493 parking spaces to be added; 21,274 square meters of green space to be renovated
Ground-breaking set for first half of 2027, completion targeted by end of 2029
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approves regeneration plan; 17 billion won in state funding secured
The Bupyeong and Juan national industrial complexes in Incheon, both more than 50 years old, are set for a large-scale infrastructure overhaul aimed at improving working conditions at the aging sites.
The project will address chronic parking shortages and expand green and pedestrian spaces, transforming the dated complexes into destinations that workers and young people want to visit.
The Incheon Metropolitan City government announced Monday that the regeneration project plan for the Bupyeong and Juan national industrial complexes was approved without revision by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Industrial Location Policy Deliberation Committee on Oct. 28, with final notification received Friday.
Under the plan, the city will invest a total of 34.1 billion won ($25.1 million) to carry out phased improvements to parking facilities, green spaces, roads and pedestrian environments within the complexes from the first half of 2027 through December 2029. Of the total project cost, 17 billion won will come from the national government.
The project was launched in response to concerns that the Bupyeong and Juan complexes — once the backbone of Incheon's manufacturing sector during the country's industrialization era — have been struggling to maintain competitiveness due to aging facilities, insufficient parking and deteriorating working conditions.
The city has been preparing the regeneration effort since being selected for a national industrial complex renewal program in May 2020, and subsequently being designated as a competitiveness-enhancement zone for aging industrial complexes in March 2021.
The most prominent component of the project is tackling the complexes' persistent parking shortage. A 206-space underground parking lot will be built beneath Incheon Bridge Park, and 287 additional on-street spaces will be secured, bringing the total expansion to 493 spaces.
The Incheon Metropolitan City General Construction Headquarters will handle construction of the parking facilities, with ground-breaking planned for the first half of 2027 and completion targeted by the end of 2029.
Green spaces within the complexes will also be significantly upgraded. A renovation project covering 21,274 square meters of green space near Incheon Bridge will be carried out, and a green and pedestrian network will be established connecting the adjacent Incheon Bridge Park and Bupyeong Yeolumul Forest.
The city also plans to create themed streetscapes tailored to the character of individual roads. Gilpa-ro in the Juan district will be lined with dawn redwood trees, while Yeomjeon-ro will be developed into a youth culture street. Annam-ro and Pyeongcheon-ro in the Bupyeong district are also included in the pedestrian environment improvement plan.
The city plans to approve and officially announce the regeneration project district plan this month, with full-scale work set to begin in the first half of next year.
"We will push ahead with the Bupyeong and Juan national industrial complex regeneration project without delay to expand lacking infrastructure and improve working conditions," Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae said. "We will enhance living and working conditions in the complexes and boost the competitiveness of tenant companies to breathe new life into these aging industrial sites."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
