Hwangnam 2 District and Namyang New Town 'U-City' Project Abandoned

Korea Land & Housing Corporation (hereinafter "the Corporation") declared a suspension of the 'U-City' project on the 3rd for Hwangnam 2 District (covering Hagil-ri, Sangsin-ri, and Bangchuk-ri in Hwangnam-myeon, totaling 3,202,000㎡) and Namyang New Town District (covering Namyang-dong, Bukyang-dong, and Sinnam-dong, totaling 2,565,000㎡).

In this process, the Corporation revealed that it notified the city of the project suspension unilaterally without prior consultation.

Regarding the 'U-City' project in these districts, the city and the Corporation had completed all procedures including the design consulting contract through multiple consultations.

However, the Corporation recently notified the city of the project suspension citing the results of a recent Board of Audit and Inspection audit and deteriorating financial structure.

In response, a Hwaseong City official stated, "The content of the Board of Audit and Inspection audit was a criticism of the structure of pursuing projects without legal grounds and transferring the burden to residents by raising sale prices, but it was not about suspending projects with legal grounds or facilities necessary for city residents' lives."

The official further added, "The Corporation's Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters held the position that in the case of Hwangnam 2 District, the U-City construction project cost budgeted accounted for only 0.5% of the land development cost, and this project would not have a substantial impact on sale prices. In this situation, the unilateral suspension of U-City construction including basic services such as CCTV for crime prevention and bus information guidance without prior consultation is significantly different from the Board of Audit and Inspection audit results," the official argued.

If this project is suspended, the decline in the quality of life for city residents is clearly inevitable.

This is the biggest reason Hwaseong City is objecting.

The concern is that the absence of infrastructure for the city and the installation work related to U-City after the completion of land sales in the district could ultimately lead to resident inconvenience and wasteful duplicate budgeting such as repeated road excavation.

Meanwhile, U-City is an innovative urban concept that constructs U-City infrastructure in which advanced information and communication infrastructure and urban base facilities are integrated together, and provides convenient, safe, and comfortable living to city residents through services utilizing information generated within the city.