Residents' Opposition Intensifies Over Rapid Increase in Residential Ratio in Uiwang Baegun Valley Development Project

▲ Aerial view of Baegun Knowledge Culture Valley, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do (Provided by Uiwang-si)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Uiwang City in Gyeonggi Province, which is ambitiously promoting the Uiwang Baegun Knowledge and Culture Valley development project, has encountered a variable in the form of resident opposition.

According to industry sources on the 16th, Uiwang Urban Corporation, the project implementer of Uiwang Baegun Valley, recently announced that it will double the residential facility ratio on the support facility land designated for education, culture, and medical facilities. Residents are reportedly pushing to establish an emergency countermeasure committee, claiming that the land use change was promoted without a public hearing.

The Uiwang Baegun Valley project is a development project to create a business center, knowledge information exchange center, specialized medical institutions, specialized educational facilities, waterfront mixed-use commercial facilities, and eco-friendly residential complexes on approximately 954,979㎡ around 560 Hakui-dong, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province.

However, despite several public notices for the sale of support facility land last year, no bidders have come forward. The Urban Corporation plans to accelerate the sale by lowering the residential ratio of the site. In this process, the residential facility ratio of three blocks of support facility land (blocks 2-1, 2-2, and 4) will increase from the existing 30% to 70%, more than doubling. The number of housing units will increase by about 2,000 households.

Industry insiders are concerned that if the number of housing units increases as planned by the Urban Corporation without expanding infrastructure such as schools, transportation facilities, and water and sewage systems, residents' inconveniences will grow. An industry official pointed out, "Since this project is being promoted by lifting the development restriction zone (Greenbelt), it is necessary to align with the development purpose," adding, "If residential facilities increase as announced, there is a high risk that residential infrastructure will deteriorate due to overdevelopment."

Accordingly, residents are demanding that the Urban Corporation clarify the reason for promoting the development plan change without a public hearing while establishing the emergency countermeasure committee. They also announced plans to claim the return of increased development profits if applicable.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.