Speeding Up Sobbangchon Housing Redevelopment Project... Significant Relaxation of Green Space and Parking Lot Requirements

Public Housing Project Rendering of Yeongdeungpo Ssokbangchon (Provided by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government is accelerating efforts to revise related laws for the redevelopment of urban shantytowns, actively promoting projects aimed at improving urban residential environments and housing welfare. Reflecting the characteristics of small-scale station area projects, the requirements for green space ratios and parking space provisions have been significantly relaxed.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the same day that it will partially amend the existing "Public Housing Work Processing Guidelines," which were tailored for large-scale housing site developments, to suit public housing projects aimed at improving small-scale vulnerable residential areas such as shantytowns in urban centers, and will notify the changes starting from the 12th.

First, the standards for securing parks and green spaces will be changed. The current guidelines require securing a park and green space ratio of at least 20% when promoting public housing projects. For areas smaller than 300,000㎡, either 6㎡ or more per person or at least 12% of the area, whichever is larger, must be secured. Applying the current regulations, the Yeongdeungpo Station shantytown, with a residential planning area of 9,800㎡, would need to secure 8,200㎡, which is 84% of the area, as parks and green spaces, making the project practically difficult to proceed.

However, the revised guidelines will apply the standards of the "Act on Urban Parks and Green Areas (Park and Green Space Act)" for public housing projects aimed at stabilizing housing for vulnerable groups such as shantytown residents when the residential planning area is 10,000㎡ or more. For areas less than 10,000㎡, the landscaping area will be secured according to the building scale standards under the Building Act and the architectural ordinances of the respective local governments.

With the amendment, the mandatory park and green space area for the Yeongdeungpo Station shantytown will be subject to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's architectural ordinance requiring "landscaping area of at least 15% of the site area," resulting in securing at least 1,470㎡, which is about 15% of the total residential area. This is a sharp decrease to about 18% of the previously required area, significantly improving project conditions.

Daejeon Station Public Housing District Basic Plan (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

Parking installation standards, which are difficult to apply to shantytown redevelopment projects, will also have exception clauses to enhance project feasibility. The current guidelines apply parking installation standards of 0.4 spaces per household in Seoul and 0.35 spaces per household in metropolitan cities for permanent rental housing.

However, considering that many shantytowns such as Yeongdeungpo Station and Daejeon Station are located near railway or urban transit stations, if permanent rental housing is built within a 500m radius of a station, the parking installation standards can be relaxed to 50% of the standard. This follows the current relaxed parking standards for Happy Housing.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to establish exception clauses considering public transportation conditions and residents' vehicle ownership, while securing an appropriate level of parking spaces through traffic impact analysis during district planning.

The Yeongdeungpo Station shantytown public housing project is currently undergoing administrative procedures such as preliminary disaster impact reviews, with district designation planned for the third quarter. Afterwards, through a design competition, a specialized architectural plan reflecting the needs of shantytown residents and young people will be established. The ministry aims to complete district planning and compensation next year and target occupancy in 2023.

The Daejeon Station shantytown public housing project is also preparing administrative procedures for district designation after public consultation with residents. District designation is planned by the end of this year, followed by district planning and compensation, aiming for occupancy in 2024.

Kim Seung-beom, head of the Public Housing Planning Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "This amendment has laid the foundation for improving vulnerable urban residential areas such as shantytowns through public housing projects," adding, "We will do our best to improve the living environment of shantytown residents in cooperation with local governments and others."

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