Incheon City Eases Construction Restrictions Around Cultural Heritage... 17.2㎢ of Preservation Areas Released

The designated cultural heritage preservation area in Incheon City has been significantly reduced for the first time in 20 years, allowing residents more freedom to exercise their property rights, such as construction activities in the surrounding areas.

The city announced an adjustment plan for the permitted standards of construction activities, focusing on easing regulations in the designated cultural heritage 'historical and cultural environment preservation areas.' The preservation area has been reduced from the current 500m to 300m, and construction standards for 55 out of 89 city-designated cultural heritage sites have also been relaxed.

The 'historical and cultural environment preservation area' serves as a buffer zone between cultural heritage sites and outer areas, protecting the value of the cultural heritage. For green zones and non-urban areas, the preservation area was previously within 500m from the outer boundary, but this has now been reduced to 300m. The urban area radius remains at 200m.

Among the 55 city-designated cultural heritage sites, 17.2㎢ around 34 sites have been released from regulatory restrictions due to this measure. This area is about six times the size of Yeouido (2.9㎢) and accounts for 54.8% of the total regulated area. This is the first change in the scope of historical and cultural environment preservation areas in Incheon since the system was introduced in 2003.

Ganghwa Bupung-ri Jeomgol Dolmen, a cultural heritage designated by Incheon City [Photo provided by Incheon City]

Additionally, the permitted standards for construction activities at 55 city-designated cultural heritage sites will be eased.

First, considering the degree and possibility of surrounding development, nine general burial grounds in urban areas that do not directly affect historical and cultural environment preservation have been designated under other legal zones, lifting cultural heritage regulations. This includes 'Yeongil Jeongssi Dongchun Burial Ground' in Dongchun-dong, Yeonsu-gu, and 'Yeongsin-gun Yi Yi Tomb' in Jakjeon-dong, Gyeyang-gu.

Notably, among the 55 designated cultural heritage sites, Ganghwa-gun accounts for 24 sites, about 44% of the total, and the largest regulatory areas in green and non-urban zones have been lifted. Many areas that had been restricted from development due to being set as historical and cultural environment preservation areas around dolmens and fortresses will benefit from this change.

The city had attempted to revise related ordinances in 2014 to accommodate residents' demands for deregulation, but the effort failed due to lack of agreement with the Cultural Heritage Administration at that time. This year, after revising the ordinance, the standards for cultural heritage preservation areas were adjusted.

An Incheon city official stated, "We minimized citizen inconvenience by imposing only the necessary regulations to protect cultural heritage," adding, "the remaining 34 city-designated cultural heritage sites will undergo a second-phase survey in the second half of this year."

Yeongsin-gun Yi Yi's Tomb, a cultural heritage designated by Incheon City [Photo provided by Incheon City]

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