"Managing Large-Scale Retail Locations from Urban Planning Stage"... 30 Municipal Governments Participate in Revitalizing Neighborhood Commercial Districts

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon, Reporter] Following Gyeonggi Province's initiative to amend city ordinances restricting large-scale retail locations from the urban planning stage to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts, all 30 municipalities and counties in the province are expected to complete ordinance amendments by early next year, with the exception of Gwacheon City, which has no applicable neighborhood commercial zones or semi-industrial zones.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 13th, 28 municipalities and counties including Suwon have already amended relevant urban planning ordinances, while Hwaseong and Gwangju are proceeding with ordinance amendments in early next year after completing legislative announcements and ordinance rule reviews.

The current Distribution Industry Development Act stipulates that large-scale retail establishments must be opened and registered after building permits are issued.

As a result, reviews for small business protection have not been conducted at the pre-location decision stage, leading to indiscriminate openings of large-scale retail stores with combined floor areas of 3,000 square meters or more, such as complex shopping malls, large department stores, and shopping centers, causing adverse effects such as encroachment on neighborhood commercial districts.

In response, the province has concretized discussions on this matter since 2019 and established measures from the 'urban planning' stage to restrict large-scale retail locations that do not meet the purpose of zoning designations in semi-residential areas, neighborhood commercial zones, and semi-industrial zones. In December of that year, the province signed a memorandum of understanding with 11 municipalities and counties including Suwon and promoted ordinance amendment procedures based on a 'standard ordinance amendment draft.'

In particular, since the commercial areas of large-scale retail establishments affect not only their respective municipalities and counties but also adjacent areas, the province encouraged additional participation through briefing sessions for related agencies and meetings with municipal and county vice governors, achieving results with 30 municipalities and counties participating.

With these ordinance amendments, systematic location management and restrictions on indiscriminate entry of large-scale retail establishments by zoning category have become possible, and the province expects to contribute to protecting small business owners whose livelihoods have become difficult due to COVID-19 and revitalizing sluggish neighborhood commercial districts.

Hong Ji-seon, Director of Urban and Housing at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "This is the first nationwide case of joint cooperation between provincial and municipal governments to protect small business owners and activate neighborhood commercial districts," and added, "We will make continuous efforts to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts by next year, including supplementing improvements through surveys targeting local commercial areas."