![The area of Sewoon District, which is considered a representative example of Seoul's urban slum promotion. Although infrastructure such as water and sewage is poor and needs improvement, it has been left unattended for the past 10 years due to helpless administration. The new building opposite is the Eulji Twin Tower, which was built through the District 6 project built by the private sector. [매경DB]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/03/image_readtop_2021_276717_16164878364584062.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
The area of Sewoon District, which is considered a representative example of Seoul’s urban slum promotion. Although infrastructure such as water and sewage is poor and needs improvement, it has been left unattended for the past 10 years due to helpless administration. The new building opposite is the Eulji Twin Tower, which was built through the District 6 project built by the private sector. [매경DB]The difficult development of the Sewoon Reorganization Promotion District, an underdeveloped area in the city center, finally came to reality. Ahead of the deadline for the release of the maintenance area on the 26th, it is decided to promote development of only some areas within the Sewoon 2 area. The city of Seoul said it would not block the development if it applied for approval of the project implementation plan, but criticism is criticized as a trick to hide the responsibility that made the situation impossible for actual development.
On the 23rd, the Sewoon District 2 Redevelopment Project Development Committee announced that it applied for approval of the project implementation plan to the Jongno-gu Office by individually securing agreement rates in about 20 of the 35 sub-districts. The project implementation plan refers to a blueprint for a maintenance project (master plan) that stipulates the building-to-land ratio, floor area ratio, height, maintenance infrastructure installation, and tenant countermeasures.
The application for approval of the Sewoon District 2 project implementation plan was made with the aim of avoiding the sunset system for the maintenance area scheduled for the 26th. Seoul held a press conference in March last year, and 89 of the 152 sites in the Sewoon Reorganization Promotion District were lifted, and the remaining 63 sites postponed the application of sunset on the condition that they apply for approval of the project implementation plan within one year. At that time, all of the Sewoon 2 districts were suspended from sunset, and this time around 20 sub-areas within the Sewoon 2 district applied for approval of the project implementation plan with the consent of more than 75% of the land owners.
However, at the time, the city of Seoul said that it refused to develop Sewoon District 2 as a condition for extending the sunset, and at the same time demanded that each of the 35 sub-districts secure consent rates in order to apply for permission to implement the project. The approval of the project can be applied only when more than 75% of the owners of land, etc. agree, but there are many interpretations that development is deterred because there are only two owners of land, etc. in some areas.
Many point out that this administration of Seoul is contrary to the original purpose of the reorganization promotion district of improving old infrastructure. The Sewoon Reorganization Promotion District is an underdeveloped area that has not been properly equipped with water and sewage systems and living infrastructure for over 40 years. However, under the current situation, infrastructure improvement is expected to be practically impossible or burdensome as infrastructure improvement is possible only in places that have applied for permission to implement this project.
Many buildings have not been properly renovated and repaired, and there are also concerns that if civil works are initiated in earnest, it may lead to safety problems. Lee Young-geun, executive director of the Sewoon District 2 Development Committee, said, “Even though it is a building with one or two floors, there are many cracks in the walls, and the D·E grade, which is a risk level for safety diagnosis, is also available and is being requested for repair by the ward office.”
Even if the project is approved for implementation, the construction itself is impossible due to the problem of the access road in the area inside. This is because the width of the back road is so narrow that it is difficult for four or five people to pass, as well as a construction truck. “The urban infrastructure such as gas pipes and septic tanks must be connected to the ground, but it is impossible to install them under the current situation,” said Lee Gwang-ik, chairman of the Sewoon District 2 Development Committee.
Experts agree that this difficult development of the Sewoon 2 Zone was predicted from the time the maintenance zone was split into pieces. The area of Sewoon 2 District was initially 38900 square meters, but in 2014, Mayor Park Won-soon divided the maintenance area into 35 sub-districts under the name of Circulation Development. In the process, some places with a site area of less than 300m2 were also found. “The Sewoon District is a place that is too small to promote difficult development,” said Paik Jun, CEO of J&K Urban Development. “The city’s proposed small-scale block promotion plan is meaningless.”
Seoul will manage areas where maintenance areas have been lifted by means of urban regeneration, but the question arises whether the areas with poor infrastructure can be managed without large-scale reorganization.
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