The Sinjeong 4-dong 922 site in Seoul's Yangcheon-gu, where a fast-track integrated redevelopment plan was confirmed Thursday. [Naver Road View]
The Sinjeong 4-dong 922 site in Seoul's Yangcheon-gu, where a fast-track integrated redevelopment plan was confirmed Thursday. [Naver Road View]

An aging residential area in Sinjeong 4-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, is set to be redeveloped into a transit-oriented residential complex of up to 25 stories and about 2,170 units. The plan calls for a pedestrian corridor linking the future park above the underground National Assembly Boulevard with Sinjeong Station and Yangdong Elementary School, while zoning upgrades and a viability correction factor will improve the project's financial feasibility.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it had confirmed the fast-track integrated redevelopment plan for the area around 922 Sinjeong 4-dong. The roughly 95,475.7-square-meter site sits adjacent to Sinjeong Station on subway Line 5, Yangdong Elementary School and the planned park above National Assembly Boulevard.

Under the plan, a floor-area ratio of no more than 300 percent will be applied to build about 2,170 units of housing, including public rental units, in buildings of up to 25 stories. The final unit count will be determined during the district improvement plan process. The city is targeting designation of the improvement zone by April next year.

Development in the Sinjeong 4-dong 922 area has long been constrained by aviation height restrictions around Gimpo Airport. Under current International Civil Aviation Organization standards, the site falls within the conical surface zone of Gimpo Airport, capping the maximum building height at roughly 100 meters above sea level — equivalent to about 25 stories. The need to improve living conditions, including aging low-rise housing and narrow pedestrian spaces, has also been consistently raised.

The city plans to build a pedestrian network connecting Sinjeong Station, Yangdong Elementary School and the park above National Assembly Boulevard. Along Omok-ro, sidewalks and building setback lines will be used to widen pedestrian space, and a barrier-free public walkway will be created from Sinjeong Station to the front gate of Yangdong Elementary School. A pedestrian space at least 10 meters wide will be secured around Exit 1 of Sinjeong Station.

Two new parks will also be created near the National Assembly Boulevard park, Yangdong Elementary School and Sinjeong Station. A public parking lot will be placed beneath the park near Sinjeong Station to ease parking shortages in the surrounding low-rise residential areas, and a plaza-style park will be built in front of Exit 1. A 30-meter-wide linear park connecting to the National Assembly Boulevard park will also be developed to extend the green corridor into the complex.

Child care and welfare facilities — including shared care centers and nurseries — will be placed near Yangdong Elementary School and the public walkway. Street-front neighborhood commercial facilities and community amenities will be positioned near the transit-oriented area and parks to activate the streetscape.

Building heights are capped at 25 stories in consideration of Gimpo Airport's height restrictions and sunlight rights for Yangdong Elementary School. A stepped skyline will be applied, with buildings rising gradually from the outer edges of the complex toward the center.

To improve financial viability, the site — currently a mix of second- and third-class general residential zones — will be uniformly upgraded to third-class general residential zoning, and a viability correction factor of 1.63 will be applied. The city said the measures are intended to reduce residents' financial burden and improve the project's prospects.

With the confirmation of the Sinjeong 4-dong 922 fast-track plan, 196 of the 311 sites under the city's fast-track integrated redevelopment program have now completed the planning stage.

Kim Chang-gyu, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Urban Space Bureau, said the Sinjeong 4-dong area, which had long been stalled by height restrictions, "will be reborn as an eco-friendly, walkable, transit-oriented residential complex embracing the National Assembly Boulevard park." He added that the city would "actively support follow-up administrative procedures so that the long-awaited redevelopment of the aging neighborhood can move forward with momentum."


quq@heraldcorp.com