South Chungcheong Province to Expand Naepo New Town to 5 Million Pyeong... Sets Its Sights on Attracting Second-Round Public Institutions

[Financial News, Hongseong County = Reporter Kim Won-joon] South Chungcheong Province has begun redesigning Naepo New Town, the Chungnam Innovation City, to significantly expand its scale and functions in line with the government's second round of public institution relocations to the regions. The plan calls for securing up to 2 million pyeong of additional land within the existing city area, strengthening the foundation for attracting public institutions, and dramatically improving living conditions to develop it into a true regional hub for the Chungcheong region.
According to Chungnam on the 25th, the province held a kickoff briefing session for a research project on setting the development direction for Chungnam Innovation City and identifying projects to improve living conditions at the provincial government’s main conference room that day, chaired by Hong Jong-wan, the administrative vice governor, with deputy county governors from Hongseong County and Yesan County, as well as urban planning and architecture experts, in attendance. The core of the study is to examine various ways to expand Naepo New Town, which currently covers 9.91 million square meters, or about 3 million pyeong, by as much as 6.61 million square meters, or about 2 million pyeong.
At present, Naepo New Town has limited available land for public institutions, housing, commercial use, and office development.
Chungnam plans to establish a phased development strategy tailored to the scale and nature of public institutions expected to relocate in the future, while proactively securing suitable sites for those relocations. At the same time, it will identify projects to improve living conditions in six areas — transportation, education, culture, sports, welfare, and the living environment — in order to raise the quality of life for employees of relocating institutions and local residents. The final proposal from the study will be released in May next year.
The province's move also aligns with the broader expansion of the metropolitan transportation network around Naepo New Town, including the opening of the Seohae Line double-track railway and the KTX direct-link project. Since improved transportation access is a key factor in decisions on relocating public institutions from the Seoul metropolitan area, Chungnam plans to center its expansion strategy on strengthening public transit and upgrading regional road networks to boost its competitiveness in attracting institutions.
In addition, Chungnam is not limiting its efforts to the relocation of public institutions. It is also pushing ahead with the creation of an industry-academia-research cluster linked to local carbon-neutral new industries and the Naepo High-tech Industrial Complex. The goal is to maximize synergies between relocating institutions and regionally specialized industries, creating a self-sustaining urban ecosystem where population inflows and job creation reinforce each other.
Hong Jong-wan, the administrative vice governor, said, "We will use the government's second round of public institution relocations as a decisive opportunity for Naepo New Town to make a fresh leap forward." He added, "Beyond a simple expansion of land, we will present a concrete roadmap to develop it into Chungnam's true core hub city, where related institutions are organically clustered."

[email protected] Kim Won-joon Reporter