Suwon to Accelerate Old Downtown Redevelopment with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo visited the Yeongdeung 1st District Redevelopment Project site on the 18th to assess the progress of the development project.

Mayor Lee and Minister Park conducted an on-site inspection of the redevelopment project area in Maetan 1-dong, Taekwang Villa vicinity (71-7, 276 Gwangwang-ro, Yeongdeung-gu), then moved to the Suwon City Youth Culture Center where they met with local representatives and development project experts to gather opinions regarding Suwon's old downtown development.

The Yeongdeung 1st District was designated as a development zone in January 2017, and an association was established in January 2018. It received business implementation approval in September 2023, with management disposition approval scheduled for March 2025.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun said, "Suwon's housing deterioration rate is approaching 50% in 2024 and is expected to reach 70% by 2030," adding "Suwon will swiftly advance development projects based on close cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."

Minister Park Sang-woo stated, "Activating reconstruction and redevelopment creates a better residential environment and builds a physical foundation that can revitalize entire neighborhoods," and said "When special laws such as the Act on the Promotion of Reconstruction and Redevelopment Projects are enacted, it will be of great help in rapidly improving aging downtown areas across the region."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the "August 8 Real Estate Measures" in August last year, which included promoting the enactment of a special law on the promotion of reconstruction and redevelopment projects.

The city announced the "Suwon-style Urban Revitalization 2.0 Project" in May, based on three strategies: "faster, larger, and easier." The city modified the "2030 Development Master Plan" (July 11) to allow any citizen to propose development zone designations rather than the previous system where the city designated redevelopment and reconstruction sites, including "activation of resident-initiated designation requests and floor area ratio relaxation measures." In September, the city concentrated its efforts on rapidly advancing redevelopment and reconstruction by holding a public recruitment for redevelopment project candidate sites.

Prior to the meeting, Mayor Lee Jae-jun delivered a petition to Minister Park Sang-woo containing details such as "inclusion of the Southern Gyeonggi Metro Project in priority review for the 5th National Railway Network Construction Plan" and "transfer of municipal affairs regarding small-scale housing development management plans to mayors of major cities with populations of 500,000 or more."