Incheon to ease red tape holding up redevelopment and reconstruction, scrap mandatory preliminary consulting

【Financial News, Incheon — Reporter Han Gab-soo】Residents seeking to carry out redevelopment and reconstruction projects are expected to face a lighter administrative burden. Incheon City plans to make preliminary consulting, which was mandatory in the early stages of urban improvement projects, optional and substantially narrow the scope of coordination with relevant agencies. The aim is to address delays caused by administrative procedures becoming a bottleneck from the outset.
The focus is on addressing the inefficiency of taking six months or more to consult on details such as architecture, traffic and landscape design while reviewing the basic direction of an urban improvement plan. The city plans to accelerate the renewal of aging residential areas and housing supply by reducing the time and cost involved in administrative procedures.
Incheon City announced on the 4th that it would substantially improve how it operates its preliminary feasibility review (preliminary consulting) system to expedite urban improvement projects, including redevelopment and reconstruction.
Until now, preliminary consulting has been used in the early stages of urban improvement projects to review the suitability of urban improvement plans and the direction of projects. However, projects have been delayed because the coordination process with relevant agencies has involved reviewing not only the fundamentals of urban planning but also details such as architecture, traffic and landscape design.
Starting this month, the city will simplify the documents required for preliminary consulting and narrow the scope of coordination with relevant agencies. It will first review only key urban-planning matters, such as the requirements for designating an urban improvement district, land-use plans and the placement of urban improvement infrastructure, and leave details such as architecture, traffic and landscape design to subsequent review stages. The city also plans to improve the composition and operation of its advisory panel to reduce unnecessary coordination procedures.
Starting in 2027, the city will change the system itself. It will pursue revisions to the “2030 Incheon City Basic Plan for Urban and Residential Environment Improvement,” making preliminary consulting, which has been mandatory, an optional procedure. From then on, it will provide tailored advice on matters such as setting urban improvement district boundaries and locating urban improvement infrastructure only when requested by county or district governments.
The measure is intended to replace initial review procedures that were applied uniformly to all urban improvement projects with procedures suited to the circumstances of each project. Redevelopment and reconstruction are key ways to improve aging residential environments and supply housing, but complex administrative procedures and lengthy reviews have burdened residents.
The city expects the changes to shorten the time needed to carry out urban improvement projects and reduce residents’ administrative and financial burdens. However, it remains to be seen how much simplifying preliminary consulting alone will shorten the overall project timeline. Residents’ consent, securing project feasibility, and various permits, approvals and reviews also affect the pace of projects.
The city plans to continue working with county and district governments to identify difficulties at urban improvement project sites and expand administrative support tailored to project circumstances.
Yu Gwang-jo, head of the city’s Urban Balance Bureau, said, “This system improvement focused on raising the efficiency and effectiveness of preliminary consulting by actively incorporating feedback from the field.”
[email protected] Han Gab-soo Reporter