Urban Complex Project Accelerates Again... Yangjae-dong, a Candidate for 'Gangnam No.1', Gains Momentum

Villa area in Seoul. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The sluggish urban public housing complex project is expected to accelerate again as measures to revitalize it are being explored. Although there were high expectations of policy withdrawal under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which emphasized private-led housing supply, it appears that a decision has been made recently to continue the project through institutional improvements. In particular, the pace of project promotion is accelerating around the aging residential areas in Seocho-gu, which had been passive about public-led development projects, raising expectations for the emergence of the ‘Gangnam No.1’ candidate site.

According to the maintenance industry on the 17th, the owners of Yangjae 2-dong District 1 in Seocho-gu surpassed 67% resident consent on the 13th. They launched a redevelopment promotion committee (tentative name) last November and began the resident consent process for applying for the urban public housing complex project.

In Yangjae 2-dong District 1, which is still at the candidate site application stage, the resident consent rate exceeded two-thirds, the requirement for designation as a main district, so the pace is expected to pick up once it is designated as a candidate site. In fact, among the 65 areas selected as candidate sites, only 8 have been designated as main districts, and only 26, or 40% of the total, meet the designation requirements. This indicates a strong desire among local residents to promote the project.

Yangjae 2-dong District 1 is located in the vicinity of Yangjae Citizen’s Forest Station on the Shinbundang Line. It is a Type 2 General Residential Area, with a site area of 134,000 square meters, housing about 2,200 households and neighborhood living facilities. Despite its excellent location, redevelopment has not been promoted because the increasing number of newly built apartment complexes has prevented the area from meeting the aging criteria.

Lower Aging Criteria Than Redevelopment and High Preference for Benefits Such as 1+1 Move-in Rights

The ‘Urban Public Housing Complex Project’ is a public-led development project introduced as part of the Moon Jae-in administration’s 2.4 Plan. The project showed sluggish progress after the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which emphasized private-led housing supply. However, it seems that the government has recently decided to maintain the project by addressing current institutional shortcomings and preparing revitalization measures.

This project focuses on public-led high-density development to supply housing in station areas, low-rise residential areas, and semi-industrial zones. Residents receive incentives such as floor area ratio benefits, urban regulation relaxations, and the project proceeds through a public-led fast track that simplifies integrated reviews and permit procedures.

The owners of Yangjae 2-dong District 1 turned to the urban public housing complex project because of the aging criteria. Currently, District 1 is seeing an increase in newly built villas, so to meet the private redevelopment aging standard of ‘two-thirds of buildings being over 30 years old,’ they would have to wait more than 10 years. However, by choosing the urban public housing complex project, the station area standard of ‘over 60% of buildings being more than 20 years old’ applies, allowing immediate redevelopment promotion.

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