Seoul City and Government Out of Sync... "Not Sure About Public Reconstruction"

Separate Briefing on Seoul Housing Supply Plan
Despite Joint Public Reconstruction Announcement with Government, Effectiveness Remains Uncertain
Director Kim Seongbo: "Public Nature of Reconstruction Should Be Strengthened, but Public Intervention Is Unbalanced"

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] On the 4th, the government proposed 'public participation high-density reconstruction' as a major measure for housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area, but it turned out that Seoul City, a key local government, has a passive stance on this. Unlike public redevelopment, there are no special incentives such as exemption from the sale price ceiling system, so it is uncertain whether private participation can be induced.

Kim Seong-bo, head of the Housing and Architecture Headquarters of Seoul City, held a separate briefing at Seoul City Hall in the afternoon and said, "There is a practical question of whether the private sector can participate in public reconstruction," adding, "Seoul City was not very supportive of this method from the beginning."

Public reconstruction is a system in which public entities such as Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) participate to supply more than twice the number of existing households through urban regulation relaxation and recover development profits.

While supporting strengthening the public nature of Seoul City's reconstruction projects, it is explained that private sector involvement is not an appropriate measure. Director Kim said, "Basically, the position is that the public nature of reconstruction should be strengthened through rental housing, but it is unbalanced for public institutions to participate and lead private reconstruction," he added.

Despite Seoul City's opinion, the government announced on the same day that it will supply more than 50,000 households over the next five years through public reconstruction. Regarding this, Director Kim said, "The 50,000 households is a figure set by the government, and Seoul City does not have a separate estimate." About the government's estimation method, he said, "I don't know, so I can't answer," and "The government ran simulations, and Seoul City does not have the data." This is interpreted as opposition to the public reconstruction discussion and not being deeply involved in the drafting process. When asked if there are any associations that have expressed willingness to participate in public reconstruction, he briefly answered, "None."

On the other hand, Seoul City viewed public redevelopment as an effective maintenance method. Director Kim said, "In the case of public redevelopment, the sale price ceiling system is exempted, and various supports such as moving expenses and construction costs are provided," adding, "It is believed to be a sufficient opportunity to bring change to stagnant redevelopment areas."

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