Urgent Call for Amendment of Nowon-gu Ordinance to Pre-Fund Reconstruction Safety Inspection Costs

January 11 to February 10: Signature Campaign Urging Amendment of City Ordinance to Support Reconstruction Safety Inspection Costs

70,435 Participants Express Residents' Desire for Swift Reconstruction and Better Living Environment

Before the First Session of Seoul Metropolitan Council, Private Committee Members of the Rapid Promotion Team to Deliver Petition in Person

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will deliver a petition containing the voices of over 70,000 residents calling for the swift promotion of reconstruction to the Seoul Metropolitan Council and Seoul City.

This is to convey the residents' strong desire for a pleasant living environment and urge the amendment of the Seoul Metropolitan Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Ordinance, which allows the district to advance reconstruction safety inspection costs upfront and recover them before completion approval, amid the risk of the ordinance revision being scrapped.

Nowon-gu has the highest number of apartments over 30 years old among Seoul’s autonomous districts, with 55 complexes and approximately 74,000 households this year. Due to aging water pipes causing rust, burdensome heating and cooling costs, noise between floors, and insufficient parking, the poor living environment is causing rapid population outflow to nearby new towns.

The district judged that improving the residential environment through swift reconstruction is a crucial task to prevent population outflow and strengthen urban competitiveness. Therefore, it conducted a signature campaign urging the amendment of the city ordinance that, unlike higher laws, forces residents to bear reconstruction safety inspection costs.

From January 11 to February 10, the district posted an online petition on the district office website and placed offline petition forms at the district office and 19 community service centers. Participation was also enabled via QR codes on posters and banners.

The signature campaign was led by the Nowon-gu Reconstruction and Redevelopment Rapid Promotion Team, a public-private consultative body formed on September 6 last year with 85 participants including members of the National Assembly, city and district councilors, civic groups, and experts. The total number of signatures far exceeded the initial goal of 50,000, reaching 70,435.

Before the first session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council begins, about 10 private committee members of the Rapid Promotion Team will personally visit the council’s standing committees and the Seoul City Housing Policy Office to deliver the petition.

Nowon-gu is taking the lead in amending the Seoul city ordinance because, despite the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announcing the ‘Rationalization Plan for Reconstruction Safety Inspections’ on December 8 last year and easing safety inspection standards, many complexes face conflicts during the stage of collecting safety inspection costs amounting to hundreds of millions of won per household, delaying reconstruction promotion.

Currently, the higher law, the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act, stipulates that safety inspection costs “may be borne by the party requesting the safety inspection” as a discretionary provision. Accordingly, several local governments in the metropolitan area support safety inspection costs. In contrast, the Seoul Metropolitan Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Ordinance mandates as a compulsory provision that “the party requesting the safety inspection must bear all costs related to the safety inspection.”

To resolve this issue, the district submitted the amendment of the city ordinance as an agenda item at the 173rd District Mayors’ Council in October last year and successfully passed the original proposal. It has also actively engaged in discussions, including meetings with the Seoul City Housing Policy Office Director.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “Through the delivery of this petition with 70,000 signatures, I hope the Seoul Metropolitan Council and Seoul City recognize the sincere desire of residents for swift reconstruction promotion. Thanks to the easing of safety inspection standards, six complexes have become eligible for reconstruction so far, and we will spare no support at the district level to ensure other complexes can also proceed with reconstruction quickly.”

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