[High-Density Apartments Boomerang②] Guro and Nowon Flooded With 300% FAR Complexes... 30 Years Later, "Regret Over Reckless Development"

In Line with the Supply of 2 Million Affordable Homes

Seoul Raised FAR Cap to 400%

Excessive Supply of High-Density Apartments Led to Unplanned Development

Subdivision of Residential Types Implemented in 2004

Seoul's high-density apartment complexes are a product of the large-scale housing supply policies implemented in the 1990s. In order to resolve the housing shortage, the upper limit on the floor area ratio (FAR) for general residential areas was relaxed to as high as 400% at the time, leading to the concentrated construction of these high-density apartments throughout the city.

Among Seoul's autonomous districts, Nowon District is considered a representative area where high-density apartments were concentrated during this period. Large-scale land development projects in Sanggye, Junggye, and Hagye-dong resulted in the supply of over 10,000 apartment units over a ten-year span. Although the intention was to resolve the housing supply crisis by creating large-scale bedroom communities on the outskirts of Seoul, more than 30 years later, these complexes now face the dual challenges of aging infrastructure and insufficient business feasibility.

Supplying 2 Million Affordable Housing Units... FAR Raised to 400%

The construction of high-density apartments is closely related to the relaxation of the FAR. The upper limit of the FAR for Seoul’s general residential areas, which was 180% in 1979 and 250% in 1985, began to be loosened in 1990, when the ‘2 Million Housing Unit Supply’ initiative was launched. In April of that year, the limit was eased to 300%, and just seven months later, in November, it was drastically raised to 400%. In this way, Seoul's FAR system moved in tandem with the government's housing supply expansion policy. At the time, there was no differentiated system that reflected the residential environment and characteristics of each region, so the same FAR standard was applied to all general residential areas.

As a result, the supply of apartments in Seoul surged. According to the Seoul Institute, 188,560 apartment units were supplied in Seoul over the five years from 1990 to 1994. This marked a 31.3% increase compared to the 143,524 units supplied in the previous five years (1985-1989).

During this period, Yeongdeungpo District was the Seoul district where high-density apartments with an FAR of 300% or more were most intensively supplied. According to a comprehensive analysis by The Asia Business Daily of building registers from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Construction Hub, from 1990 to 2000, Yeongdeungpo District alone saw the completion of 25 apartment complexes with an FAR of 300% or more, totaling 10,699 units. Raemian Dangsan 1st Complex (364%, 348 units), Daerim Hyundai 3rd Complex (325%, 1,187 units), and Yeongdeungpo Samhwan Apartments (369%, 520 units) were all built during this period.

Guro District followed with 24 complexes. In terms of number of units, Guro led all 25 autonomous districts with 15,784 units. During this period, large-scale move-ins occurred in densely packed complexes such as Oryu-dong Line Apartments (449%, 218 units), Gaebong Samhwan Apartments (399%, 783 units), and Sindorim Hyundai Apartments (300%, 450 units).

Nowon and Gwangjin Districts also saw 22 and 20 complexes, respectively, constructed during this time. Gongneung Woosung Apartments reached an FAR of 375%, and in 1997, Gwangjang-dong Hyundai Prime Apartments, with 1,592 units and an FAR of 398%, was completed.

Subdivision of Types... FAR Significantly Lowered

The side effects of high-density development became a reality from the late 1990s. As infrastructure such as roads and water and sewage systems failed to keep up with the increase in households, urban traffic congestion worsened and issues such as infringement of sunlight and view rights arose in various places. Nam Jin, Professor of Urban Engineering at the University of Seoul, pointed out, "Since the 1990s, large quantities of high-density apartments were supplied without sufficient road networks in place, intensifying traffic congestion in the city. Reckless development was promoted without considering the capacity of urban infrastructure."

Ultimately, in 1997, the Seoul Metropolitan Government prepared an amendment to the building ordinance to lower the upper limit of the FAR for general residential areas from 400% to 300% and began implementation in 1998.

Discussions on subdividing general residential areas also gained momentum during this period. There was a growing recognition of the need to apply different development densities depending on the characteristics of each residential area. Subsequently, in July 2000, the government amended the Enforcement Decree of the Urban Planning Act to subdivide general residential areas into Type 1 (up to 4 stories), Type 2 (up to 7 or 12 stories), and Type 3 (no limit above 12 stories). Through a city ordinance, Seoul set the FAR limits at 150% for Type 1, 200% for Type 2, and 250% for Type 3, and began applying these from 2004.

Professor Nam explained, "It was only in the late 1990s that awareness emerged of the need for development that reflects the diverse characteristics of residential areas such as hilly terrain, areas near subway stations, and low-rise neighborhoods. As Seoul took the initiative in laying the foundation for more sophisticated and planned management of residential areas, the central government also pushed for corresponding legislative changes."

Experts believe that reckless housing supply policies that failed to consider urban planning have led to the current problems with high-density apartments. The criticism is that development was carried out without considering the sustainability of the city. Kim Jinyu, Professor of Urban Transportation Engineering at Kyonggi University, said, "To prevent unplanned urban development, urban planning must be established first, and housing policies should operate within that framework. However, during the severe housing shortage in the late 1980s, securing supply volume became the priority, resulting in the mass supply of overcrowded apartments and, consequently, today's problems with aging high-density complexes."

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