessary budget, Jeon argued, “Since the existing residents of Sinnae 3 Complex suffer damages such as increased traffic volume and reduced opportunities to use urban infrastructure due to Seoul City’s unilateral promotion of the Northern Arterial Road upper structure (compact city) facility, the budget should be included in the ‘Sinnae Compact City’ project costs promoted by Seoul City.”

The Neungmal Neighborhood Park in Sinnae 1-dong, where the detention basin is located, has a total area of 19,101 m², of which 7,500 m² is the detention basin area. About 40% of the park is restricted from resident access, resulting in very low park utilization and becoming a breeding ground for harmful pests.

Right next to the detention basin, the Northern Arterial Road upper structure project (compact city) promoted by Seoul City selected the winning design in January 2020, proceeded through detailed design, started construction in 2021, and aims for completion in 2024.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.