Gangnam-gu Strengthens Moa Town Application Standard Agreement Rate to 50%, First Among Autonomous Districts

Under current Seoul city standards, projects can be applied for with only 30% consent rate, intensifying resident conflicts and causing future project difficulties... City proposes applying own criteria of '50% owner consent + over 40% land area' to select areas with high project feasibility

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) has become the first autonomous district to establish application criteria for the Moa Town project and strengthen the consent rate requirements for property owners. This was done to supplement the Seoul city standard, which allows applications if more than 30% of owners agree, by creating its own criteria. Accordingly, from the 21st, in Gangnam-gu, at least 50% of property owners and 40% of the land area must consent to apply for the project.

Recently, in the selection committee for the 3rd Seoul Moa Town target sites, three Gangnam-gu sites (areas around Yeoksam 2-dong, Samsung 2-dong, and Gaepo 4-dong) were not selected. The reason given was that compared to other autonomous districts, Gangnam-gu has relatively good infrastructure, making Moa Town redevelopment for improving aging low-rise residential areas inappropriate. Additionally, there were high levels of resident opposition and concerns about speculation, leading to opinions that future project promotion such as establishing associations was uncertain.

Accordingly, the district judged that strengthening the consent rate is necessary to select areas where the Moa Town project is truly needed. The current system, which allows Moa Town proposals if more than 30% of owners agree regardless of land area, was seen as causing conflicts among residents and lowering the feasibility of project promotion. In reality, after selection, establishing an association requires consent from more than 80% of owners and 67% of the land area, so the 30% figure is not practical.

Moreover, even if a proposal fails, it can be easily reapplied without resolving the reasons for non-selection, which intensifies conflicts and wastes administrative resources.

Therefore, the district decided to apply a standard requiring consent from at least 50% of owners and 40% of the land area during application and prior consultation for resident proposals, so that there is no large discrepancy with the consent rate needed for association establishment.

Also, if areas with good infrastructure that were not selected reapply, the district plans to review whether the reasons for non-selection have been resolved through consultation with the District Urban Planning Committee. Areas with overlapping non-application cases will also be included in the consultation. This strategy aims to increase the selection criteria and validity to gain the Seoul city’s justification for the Moa Town project in the Gangnam area.

Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, stated, “We have prepared our own measures to ensure that the Moa Town project, which improves aging residential areas, can be carried out in areas where it is truly necessary. Through this, we will resolve resident conflicts and strictly manage the process so that Gangnam-gu does not become a hotbed of speculation due to indiscriminate applications.”

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