LH Begins Urban Regeneration Innovation District Project in Gumi Gongdan-dong
by Mun Jewon
Published 11 Aug.2021 10:29(KST)
Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) announced on the 11th that it will officially begin the 'Gumi Gongdan-dong Urban Regeneration Innovation District' project in collaboration with Gumi City.
The Gumi Gongdan-dong Urban Regeneration Innovation District is one of the four urban regeneration innovation districts announced by the government in 2019 to accelerate urban regeneration projects and enhance residents' experience.
The urban regeneration innovation district is a district-level development project led by local governments and public entities such as LH to rapidly create regional hubs where residential, commercial, and industrial functions are concentrated, maximizing regeneration effects.
Although the Gumi Gongdan-dong Urban Regeneration Innovation District project was delayed after being designated as a national pilot city in 2019, LH's participation has created a turning point for revitalizing the project.
The Gumi National Industrial Complex, the project site, is Korea's largest and first national industrial complex established in the 1970s, but it is currently in a depressed state due to restructuring of the IT-centered industrial structure and the outflow of companies to the metropolitan area, with factory operating rates falling below 60%.
The government plans to create an innovative hub combining corporate innovation spaces, worker housing and childcare facilities, commercial areas, and parking lots as living SOC through this project.
A total project cost of 173.8 billion KRW will be invested in the area around Gongdan-dong 249 to develop the Industrial Convergence Innovation District (A), Medical and Health Convergence District (B1), and Worker Coexistence Complex District (B2).
LH will be entrusted with the project by Gumi City to oversee the entire project and will bear 30.7 billion KRW of the project cost to create and operate 196 units of Happy Housing. Gumi City will purchase land and buildings in the innovation district target area and handle various administrative supports related to the construction of the Innovation Support Center and public parking lots.
They plan to thoroughly carry out follow-up tasks to ensure timely project implementation, aiming for approval of the implementation plan in the second half of next year and groundbreaking in early 2023.
Kim Baek-yong, head of LH's Urban Regeneration Headquarters, said, "This project is the only one among the national pilot projects for urban regeneration innovation districts implemented in industrial complexes," adding, "We will make the Gumi Industrial Complex a model for revitalizing old industrial complexes nationwide."
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