Seoul City Launches 2nd Round of Shintong Planning Redevelopment Public Contest... Around 25,000 Housing Units to Be Selected Within the Year

Two-month public contest from 8/29 to 10/27... Preliminary review by autonomous districts in November, final selection by the end of December
Extra points for areas vulnerable to frequent flooding and dense semi-basement housing... Selection based on urgency of maintenance

The appearance of Changsin and Sungin areas in Jongno-gu, Seoul, which are private redevelopment candidate sites through the 'Rapid Integrated Planning' process. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] The Seoul Metropolitan Government, having selected 21 sites in December last year for the first 'Rapid Integrated Planning (hereafter, Sintong Planning) Housing Redevelopment' contest, will begin the second round of the contest starting this month.

On the 29th, Seoul announced that it will conduct the 'Sintong Planning Housing Redevelopment 2nd Contest' for two months from today until October 27. This year, compared to last year, the contest period has been sufficiently extended to expand participation opportunities, and a 'Consent Rate' has been added to the quantitative evaluation criteria to also assess the feasibility of the project based on residents' intentions.

Additionally, the city has rationally improved the contest criteria by reflecting the points for improvement from the first contest, such as introducing bonus points for habitual flood zones, flood-prone areas, areas densely populated with semi-basement houses, and consent rates. First, priority will be given to selecting areas urgently needing redevelopment by awarding bonus points to residential environment vulnerable areas.

Up to 5 points will be awarded per category for habitual flood or flood-prone areas with frequent flood damage records and areas densely populated with semi-basement houses. Among the districts applying for the contest, if more than 30% of the residential area includes ▲Natural Disaster Risk Improvement Districts ▲Flood Vulnerable Areas ▲Residential areas with flood history (referencing 'Flood Trace Maps', etc.), and the district mayor submits a judgment that it is a 'habitual flood or flood-prone area,' 5 bonus points will be awarded. Also, bonus points will be given starting from when semi-basement houses account for 50% or more of the total number of buildings, with a maximum of 5 points awarded if the ratio is 70% or higher.

Source=Seoul City Hall

Furthermore, the city has additionally specified exclusion criteria considering project feasibility and policy avoidance items beyond the existing exclusion criteria. Areas such as ▲Public Redevelopment, Moa Town, Urban Complex Projects, etc., which are candidates for other projects ▲Opposition of 30% or more ▲Exclusive residential areas remain excluded. ▲Areas with many households subject to cash settlement ▲Areas where multiple projects coexist ▲Areas where reasons for non-selection in the previous contest have not been resolved may be excluded from recommendation or selection if the district mayor's preliminary review or the selection committee deems the project difficult to proceed.

The application requirements for the contest remain the same as in the first round. Both ▲Meeting the legal and ordinance requirements for redevelopment designation and ▲Having 30% or more of landowners wishing for district designation must be fulfilled.

The legal requirements for redevelopment district designation include mandatory items (▲Two-thirds or more of buildings aged ▲District area of 10,000㎡ or more) and at least one of the optional items (▲Two-thirds or more of total floor area aged ▲Housing access rate 40% or less ▲Undersized lots 40% or more ▲Housing density 60 buildings/ha or more). However, for 'Residential Environment Improvement Project Areas,' consent from 50% or more of landowners, not 30%, is required to apply.

As with the first contest, areas such as urban regeneration zones and areas requiring urban management and preservation according to Seoul city policies may also be included. However, at the preliminary review stage, the district must consult in advance with related departments such as Seoul City, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Cultural Heritage Administration, and decide on candidate recommendations reflecting the consultation results. The city stated that urban regeneration areas and historical-cultural environment preservation areas are subject to prior consultation, and residents are urged to participate carefully as these areas require prior consultation procedures.

Districts wishing to participate in the contest must submit application forms, consent forms, and related documents to the respective district office by October 27. After application, the district will review and prepare a review report in November based on the 'district-specific evaluation' prepared by the city, and recommend up to four districts with the highest quantitative evaluation scores that meet the contest requirements to the city. Subsequently, the city will form a 'Selection Committee' including external experts in urban planning, architecture, law, and other fields to comprehensively consider the submitted materials and select the final candidates by the end of December.

Districts not selected in the second public redevelopment contest held on the 25th can also participate in the 'Sintong Planning Housing Redevelopment' second contest. Consent forms obtained before the contest start will be recognized only if collected after the first candidate selection date (December 27 last year) to clearly confirm residents' intention to participate.

Meanwhile, to block speculative forces, the city will uniformly apply January 28 of this year as the rights calculation standard date for the second contest and the public redevelopment contests next year, including Sintong Planning.

Detailed information about the contest can be found in the announcement posted on the 'Seoul City Website (Notices and Announcements)' or 'Comprehensive Maintenance Project Information (Data Room)'.

Source=Seoul City Hall

The 'Sintong Planning Housing Redevelopment Contest' is a system introduced last year to revitalize redevelopment projects in the city. A total of 102 sites from 24 districts participated in the first contest, and 21 final candidates were selected in December last year. Among them, two sites will start Sintong Planning from September, ten sites will begin projects after holding resident meetings from late August to early September, and the remaining nine sites aim to start after resident meetings in September and begin within October.

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