Land Minister Hong Ji-seon calls for “speed” at Ilsan reconstruction site

[Financial News] Minister Hong Ji-seon of MOLIT, who visited Ilsan, where reconstruction has progressed more slowly than in other first-generation new towns, called on Goyang Special City to pick up the pace of its projects. Regarding the reconstruction of permanent public rental housing, he urged Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to give top priority to the housing stability of existing residents, including seniors and people with disabilities.
According to MOLIT on the 21st, Minister Hong visited Ilsan New Town in Goyang Special City, Gyeonggi Province, that morning and received a briefing on the redevelopment of aging planned cities at the social welfare center in Huindol Village Complex 4.
Ilsan is proceeding with the designation of special maintenance zones centered on four pilot districts: Hugok, Gangchon, Baeksong and Jeongbal. These complexes were selected as pilot districts on November 27, 2024. Baeksong Village Complexes 1, 2, 3 and 5 have 2,732 households; Hugok Village Complexes 3, 4, 10 and 15 have 2,564; Gangchon Village Complexes 3, 5, 7 and 8 have 3,616; and Jeongbal Village Complexes 2 and 3 have 262, for a total of 9,174 households.
Minister Hong emphasized, “Redevelopment projects in first-generation new towns are an important task for improving aging residential environments and expanding housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area. Since progress on the pilot district projects in Ilsan has been relatively slow compared with other first-generation new towns, the time has come for visible progress that Ilsan residents can feel.”
In fact, competing new towns have already reached the zone-designation stage. Eunha Village in Jung-dong, Bucheon, was designated and officially announced as a special maintenance zone on the 22nd of last June. By last July, however, not a single area in Ilsan had been designated as a special maintenance zone. Ilsan was the only first-generation new town pilot district that had not reached this stage.
The floor-area ratio is cited as a factor holding Ilsan back. Ilsan’s baseline floor-area ratio is 300%. Critics have long argued that its lower ratio compared with Bundang (326%), Pyeongchon and Sanbon (330%), and Jung-dong (350%) makes reconstruction projects less viable. The Goyang Great Transformation Preparatory Committee, the transition committee for Goyang's ninth popularly elected mayoral term, said last June that it would actively consider raising the ratio to 350%. Changing the baseline floor-area ratio requires a commissioned revision of the basic redevelopment plan and approval from Gyeonggi Province. For this reason, raising only the redevelopment floor-area ratio while leaving the baseline unchanged has also been added to the options under consideration.
Minister Hong addressed the issue directly. He called on Goyang Special City to “promptly establish a reasonable direction for improvement, as a review of the baseline floor-area ratio is underway, and work to get the projects moving faster.” Regarding MOLIT’s role, he said, “We will ensure that follow-up procedures, including the designation of special maintenance zones for pilot districts, proceed without a hitch, and MOLIT will also strengthen institutional and administrative support in cooperation with Goyang Special City and LH.”
Plans to reconstruct long-term public rental housing within redevelopment districts for aging planned cities were also reviewed that day. Huindol Village Complex 4 is a permanent public rental complex with 1,141 households that began occupancy in 1995. Preliminary procedures are underway, with designation as a special maintenance zone targeted for the first half of 2027.
Minister Hong called on LH to “swiftly proceed with follow-up procedures, including drawing up a special maintenance plan and designating the zone, so that the project can take visible shape at an early stage.” Regarding measures for residents, he reiterated that LH should “give top priority to the housing stability of existing residents, including seniors and people with disabilities, and respond carefully to arrangements for temporary housing as well as support for relocation and resettlement.”
Toward the end of his schedule, Minister Hong toured the Baeksong Village site, one of the pilot districts where the zone-designation process is underway. He said, “Smooth progress in the pilot districts should serve as a catalyst for accelerating redevelopment across all of Ilsan. Goyang Special City should fully gather residents’ views while minimizing unnecessary procedural delays, and MOLIT will continue to monitor progress.”
[email protected] Jeong Gyeong-su Reporter