Yeongjong District Mayor Son Hwa-jeong discusses delays in infrastructure expansion at a meeting with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority on Wednesday. [Yeongjong District Office]
Yeongjong District Mayor Son Hwa-jeong discusses delays in infrastructure expansion at a meeting with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority on Wednesday. [Yeongjong District Office]

Yeongjong District Mayor Son Hwa-jeong has moved to address the lag in residential infrastructure development that has failed to keep pace with rapid population growth in Yeongjong International City.

Son held a meeting with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority at her district office on Wednesday, calling for proactive administrative and fiscal support to resolve pressing issues including a shortage of public parking and a lack of essential community facilities.

Much of the land in the Yeongjong area falls within a designated free economic zone, concentrating key powers — including development plan approval, licensing and land disposal — as well as land ownership in the hands of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority.

That arrangement has long been cited as a structural constraint, leaving the district unable to respond directly to residents' essential needs and forcing it to wait on the authority's decisions even when urgent projects arise.

To overcome those limitations, Son called for administrative cooperation, including the provision of sites for expanding community facilities directly tied to residents' welfare and the use of authority-owned land for public parking lots.

The intent is to secure the spatial foundation that would allow the district to proactively build infrastructure in line with rapidly growing administrative and welfare demands.

Son also stressed the need for expanded fiscal support — including a broader city subsidy system — to meet the surge in demand for community infrastructure that has accompanied Yeongjong-gu's official launch as a district.

Yeongjong-gu plans to work through the issues raised at the meeting via ongoing working-level consultations with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority and to monitor progress on each project.

"The Yeongjong area has long had its land and key powers tied up in the free economic zone, which has tended to push resident-centered projects to the back of the line," Son said. "I will work closely with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority to ensure the issues we raised translate into actual projects and deliver real improvements to residents' quality of life."


gilbert@heraldcorp.com