Kim Dong-gu, acting director of architectural planning at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, announces the city's official position on the proposed transfer of approval authority for projects of 500 units or fewer to district-level offices, at Seoul City Hall on Monday afternoon. [Yonhap]
Kim Dong-gu, acting director of architectural planning at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, announces the city's official position on the proposed transfer of approval authority for projects of 500 units or fewer to district-level offices, at Seoul City Hall on Monday afternoon. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday pushed back against a ruling party-government plan to transfer approval authority over redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 units or fewer to district-level mayors and heads of basic local governments. The city called the proposal "a measure that can be expected to neither shorten project timelines nor increase housing supply" and demanded a full review of what it described as a policy that would "only deepen confusion on the ground."

Kim Dong-gu, the city's acting director of architectural planning, held a press briefing at Seoul City Hall on Monday afternoon. He said the proposal to devolve authority over small-scale redevelopment and reconstruction projects "is nothing more than a slogan from those who do not properly understand how urban renewal works in Seoul" and warned that "decisions made at the individual district level will undermine metropolitan urban planning and lead to haphazard development."

Under the current system, seven of the nine approval powers governing urban renewal projects — including cooperative formation, project implementation and management and disposal — already rest with individual district offices. If the ruling party-government plan were adopted, the remaining two powers — approval of zone designation and integrated review for project implementation — would also shift to district offices.

The city said such a transfer would produce urban development inconsistent with Seoul's overarching plans, with the harm ultimately falling on residents. "Urban renewal projects require a comprehensive review of city planning support — including floor-area ratios and height limits needed to secure project viability — as well as city-wide infrastructure such as water, sewage and roads," Kim said. "Transferring zone-designation authority to individual districts would significantly erode the credibility of the city's urban management policy."

The city also said it did not expect the change to meaningfully speed up project timelines. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the processing time for zone designation currently stands at 84 days, with an approval rate of around 90 percent.

"The two review stages under Seoul's authority take about four months in total — just 2.7 percent of the entire project period, based on a 12-year timeline," Kim said. "Moreover, only 31 of the 193 projects of 500 units or fewer — just 16 percent — are still at the zone-designation stage. The vast majority are already in the district-level approval process and progressing smoothly."

Kim added that delays were already occurring at the district level even for projects that had cleared the integrated review stage. "There are cases where districts are forming public-private joint task forces under the pretext of 'conflict prevention,' slowing down administration," he said. "There is serious concern that zone designation itself will be delayed by opposition from residents."

The city also argued that devolving authority to district mayors would produce inconsistent standards for public contribution ratios and land-use requirements. "If public contribution ratios and land-use standards vary from district to district, it will not only fuel controversy over preferential treatment and resident disputes, but also trigger overdevelopment and project delays — ultimately degrading the quality of the residential environment over the long term," Kim said.

The city further warned that a development approach centered on small-scale projects would make it harder to improve the overall residential environment and expand infrastructure. "If urban renewal projects operate under separate standards determined by the capacity of individual district mayors and offices rather than a single citywide benchmark, policy coherence will suffer and it could lead to the side effect of encouraging piecemeal development," Kim said.

The city also expressed concern that the proposed change could disrupt projects already under way. "The way to accelerate project timelines is not to transfer authority, but to ease the government regulations that are blocking projects — such as restrictions on relocation loans and limits on the transfer of cooperative membership status," Kim said. "The government should provide substantive support so that urban renewal projects already in progress can move forward without delay."


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