Gwangmyeong·Siheung area. /News 1
Gwangmyeong and Siheung districts in Gyeonggi-do were selected as the 6th 3rd new city. Gwangmyeong Siheung is expected to have 70,000 households in about 12.71 million square meters in Gwangmyeong-dong, Okgil-dong, Siheung-si, and Gwarim-dong in Gwangmyeong-si. The area is 4.3 times that of Yeouido, the largest among the 3rd new towns. It is larger than Namyangju Wangsuk (66,000 households) and more than twice the size of Hanam Gyosan (32,000 households).
On the 24th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a plan to promote new public housing sites to expand housing supply in metropolitan areas. Gwangmyeong Siheung New City, which is connected to Seoul, was selected as a new public housing site in the metropolitan area, taking into account the balance of housing supply in the southwestern part of Seoul and the balance of each area, and taking into account traffic conditions. Namyangju Wangsuk (Northeast region) Hanam Gyosan (Southeast region) Goyang Changneung (western region) Bucheon Daejang and Incheon Gyeyang (Western region) is the sixth third new city.
Why Gwangmyeong·Siheung District
Gwangmyeong and Siheung were always influential as’candidates’ whenever the government’s housing supply measures were mentioned. This is because it is in line with the new city philosophy of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, such as its large-scale connection with Seoul (the shortest distance from Seoul, 1km away) and commuting to downtown Seoul within 30 minutes.
In Gwangmyeong, there is the site of the’Gwangmyeong·Siheung Bogeumjari District’ where the Lee Myung-bak administration promoted Bogeumjari housing. The area was designated as a planned district for Bogeumjari housing in 2015 and was lifted. Then, it was recently designated as a special management area. At the time of the home, 98,000 households were expected, but with this announcement, the area was reduced to 70,000 households.
On the 24th, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoon Seong-won is announcing the’New Public Housing Promotion Plan for Expansion of Housing Supply in Large City Areas’ at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Government Complex Sejong. /Photo = News 1
Gwangmyeong Siheung is located 12km away from Yeouido, Seoul, and is located inside the Seoul Metropolitan Area First Beltway. It is close to the southwestern part of Seoul, such as Yeongdeungpo and Guro. You can use KTX Gwangmyeong Station, Seoul Ring Road, 2nd Gyeongin Expressway, and West Coast Expressway. The development restriction zone (green belt) has already been lifted, and the area is also 17.36 million square meters, which is larger than the Ilsan new city (15.74 million square meters).
There are many opinions that the designation of the district is not difficult because there are relatively few obstacles (buildings, trees, etc.) to compensate for compared to other public housing sites. The transportation infrastructure is already well equipped with the development of the Gwangmyeong Station Area District, Haan District 2, and Gwangmyeong-Siheung Techno Valley District. Experts estimate that Siheung, Gwangmyeong, is one of the few large-scale areas that remain accessible to downtown Seoul.
The requirement for success is’traffic measures’
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced the Gwangmyeong and Siheung districts and introduced transportation measures. It means that we will not repeat the failure of the second new city. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the planned second phase of the new city had relatively negligible traffic measures, and some new city residents complained of fatigue from commuting to Seoul for a long time.
The success criterion for the 3rd new towns such as Gwangmyeong and Siheung is the diagnosis that it is a traffic environment again. In order to minimize the inconvenience of living for the initial tenants, the government also prepared wide-area transportation measures and decided to promote it without disruption. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will establish a railroad-centered public transportation system to allow 20 minutes access to downtown Seoul as a traffic measure in Siheung, Gwangmyeong, allowing access to Yeouido in 20 minutes, Seoul Station in 25 minutes, and Gangnam Station in 45 minutes.
Location map of Siheung, Gwangmyeong, designated as the 6th 3rd new city. / Source = Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
To this end, a railroad transportation network will be established connecting Lines 1, 2, 7, Sinansan Line, GTX-B, and the 2nd Gyeongin Line. A plan to construct a North-South urban railroad that passes through the new city will be considered to be transferred to and connected to Lines 1, 2 and 7, the Sinansan Line, and the Metropolitan Express Train (GTX)-B. In addition, when the second Gyeongin Line, which is being reserved, is confirmed, a station will be established and a transfer center will be established to strengthen the connectivity of railroad traffic.
In addition, a large-area bus transfer facility linked to the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway will be established, and a large-scale transportation system within the district such as BRT will be established to eliminate blind spots for public transport. A plan to connect with the BRT in the Seoul section will also be considered. By expanding roads inside and outside of the new city such as Beoman-ro (business area ~ Bucheonok-gil area, business area ~ Gwangmyeong public garage area), Suin-ro (Anhyeon intersection ~ Maehwa Industrial Complex, Geumi intersection ~ Mokgam intersection), etc. Road-Hohyeon Intersection) will be expanded to improve traffic conditions for vehicles using Gwangmyeong Station IC.
Mountain to overcome against residents
But even with these blueprints, there are obstacles. Resident opposition is a mountain to overcome. The reason why the Bogeumjari housing plan, which was originally promoted during the Lee Myung-bak administration, was destroyed was also the reason for the opposition of the natives. It was interpreted that the reason why Gwangmyeong and Siheung districts were excluded even though they were each predicted to be the third new city, because the backlash from local residents was stronger than expected.
In the region, supply has already been planned through the new town project and reconstruction. There is concern that additional supply spills will intensify local traffic problems. In fact, Gwangmyeong New Town, which is being developed as a residential complex of 25,000 households, is in the midst of redevelopment projects.
Gwangmyeong Siheung development plan, designated as the 6th 3rd new city. / Source = Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Residents are concerned that if nearby Gwangmyeong and Siheung districts are designated as new housing sites, housing prices will drop if a large number of cheap apartments are supplied. An official from Gwangmyeong City H official said, “If you sell in the mid-to-late half of 10 million won in a new residential site, the competitiveness of the redevelopment and reconstruction complexes that you sell in the future will inevitably deteriorate.” He said.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designates candidate sites for new public housing as planned development areas as soon as public notice is announced, and regulates the surrounding areas as areas permitted for land transactions. In the land transaction permission zone, speculative land transactions such as land ownership or superficies are blocked for up to five years. The first new public housing site announced this time will sequentially recruit tenants from 2025.
Ahn Hye-won/ Kim Hana, reporter Hankyung.com [email protected]