Seongnam City Strongly Protests Ministry of Land's "Follow-up Plan for First-Generation New Town Redevelopment"

Mayor Shin Sangjin:
"Contradictory measures, utterly unacceptable...
All-out response to protect residents' rights"

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Shin Sangjin) has strongly protested the "Follow-up Plan for the First-Generation New Town Redevelopment Project" announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on September 26, 2025. The city criticized the unreasonable restriction on the amount of redevelopment zones that can be designated and demanded revisions to laws related to "integrated development" as well as a reconsideration of the rejected alternative sites.

Seongnam City Hall exterior. Provided by Seongnam City Hall

According to the ministry's announcement, based on the "Relocation Measures Scenario within Living Zones," only Seongnam City among the five first-generation new towns (Seongnam, Goyang, Anyang, Bucheon, Gunpo) will be subject to annual limits and carryover restrictions for redevelopment projects.

As a result, Seongnam City must designate all 12,000 units scheduled for 2025 within that year; if it fails to do so, even a carryover to 2026 will not be allowed. In contrast, Goyang, Anyang, Bucheon, and Gunpo are permitted to exceed their annual quotas or carry them over, fueling controversy over fairness.

A Seongnam City official criticized, "This announcement is a measure that will stifle the Bundang reconstruction project and is in direct conflict with the 'Housing Supply Expansion Plan' announced on September 7. It is a contradictory decision that even denies the selection of pilot districts and the basic plan proposed by Seongnam City and agreed upon with the ministry in 2024. It is an utterly unacceptable decision."

Additionally, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport cited insufficient relocation measures as the reason for limiting Seongnam's quota. However, Seongnam City argued that this claim ignores the numerous proposals and alternatives it has repeatedly submitted and is therefore unacceptable.

To prepare for large-scale relocation demand, Seongnam City has been requesting support for relocation complexes since the Minister's visit to Bundang in May 2023, and reiterated these requests in September and December of the same year. The city also proposed lifting development restrictions on low-conservation-value areas to create relocation complexes. However, the ministry rejected these proposals, claiming "the housing market can naturally absorb the demand," and also refused the final three proposed areas and five methods due to mismatched supply timelines.

Mayor Shin Sangjin stated, "Seongnam City has been proactive in addressing relocation issues from the beginning, yet the ministry is uniquely blocking the expansion of quotas and even prohibiting the carryover of approved quotas only for Seongnam among the five new towns. This disregards the efforts of residents who have pinned their hopes on the reconstruction project."

He further emphasized, "Seongnam City will prioritize residents' rights and interests above all else and will mobilize all administrative resources to ensure the stable progress of the first-generation new town redevelopment project."

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