While Gyeonggi Province urged the National Assembly to enact the “Special Law for Older Planned Cities” before the end of the year in order to smoothly reorganize older planned cities such as the first phase of new cities last month, Gyeonggi-do welcomed the passage of the special law at the plenary session of the National Assembly, saying that the groundwork has been laid for the maintenance of older residential areas.

December 8. Gyeonggi Province welcomes Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon’s efforts to listen to the opinions of residents through numerous site visits since 2022 and to enact the Special Law for Older Planned Cities this year, which is a pledge of the 8th National Assembly,” said Kim Ki-beom, director of the Gyeonggi Urban Regeneration Division.

When the “Special Law for Older Planned Cities” takes effect in April next year, it is expected to increase benefits for residents, such as expediting projects in residential areas of more than 1 million square meters that are more than 20 years old in Gyeonggi Province, including the first phase of new cities.

Specifically, the Gyeonggi Province expects 65.48 million square meters and 450,000 housing units in 13 residential areas, including Seongnam Bundang, Goyang Ilsan, Anyang Pyeongchon, Gunpo Sanbon, Bucheon Jungdong and Sangdong, Anyang Poyil (Uiwang Poyil), Gwangmyeong Cheolsan and Haan, Goyang Hwaseong and Nunggok, Suwon Yeongtong, and Uijeongbu Geum-o, to benefit from 2024.

Gov. Kim Dong-yeon responded to the government’s announcement last August that it would not create a master plan until 2024 after conducting research to improve the settlement environment of the first new city by saying, “This is a de facto break of the president’s campaign promise. We will do what we can at the Gyeonggi-do level independently of the government. At the time of his visit to Seongnam Bundang, Gyeonggi-do Governor Kim Dong-yeon personally announced the “Gyeonggi-do Comprehensive Plan for the 1st New Urban Renewal,” which includes Establishment of a special organization directly under the governor, Financial support for urgent renewal projects, Aging survey, Establishment of a renewal development direction, and Support measures for the original city center.

On November 21, Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon sent a letter to the National Assembly urging it to pass the special law by the end of the year, saying, “I sincerely request that the review of the bill be completed during this session so that the efforts of politicians, the government and local governments and the hopes of local residents will not be washed away by the end of the 21st National Assembly.” It is estimated that this was a good sign.

The reason why Gyeonggi Province is active in this law is that most of the planned cities in Gyeonggi Province have benefited from this law in the long run, including residential areas that have been completed for more than 20 years, and it is believed that a new era in urban management has begun.

Gyeonggi Province established a special organization, the Urban Renewal Promotion Task Force, formed a citizens’ cooperation committee to build positive public opinion for the enactment of the special law, participated in various debates such as the National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly 13 times, and held the first round of residents’ briefings for new cities.

As a result, Gyeonggi Province proposed the Gyeonggi Agenda for the special law four times, from February to April and in November. The Gyeonggi agenda was reflected in the special law, including Gyeonggi Province’s authority to approve basic plans for residential areas of 1 million square meters or more that are 20 years old, operating a general project manager, allowing public contributions in various ways, integrated review to shorten administrative procedures, establishing a special account for infrastructure construction and operation, relaxing floor area ratio and safety inspection, and establishing relocation measures.

In the process of discussing the special law, in order to overcome the equity problem between the old planned cities and the original city center, the surrounding original city center areas were also included, the minimum area standard for the revitalization promotion area was relaxed from the current 500,000㎡ or more to 100,000㎡ or more, urban public housing complexes and innovation districts were included in the revitalization promotion project, and measures were introduced to improve the original city center area base.

“The provincial position, which reflects the will of Gyeonggi-do residents, is the result of active communication and cooperation between the central and local governments. We will do our best to strengthen cooperation among relevant agencies such as the central government, local governments and public institutions so that old residential areas can be improved in a timely manner,” said Kim Ki-beom, director of the Gyeonggi Urban Regeneration Division.