Gyeonggi-do: "Delegation of Authority to Lift Development Restriction Zones Should Include the Seoul Metropolitan Area"

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to grant the authority to lift development restrictions on Greenbelt areas (GB) under 1 million square meters not only to non-metropolitan local governments but also to metropolitan area local governments.

Earlier, the Ministry of Land announced in its '2023 Major Work Promotion Plan' released on January 3 that it would push for a revision of the enforcement decree in the first half of 2023 to significantly expand the authority to lift Greenbelt restrictions (from areas under 300,000㎡ to under 1 million㎡) exclusively for non-metropolitan local governments. Previously, under the 2016 Greenbelt regulation improvement plan, the authority to lift Greenbelt restrictions on areas under 300,000㎡ was granted to local governments nationwide.

In response, the province stated on the 25th that it is unreasonable to discriminate against the metropolitan area by withholding delegated authority while development projects are restricted under the Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act, and jointly with the Council of Provincial Governors and the Central-Local Policy Council, requested the Ministry of Land to grant the lifting authority to metropolitan area local governments as well.

In the petition, the province argued that the current 'Regulations on Delegation and Entrustment of Administrative Authority' distinguish between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, which does not align with the purpose of the administrative delegation regulations.

Since being delegated the authority to lift Greenbelt restrictions on areas under 300,000㎡ in 2016, the province has promoted the largest number of projects nationwide, with eight projects totaling approximately 995,000㎡ of lifted area. These eight projects include major regional growth initiatives such as Pangyo 2nd Techno Valley, Goyang Drone Center, and Yangju Techno Valley.

Notably, the province is the only one nationwide to have established internal standards such as ▲Greenbelt Lifting Quantity Management Guidelines ▲Greenbelt Lifting Review Criteria ▲Integrated Guidelines for Greenbelt Lifting, systematically promoting the lifting of development restrictions.

Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Urban Housing Office of the province, explained the background of the petition, saying, "When delegating administrative authority, the capacity of the receiving institution is assessed, and since Gyeonggi Province cannot be considered less capable than other provinces, there is no reason to exclude it from delegation. If the authority to lift restrictions on areas under 1 million㎡ is delegated, the designation authority for urban development, industrial complexes, and logistics complexes will align, enabling the swift and efficient promotion of ongoing regional projects within the province."

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