Seongdong District Mayor Jung Wonoh: "Delegating Maintenance Zone Designation to Districts Will Accelerate Housing Supply"

Emphasizing the Need for Institutional Improvements
Through Cooperation Between the Central Government and Seoul City

Jung Wonoh, Mayor of Seongdong District in Seoul, pointed out that the Seoul-centric approval structure for maintenance projects is causing a bottleneck in housing supply, stating, "The authority to designate maintenance zones should be delegated to district governments."

Kim Yoonduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is visiting the Seongsu 1 District housing reconstruction and maintenance project site together with Jung Wono, Mayor of Seongdong District. Provided by Seongdong District.

On October 28, during an inspection of the Seongsu 1 District housing reconstruction and maintenance project with Kim Yoonduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mayor Jung said, "There are as many as 1,054 maintenance zones in Seoul, but since all must go through the same procedures via a single Seoul City channel, administrative delays have become severe."

He explained, "Small- and medium-sized projects with fewer than 1,000 units account for 79.6% of the total, but only contribute 27.9% of the supply. On the other hand, large-scale projects require significant time for administrative processing, which slows the overall supply pace." He further diagnosed, "This bottleneck occurs because the authority to designate maintenance zones is concentrated in Seoul City."

Mayor Jung stated, "If only the authority to designate maintenance zones were delegated to district governments, district mayors could directly reflect on-site conditions and residents' opinions when establishing plans. If urban planning, architecture, and environmental reviews were also conducted at the district level, administrative speed would improve dramatically."

He also emphasized, "If the initial decision-making authority for maintenance projects is decentralized, subsequent procedures such as association establishment, project implementation approval, and management disposition approval could also be shortened in sequence. We need to create institutional conditions that enable district governments to exercise responsible administration."

He added, "Awareness of issues on the ground is leading to institutional improvements. If the central government resolves bottlenecks and local governments enhance execution, the pace of housing supply in Seoul will undoubtedly change." He continued, "Seongdong District will fulfill its responsibilities and role as a local government working with the central government to devise solutions."

Kim Yoonduk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who attended the meeting, responded, "Maintenance projects are a key means of expanding housing supply, and delays in the approval process are the biggest bottleneck. We will actively pursue decentralization of authority and institutional improvements in cooperation with the National Assembly, Seoul City, and district governments."

Provided by Seongdong-gu.

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