Designation of Gwangju Sangmu District as an 'Urban Convergence Special Zone'

Ministry of Land Approves Basic Plan... Completion by 2031
Reduction of Public Land Usage Fees and Development Charges
City Develops Innovation Platform for 'Jobs, Housing, and Leisure'

Basic Concept Plan for Gwangju 'Urban Convergence Special Zone'.
[Image provided by Gwangju City]

The Sangmu District in Gwangju has been designated as an Urban Convergence Special Zone. Gwangju City plans to develop it into a young and attractive innovation platform space that concentrates advanced and venture jobs, life, and leisure in the city center.

According to Gwangju City on the 7th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designated 852,693㎡ of the Sangmu District area in Seo-gu, Gwangju as an Urban Convergence Special Zone, approved the basic plan, and officially announced it.

The Urban Convergence Special Zone project promotes complex development that concentrates jobs (industry), life (residential), and leisure (commercial and cultural) in the downtown areas of local large cities where existing transportation and cultural infrastructure can be utilized. The goal is to focus government-wide corporate support projects to foster corporate investment and create youth jobs.

The Gwangju Urban Convergence Special Zone is adjacent to the city center, making it advantageous for industry-academia-research cooperation and agglomeration, and it has excellent economic growth potential. The city will invest a total project cost of 1.579 trillion KRW to develop 852,693㎡ of the Sangmu District area as an Urban Convergence Special Zone. Additionally, a related project will be promoted on a nearby 91,298㎡ area.

The Urban Convergence Special Zone will promote ▲smart advanced specialized projects ▲medical and digital convergence projects ▲research and development (R&D) innovation projects ▲MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and cultural convergence projects. Related projects currently underway include Gwangju-type integrated public rental housing and the Sangmu Complex Community Center, and plans are also in place to build the second exhibition hall of the Gwangju Medical Center and the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center.

The city plans to provide tailored comprehensive support at each growth stage?including R&D, consulting, market analysis, technology testing, commercialization, market development, employment, and finance?through the Enterprise Comprehensive Support Center and others for young entrepreneurs wishing to start businesses within the Urban Convergence Special Zone.

To this end, the city aims to designate the special zone project implementer and establish an implementation plan by 2026, proceed sequentially with land compensation, and complete the project by 2031.

Once designated as an Urban Convergence Special Zone, various fees such as national and public land usage fees and development charges will be reduced. If requested by local governments, the government can prioritize designation as R&D special zones or regulatory free zones. In particular, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to additionally designate enterprise-dense areas within the Urban Convergence Special Zone as Opportunity Development Zones, enabling tax support for resident companies and customized housing support for corporate employees.

Mayor Kang Ki-jung stated, “With the new designation of the Urban Convergence Special Zone following the Opportunity Development Zone, Gwangju has laid the foundation for a new leap forward,” and added, “We will do our best to create an innovation platform space where jobs overflow and life and leisure can be enjoyed.”

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