'13 Years of Stagnation' Sillim 1 District Accelerates Redevelopment with Rapid Integrated Planning

Public Planning Renamed to Rapid Integrated Planning
Mayor Oh Se-hoon Visits Sillim 1 District to Check Progress

Location map of Sillim 1 District. (Provided by Seoul City)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's 'Public Planning' redevelopment project is being renamed 'Rapid Integrated Planning.' On the 14th, Mayor Oh visited the first project site, Sillim 1 District in Gwanak-gu, to check on the progress. Sillim 1 District had experienced redevelopment stagnation for 13 years, but the city’s active intervention last year has accelerated the project.

During the site visit, Mayor Oh announced that the name 'Public Planning' would be changed to 'Rapid Integrated Planning,' emphasizing that "the core is active communication between the residents, who are the main agents of the project, and the public sector."

This name change was made based on the judgment that city-led redevelopment projects could cause confusion with terms like public redevelopment and reconstruction. A city official explained, "It is to clarify the nature of the system where the private sector leads and the public sector supports."

'Rapid Integrated Planning' refers to projects where the private sector leads development and the public sector supports planning and procedures. Seoul City, local districts, and residents form a one-team approach to integrate the complex redevelopment procedures into a single unified plan. The authority to implement the project and select designers and contractors rests entirely with the residents. The city stated that this could significantly shorten the designation process of redevelopment zones, which usually takes five years, to two years.

The Sillim 1 District, visited by Mayor Oh, is a representative aging low-rise residential area in the southwest of Seoul. Originally a settlement for relocated demolition victims in the 1970s, it was designated as a redevelopment promotion zone in 2008 to improve poor living conditions, but the project had been stalled due to resident conflicts.

However, after being selected as a target for 'Rapid Integrated Planning' by the city in June last year, and following several meetings among the public sector, the union management, and residents, the city provided guidelines that led to resident consensus, putting the project back on track.

The union plans to hold a general meeting next month to gather opinions on the Rapid Integrated Planning proposal jointly developed with the public sector. Afterwards, the redevelopment plan decision will be finalized through resident review, district council hearings, and public hearings. Through Rapid Integrated Planning, the floor area ratio will be increased from 230% to 259%, and the number of households will expand from the original 2,886 to around 4,000.

The city also plans to apply the 'Stream Renaissance' project, which transforms adjacent waterfront spaces such as small streams and natural waterways into citizen living spaces. The goal is to restore Dorimcheon Branch 2, which was covered and is currently used as a road and sewer due to past urban development, back to a natural stream and reorganize the urban structure centered on waterfronts.

A Seoul city official said, "The Dorimcheon Branch 2 restoration project will be fully funded by the city," adding, "The union is considering creating a waterfront park along the restored stream and providing it to the city as a public contribution."

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