Why Did 9,172 Residents of Gangnam Move to Seongdong?... Difference in Housing Prices?

Over the Past 3 Years, Seongdong-gu Leads Inbound Population from Gangnam-gu with 9,172 People; Outbound Flows Mainly to Dongdaemun, Gwangjin, and Gangnam... Primary Reasons for Moving In and Out Are 'Housing' and 'Family'; Net Population Inflow to Seongdong-gu Driven by 'Job' and 'Education'... Overall Population Trends Show Continuous Decline in 3- and 4-Person Households, While 1- and 2-Person Households Increase Significantly

Panoramic view of Seongsu-dong area in Seongdong-gu as seen from Maebongsan Mountain

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Over the past three years, many residents have moved from Gangnam-gu to Seongdong-gu (9,172 people), while residents of Seongdong-gu have relocated to nearby districts in the order of Dongdaemun-gu (9,681 people), Gwangjin-gu (8,475 people), and Gangnam-gu (6,930 people).

The main reasons for the net population inflow to Seongdong-gu were analyzed to be ‘jobs’ and ‘education.’

Seongdong-gu analyzed and announced the resident registration population movement over the past three years and the reasons for moving in and out, which residents directly recorded when reporting their move, based on resident registration system statistics to use as basic data for establishing urban policies across the district.

Most inbound population moved from Gangnam-gu to Seongdong-gu...
Top reason for moving in: housing (37.6%), second: family (24%), net population inflow reasons ranked by job (3.5%) and education (2.6%)

The district with the highest number of people moving into Seongdong-gu was Gangnam-gu, with a total of 9,172 people relocating. This was followed by Gwangjin-gu with 5,666 people and Dongdaemun-gu with 5,336 people.

In particular, the proportion of residents moving to Seongdong-gu from Gangnam-gu was overwhelmingly high.

Analyzing the reasons for moving in, the simple count showed that ‘housing’ (37.6%), ‘family’ (24%), and ‘job’ (19.9%) had high proportions. However, the net population inflow to Seongdong-gu (number of inbound residents minus outbound residents) was ranked as ‘job’ (3.5%), ‘education’ (2.6%), ‘residential environment’ (0.5%), ‘family’ (0.3%), ‘natural environment’ (△0.7%), and ‘housing’ (△6%).

This suggests that ‘job’ and ‘education’ had a significant impact on the net population inflow to Seongdong-gu. ‘Job’ refers to moving for employment, job seeking, or workplace transfer, while ‘education’ refers to moving for admission, studies, school transfer, or children’s education.

In fact, since the 6th term of the elected government, Seongdong-gu has selected job creation, regional economic revitalization, and improvement of educational conditions as the district’s top priority projects. The rapid growth of the local economy, including attracting knowledge industry centers in Seongsu-dong, creating a social venture valley, and generating the highest level of jobs nationwide, is analyzed to have greatly influenced the inbound population.

Seongdong-gu’s investment in improving educational conditions also played a role. Two high schools, Kumho High School and Doseon High School, were newly established, and the school education budget increased from 2.5 billion KRW to 6 billion KRW in 2021.

Additionally, the opening of the 4th Industrial Revolution Experience Center, establishment of Kumho and Seongsu Global Experience Centers, and operation of an admissions counseling center within Seongdong-gu Office contributed to expanding educational infrastructure, which appears to have had an impact.

Outbound population mostly moved to nearby districts Dongdaemun, Gwangjin, and Gangnam...
Top reason for moving out (43.6%) was housing (home purchase, lease contract expiration, etc.), driven by rising housing prices

The outbound population mostly moved to Dongdaemun-gu, Gwangjin-gu, and Gangnam-gu in that order. Over the past three years, a total of 9,681 people moved from Seongdong-gu to Dongdaemun-gu, 8,475 to Gwangjin-gu, and 6,930 to Gangnam-gu.

The main reasons for moving out were ‘housing’ (43.6%) and ‘family’ (23.7%). ‘Housing’ refers to home purchase, expiration of lease contracts such as jeonse or monthly rent, redevelopment, and reconstruction, while ‘family’ refers to moving due to marriage, divorce, or independence.

Seongdong-gu analyzed that the main reason for moving out was the burden of housing costs caused by recent real estate price increases. The economic value of Seongdong-gu, known as ‘Mayongseong’ (referring to Mapo, Yongsan, and Seongdong districts), has risen due to redevelopment in Kumho, Oksu, and Wangsimni areas and the formation of high-end residential complexes in Seongsu-dong, which is interpreted as the reason for citing ‘housing’ as the main cause.

Overall district population trend: 3- and 4-person households continue to decrease, while 1- and 2-person households increase significantly

The overall net population movement (inbound minus outbound) in the district decreased by 8,222 people in 2019 and by 7,975 people in 2020.

This is analyzed to be due to redevelopment projects in Yongdap-dong and Haengdang-dong, which naturally increased outbound population. Conversely, in 2018, the large-scale move-in due to redevelopment in Kumho and Oksu areas increased inbound population.

In particular, over the past five years, outbound moves of 3- and 4-person households have continuously decreased, while inbound moves of 1- and 2-person households have significantly increased. The number of 3- and 4-person households decreased by 4,720 households from 52,933 in 2016 to 48,213 at the end of 2020, while the number of 1- and 2-person households increased by 11,863 households from 75,794 in 2016 to a total of 87,657 households at the end of 2020.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “This year as well, we will do our best to create a ‘Seongdong, a city where people want to live’ by promoting policies that significantly improve the quality of life for our residents.”

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