Gyeonggi Province's Gwangmyeong has asked redevelopment projects in the Cheolsan and Haan districts to add public rental housing, drawing growing pushback from reconstruction associations and redevelopment committees. The city had earlier allowed projects to earn floor-area-ratio incentives by choosing items such as green building instead of rental housing, and many sites drew up their redevelopment plans accordingly — only to face disruptions when the rental housing issue surfaced midway. With critics saying the local government is adding uncertainty to redevelopment, first-generation new towns pursuing rebuilding in a similar way are also watching closely.
According to the redevelopment industry on the 24th, the Cheolsan-Haan Reconstruction Alliance is stepping up collective resistance, submitting a statement to the city a day earlier that urged Gwangmyeong to immediately withdraw its request for additional public rental housing. The group is also collecting a joint signature drive from owners calling for a halt to the demand.
The conflict between the local government and residents of the redevelopment sites was sparked when Gwangmyeong sent an official letter on the 19th to reconstruction associations and designated developers in the Cheolsan and Haan housing districts, requesting that public rental housing be incorporated. Until then, redevelopment sites across the Gwangmyeong area had drawn up their plans by securing a 330% floor area ratio using other incentive items — green building, zero-energy buildings (ZEB) and intelligent buildings — rather than public rental housing.
With the request to add public rental housing coming after projects had already progressed to some degree, concerns are growing over weaker project economics and delays. An official at a reconstruction association in the Haan area said, "Following the city's guidance that incentive items could be chosen, we drew up plans by securing floor area ratio using other items, and there was no discussion that public rental housing had to be included."
Gwangmyeong says it sent the letter out of necessity, as a matter of welfare for vulnerable housing groups. A city official explained, "It would have been better to make rental housing mandatory from the start, but because it was run as an optional item, no complex chose rental housing in the early stages. As welfare for vulnerable housing groups is also important, we were compelled to request that public rental housing be incorporated."
As resident opposition intensified, Gwangmyeong held a meeting on the same day with reconstruction associations, preparatory committees and project operators, but the two sides reportedly failed to narrow their differences. The city explained the intent behind incorporating rental housing, but the residents and project operators in attendance held firm in their opposition to public rental housing. One official who attended the meeting said, "The city asked us to prepare alternatives for each complex, but given the strong resident opposition, we agreed to consult again later," adding, "Residents are unlikely to move much from their position of demanding the plan's withdrawal."
Redevelopment sites in first-generation new towns such as Bundang, Ilsan and Pyeongchon are also watching closely to see how the conflict unfolds, as fulfilling public contributions in exchange for floor-area-ratio incentives is one of the key issues for those towns as well. A reconstruction official in Pyeongchon said, "The city has not proposed rental housing before, and we have already planned public contributions through other equivalent facilities. If public rental housing is requested on top of that, owners will push back hard."
A real estate expert who requested anonymity said, "It is hard to take issue with supplying public rental housing itself, but when demands that differ from existing plans emerge after a project has advanced considerably, trust in the administration can decline from residents' point of view, and delays may be unavoidable. As specific standards for incorporating rental housing have yet to be set, efforts to find a middle ground are needed."
