Nowon-gu District Mayor Seo Jun-o (left) meets with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Yun-deok (center) on Wednesday to submit a proposal on key local issues.
Nowon-gu District Mayor Seo Jun-o (left) meets with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Yun-deok (center) on Wednesday to submit a proposal on key local issues.

Seoul's Nowon-gu said the government's plan to build housing on the Taereung Golf Course site should produce a self-sufficient residential complex blending work, housing and leisure — while preserving the historical, cultural and environmental value of the Taereung and Gangneung heritage area.

The district said Thursday it supports the government's broader push to expand housing supply by using idle land in the greater Seoul area, but added that development of the Taereung Golf Course must go beyond simply adding housing units. It said the project "should be pursued in a way that improves Nowon's residential environment, eases traffic congestion and expands the urban infrastructure the area lacks."

Nowon-gu particularly called on the government to develop the site as a high-quality, low-density residential complex in line with UNESCO guidelines protecting the Taereung and Gangneung heritage zone.

Alongside housing, the district said the development should include an eco-friendly park and cultural facilities — such as a library, performance hall and gallery — to address the shortage of lifestyle and cultural infrastructure in the area.

The district also urged the government to put preemptive metropolitan-area traffic measures in place before large-scale housing development creates new congestion.

Nowon-gu proposed widening the Hwarang-ro and Nowon-ro road networks and extending the Taereung–Guri IC corridor. It also called for a new Line 6 branch connecting Hwarang-dae Station to the tentatively named Taereung CC Station and onward to Line 8's Byeollae Station. The district added that the Baeksa Tunnel project — a metropolitan road linking Nowon and Namyangju — should be advanced on schedule.

The district requested that rental housing be set at the statutory minimum of 35 percent of total units, with priority given to newlyweds and young residents, and that a portion of all pre-sale units be reserved for Nowon-gu residents.

Nowon-gu also said restoration work on land damaged by the lifting of development restrictions should focus on projects of genuine benefit to local residents, covering between 10 and 20 percent of the area where restrictions are removed.

"We take residents' concerns very seriously," the district said. "We will actively communicate with the government, grounded in residents' voices, to find a path that moves beyond a simple for-or-against divide and achieves a balance between housing supply and local development."

On Wednesday, Nowon-gu held discussions with officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation and the National Assembly on local issues including business and job creation, residential environment improvements and the expansion of metropolitan transport networks.

A Nowon-gu official said the district would work responsibly with relevant agencies "so that the development of the Taereung Golf Course can serve as a catalyst for Nowon's leap forward as a city of the future and for balanced development across the northeastern greater Seoul area."


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