City calls for additional public housing districts, national industrial complex near transit hub
Gwangju Mayor Park Gwan-yeol met with Kim I-tak, first vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, at the Sejong Government Complex on Tuesday to request active central government support for key municipal initiatives.
During the meeting, Park raised the designation of a 4,500-unit public housing district in Gwangju's transit-oriented area, announced Aug. 13, and said that creating a self-sufficient city with employment, industrial, commercial and business functions — alongside housing supply — would require an additional public housing district combining residential and advanced-industry uses, as well as a national industrial complex near the transit hub.
The city envisions developing an additional public housing district of 20,000 units and a national industrial complex spanning 300,000 square meters near the transit-oriented area, with the aim of attracting research and development campuses linked to major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics and SK Group, along with semiconductor materials, components and equipment companies. The plan is to build a hub city integrating residential and advanced-industry functions, strengthening Gwangju's capacity for self-sufficiency.
Park also proposed laying the groundwork for a national industrial complex designation in the Gonjiam-eup area to attract top-tier materials, components and equipment firms from the Yongin semiconductor cluster. To that end, he asked the ministry to amend the enforcement decree of the Seoul Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act to raise the cap on industrial land development in natural conservation zones from the current 60,000 square meters to 300,000 square meters.
Vice Minister Kim said the ministry would review options for developing additional complexes in a manner consistent with national development plans, in response to the request for further public housing district designations. On the national industrial complex proposal, Kim said the ministry would cooperate actively once concrete conditions — including negotiations to attract quality companies — were in place.
"For Gwangju to grow into a sustainable, self-sufficient city, it needs not only housing supply but also jobs, industry and lifestyle infrastructure," Park said. "We will continue to work closely with the central government to ensure that the public housing district and national industrial complex combining residential and advanced-industry uses near the transit hub move forward without delay."
pjh@heraldcorp.com
