Proposal to Expand Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation's Share in Third New City Project Passes Standing Committee

[Suwon Daily=Reporter Jang Kyung-hee] The ‘Proposal to Expand Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation's Share in Third New City Project,’ led by Rep. Lee Pil-geun (Suwon District 1) of Gyeonggi Provincial Council, passed the Urban Environment Committee on the 29th.

The proposal calls for expanding Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation's participation stake to over 50 percent in the third new city projects within the province as part of increased housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area. The passage is expected to provide momentum for expanding the corporation's participation stake in the future.

The government recently announced that 240,000 of 300,000 housing units under its Seoul metropolitan housing supply expansion plan for residential stability will be constructed in Gyeonggi Province. However, projects have thus far been led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land and Housing Corporation.

As of January 2019, Korea Land and Housing Corporation undertakes 85 percent of public land development projects within the province, while Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation accounts for only about 15 percent.

In the past, most new city projects focused solely on housing supply and profitability, resulting in deteriorating residential environments for residents and many cities becoming bedroom communities lacking employment opportunities.

To address this, the need for Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation's leading participation in this third new city project has been consistently raised by regional communities within the province.

Rep. Lee pointed out, “Korea Land and Housing Corporation, established in the era of centralized governance, unilaterally implements land development projects nationwide without hearing local governments' opinions and pursues only profitability, resulting in numerous problems such as inadequate metropolitan transportation measures.”

He further emphasized, “To prevent the privatization of development benefits, Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation's participation share in third new city projects must be expanded so that various residential welfare policies pursued by Gyeonggi Province—including returning public development profits to residents, expanding public rental housing supply for low-income households without housing, disclosure of housing unit sales costs, post-sale systems, and creation of techno-valleys and industrial complexes—can be promoted stably.”