Gwangyang City, Brand Apartment Move-in Begins... Positive Signal for Population Influx

Continued Move-ins at Brand Apartments Reflect Optimism for Urban Growth

Diverse Citizen-Centered Projects Drive Population Recovery and Turn Crisis into Opportunity

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Amid ongoing nationwide population decline and a decrease in Jeonnam’s population this year, Gwangyang City in Jeonnam is experiencing repeated slight increases and decreases in population each month.

In the first half of the year, the population slightly increased due to the move-in of new apartment complexes, and in the second half, it slightly rose again due to disaster relief fund payments. However, since early this year, the designation of real estate adjustment areas has dampened investment sentiment, coupled with the construction of large-scale apartments in neighboring cities and the outflow of young people to the Seoul metropolitan area, leading to a shift toward a declining trend.

As of the end of September, the registered population of Gwangyang City was counted at 151,021, comprising 78,399 males and 71,722 females.

The city has set its population policy direction with a two-track strategy of ‘population inflow and retention’ and is implementing more intensive and impactful policies.

In particular, the Gwangyang-style land development project, which has been underway to create premium residential complexes, is now in full swing and is expected to play a key role in population recovery.

Starting with the move-in of new apartment complexes in the Gwangyeong and Uiam districts and Wau district in February, on October 22, 496 households of Gwangyang-eup Deokjin Gwangyang’s Bom Plus will begin moving in, followed by 1,140 households of Seonghwang district Prugio The First on October 29.

In December, 500 households of the POSCO dormitory in Geumho-dong are scheduled to move in.

Despite the real estate market downturn and ongoing population decline due to the adjustment area designation, the continued construction of branded apartment complexes in Gwangyang is analyzed as reflecting expectations for urban growth.

Gwangyang has growth engines such as the steel and port industries as its main industries, new industries including renewable energy hydrogen and secondary batteries, and the economic free zone. It also has significant development potential compared to other cities, including the development of the South Sea southern central region encompassing the eastern part of Jeonnam and the western part of Gyeongnam.

Additionally, while the national average total fertility rate last year was 0.837, below one child per woman, Gwangyang’s rate was 1.232, ranking first among cities in Jeollanam-do for two consecutive years, and it is a region where the number of births exceeds the number of deaths.

Among cities and counties in Jeollanam-do, Gwangyang has the highest youth ratio, and compared to neighboring cities, its real estate prices are relatively affordable. Recently, major branded apartments such as Prugio, Xi, and The Sharp have shown strong sales performance, further affirming its appeal and competitiveness as a city.

Especially, the ‘Gwangyang City Youth Housing Loan Interest Support Project’ aimed at stabilizing housing for young people is a representative project that differentiates the city from others.

Unlike other local governments that typically only support jeonse (long-term deposit lease) funds, Gwangyang supports loan interest up to 3% within a maximum of 15 million KRW not only for ‘jeonse funds’ but also for ‘housing purchase funds’ targeting youth aged 19 to 39, including job seekers, early-career workers, and single workers, helping to stabilize youth housing.

With new apartment move-ins scheduled for October, among the 58 recent applicants for support, 20 are residents from outside the region, and inquiries and consultations have increased compared to usual, raising expectations for population inflow.

The city plans to enhance citizens’ quality of life by promoting detailed and intensive population policies with a long-term perspective to increase the possibility of population inflow and retention.

To this end, until the end of this month, the city will expand ‘visiting population education’ to improve public awareness, targeting citizens and students to raise awareness of the importance of population.

On the 15th, a ‘Population Plus Citizen Policy Forum’ will be held to actively listen to the demands of policy users, and on the 23rd, a ‘non-face-to-face meeting event for unmarried men and women’ will be promoted to encourage marriage and childbirth.

Until the end of the year, all administrative efforts will focus on the Population Plus policy, including departmental performance reviews, new project discovery meetings, and strengthened evaluation feedback.

Cho Sun-mi, Director of Strategic Policy, said, “Although various variables such as the designation of real estate adjustment areas and the outflow of young people affect population decline, Gwangyang remains a city with high development potential.”

She added, “We will do our best to ensure that opportunities such as job creation linked to various new growth industries and the construction of branded apartments resulting from urban development projects lead to population inflow.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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