Breaking Bottlenecks in Moatown Projects: Seoul to Hold On-Site Construction Process Meetings at 31 Locations This Year

On March 9, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will expand its on-site construction process acceleration meetings, which were piloted last year at 10 Moatown locations (covering 46 areas), to 31 locations (covering 128 areas) this year.

Housing is set to be demolished in the Moatown area of Beondong Districts 1 to 5, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, on the 16th. Beondong Moatown in Gangbuk-gu, selected as the first Moatown project by the Seoul Metropolitan Government's redevelopment model for aging low-rise residential areas, has completed tenant relocations and is finally entering construction. This comes about three years after the city announced the Moatown and Moahouse advancement plans. Since January 2022, when the Moatown and Moahouse advancement plans were announced and Beondong Moatown was selected as a pilot project site, rapid progress has been made with full administrative support from both the city and Gangbuk-gu. Demolition began last month, with completion and move-in scheduled for 2028. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

원본보기 아이콘

Starting with Seongsan-dong in Mapo-gu on March 6, the city plans to hold on-site construction process acceleration meetings in 15 districts until May 22. Through these meetings and expert consultations, Seoul aims to resolve factors causing construction delays and mediate conflicts, with the goal of shortening the duration of Moahouse projects from the current 11 years to approximately 9 years.

The on-site construction process acceleration meetings are a core task of the Moahouse revitalization plan announced in August of last year. This is an administrative support program in which Seoul officials directly visit local governments and project sites to diagnose factors causing delays and propose solutions, providing hands-on support at the site level.

The meetings are attended by officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and local districts, resident representatives such as heads of associations, and experts in the fields of law, accounting, appraisal, urban planning, and architecture. The program operates as a "one-stop resolution system," where experts in each field provide advice tailored to specific issues at each site.

Key discussion topics include: ▲ Promoting construction progress through step-by-step schedule checks and discovering parallel approval procedures; ▲ Field communication, such as listening to residents’ difficulties and providing guidance on regulatory easing; ▲ Mediating conflicts between districts and adjusting building agreements.

During the meetings, issues that can be addressed immediately will be resolved on-site, while mid- and long-term issues requiring further review will be managed separately. If necessary, follow-up meetings will be held to continuously monitor the implementation of measures.

In the first pilot program conducted in November and December last year in Seongbuk-gu, Geumcheon-gu, and Jungnang-gu, factors causing delays were identified on-site and improvement plans were established. In Seokgwan-dong, Seongbuk-gu, public support measures were introduced to raise the consent rate for association establishment. In Siheung-dong, Geumcheon-gu, support measures for project financing loans from the Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) were provided to alleviate residents’ burden due to reduced relocation loan limits under the "October 15 Measures." In Myeonmok-dong, Jungnang-gu, expert advice was offered on applying the "project feasibility adjustment coefficient," addressing residents’ concerns.

Myeong Nojun, Director of Architectural Planning at Seoul Metropolitan Government, stated, “Bottlenecks in the project can ultimately lead to delays and additional conflicts. We will actively support the acceleration of Moahouse project timelines through expert consultations and administrative support.”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.