About 18,000 homes will be built in major residential areas of Seoul, including the Seocho and Songpa districts and the Yongsan and Mapo districts, through the public-led urban housing complex program. The newly selected candidate sites include the Gangnam area for the first time and add locations near major subway stations and the Han River, drawing attention to whether inner-city housing supply will gain momentum.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 30th that it had selected 11 sites in Seoul as new candidates for the urban public housing complex program. The plan calls for 17,881 homes. Gwangjin District has the most with two sites, followed by one each in the Seocho, Songpa, Yongsan, Mapo, Gangseo, Guro, Seongbuk, Yangcheon and Eunpyeong districts. The sites were narrowed down from 44 resident proposals submitted during an open call from March to May, based on evaluations of building age, project feasibility and the share of residents in favor.
The candidate sites in the Gangnam area stand out. Plans call for 918 homes east of Isu Station in Seocho District's Bangbae-dong and 935 homes near Olympic Park in Songpa District's Bangi-dong. The site east of Isu Station, the first candidate site in Seocho District, is close to a transfer station on subway lines 4 and 7. In Mapo District, an area near Mangwon Sports Park was named a candidate site for the first time. The 940-home site is a 10-minute walk from Mangwon Han River Park.
The largest developments are concentrated in Yongsan and Yangcheon. The site north of Hyochang Park Station in Yongsan District will have 4,040 homes and sits next to a transfer station on subway line 6 and the Gyeongui-Jungang Line. The site south of Yeomchang Station in Yangcheon District's Mok-dong will have 4,222 homes, the largest among the candidate sites. Together, the two account for 8,262 homes, or about 46% of the total planned supply.
Other sites include 1,663 homes east of Achasan Station in Gwangjin District and 2,335 homes east of Hwagok Station in Gangseo District. Of the total candidate sites, six are high-density residential and commercial zones located near subway stations, while five are housing supply revitalization zones in areas of low-rise housing.
The urban public housing complex program is led by public entities such as the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) to increase housing supply in city centers. It skips steps such as forming an association and drawing up a management and disposal plan, and offers additional incentives, including higher floor area ratios, compared with private redevelopment projects. Even after a site is selected as a candidate, however, the project must still secure resident consent and go through zone designation and project plan approval.
The government will hold briefings for residents in October and designate the sites as planned zones in the first half of next year, with groundbreaking targeted for the second half of 2030. Another open call covering the greater Seoul area will be held in the first half of next year. Sites not selected this time can reapply after addressing issues such as the share of residents in favor or the project boundaries.
"The urban complex program is a key redevelopment tool that can quickly meet housing demand in city centers," said Jung Woo-jin, head of the ministry's housing supply promotion office. "Having promised to expand the urban complex program through the Aug. 13 measures, we will make sure the process does not stop at selecting candidate sites but that follow-up steps such as zone designation and project plan approval proceed without setbacks."
