SH, GH and iH Explore Their Roles as 'Community Designers' in Addressing a Super-Aged Society and Low Birth Rates

[Financial News] Seoul Housing & Urban Development (SH) has joined forces with Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development (GH) and Incheon Housing & City Development (iH) to develop innovative public housing measures addressing the super-aged society and low birth rates.
SH said on the 21st that the three organizations jointly held the '2026 Joint Seminar of the Capital Region Public Corporation Research Council.' The seminar was organized to explore future directions for community support and housing services in public housing complexes in response to the country's rapid transition into a super-aged society, care gaps caused by the low birth rate, and social isolation resulting from the growing number of single-person and elderly households.
At the seminar, the SH Urban Research Institute presented an operational strategy for community services in public housing to enable continued residence in local communities. It drew attention by proposing a 'Seoul-style AIC (Aging in Community)' model that would use public housing complexes as hubs for integrated care.
Kim Young-guk, the lead researcher who delivered the presentation, assessed that about 31,000 of the 96,242 older adults living in SH rental housing—approximately 32.2%—were in a pre-frail state. The analysis found that supporting these residents in maintaining independent daily lives could reduce annual social costs by up to approximately 153.4 billion won. Kim therefore stressed the urgent need to convert spaces such as senior citizens' centers within the complexes into 'senior rest areas' or 'well-aging centers' according to local conditions, and to introduce an operating model that organically connects residents with local welfare resources through housing welfare specialists and community leaders.
Academics and specialized research institutions also delivered in-depth presentations on various topics. Kim Young-uk, a professor in the Department of Architecture at Sejong University, proposed plans for developing urban areas and residential complexes based on spatial-structure analysis to revitalize communities. Park Seok-gyu, head of the iH Urban Research Team, introduced housing models with customized childcare and senior-community features to address low birth rates and population aging.
During the ensuing panel discussion, moderated by Lim Gwang-bin, head of GH's Urban Housing Research Division, experts from the Incheon Institute, The Seoul Institute, the Gyeonggi Research Institute, the LH Land and Housing Research Institute and the Korea Housing Services Society engaged in a lively debate. The panelists agreed that public housing providers should go beyond simply supplying homes and boldly expand their role into that of 'community designers' who plan and operate living spaces where relationships among residents can develop and care can be shared across generations.
SH President Hwang Sang-ha said, "The importance of care and social relationships has grown more than ever amid the rise of the super-aged society, low birth rates and single-person households." He emphasized, "Public housing providers will faithfully fulfill their role as community designers by going beyond building good homes to helping create communities where residents can communicate with and care for one another."

[email protected] Jeon Min-gyeong Reporter