Seoul to Expand "Moa Centers" for Alley Management, Mirroring Apartment Management Offices

Status of Moa Centers Operation as of March This Year. Seoul Metropolitan Government

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on March 23 that it will increase the number of "Moa Centers," which serve as public apartment management offices responsible for alley patrols, facility inspections, and minor repairs, from the current 13 locations to 28.

Moa Centers are facilities that provide management services, on par with apartment management offices, directly by the public sector in low-rise residential areas densely populated with single-family homes, multi-family houses, and multiplex housing. Introduced in 2023, they are helping to reduce gaps in management services based on housing types.

This year, the city plans to add 15 more Moa Centers and introduce a new small-scale customized model to build an expanded management network. Currently, Moa Centers in 6 districts (13 locations) manage low-rise residential areas covering a total area equivalent to 380 soccer fields (2.7 km²). Last year, each center provided an average of 1,715 community-based services annually and conducted 620 regular and ad hoc patrols per center.

According to a user satisfaction survey conducted from July to December last year, with 104 participants, the overall satisfaction rate was 99%. Reflecting residents' needs, the city will introduce a "small-scale customized model" this year, which will allow for immediate responses even in peripheral alleys and smaller living areas. After a public call for applications from districts this month and the selection of target sites in April, the new model will begin full-scale operations in the second half of the year.

The new Moa Centers will utilize vacant public spaces to reduce installation costs and enhance mobility, creating an "ultra-close life-management system" that improves field accessibility and fills the management gap in low-rise residential areas that existing hub-type centers have not fully reached.

Meanwhile, to further strengthen the public and professional aspects of low-rise residential area management, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will improve the selection criteria for "community managers" who work at Moa Centers and refine the performance management system, thereby upgrading the overall operation. While community managers were previously selected as general participants, from the second half of this year, career and physical fitness evaluations will be newly introduced to recruit specialized personnel for field operations.

Choi Jinseok, Housing Policy Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "Moa Center is an example of advancing the low-rise residential area management policy from a series of fragmented projects to an integrated management system," adding, "We will continue to expand the policy so that all residents in low-rise residential areas are guaranteed basic living safety and housing services."

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