Nowon District to Reform 100 Reconstruction and Redevelopment Regulations...Proposes Institutional Improvements to Seoul City

“100 Regulatory Innovations” Initiative Launched
First Set of Improvements Announced

On September 3, Nowon District in Seoul (Mayor Seo Juno) announced that it will implement the “100 Regulatory Innovations for Reconstruction and Redevelopment” initiative, aiming to identify and improve 100 unreasonable regulations related to reconstruction and redevelopment during the 9th popularly elected term.

Seo Juno, Mayor of Nowon District (center), is listening to a briefing and discussing the Junggye Green Apartment reconstruction project with advisory committee members of the Rapid Integrated Planning at the Children's Traffic Park. Provided by Nowon District Office.

As its first agenda item, the district proposed improvement measures to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on August 31. The proposals include simplifying the procedures for amending maintenance plans, establishing a new resident notification system for owners with unknown addresses, and expanding the scope of delegated authority for designating maintenance zones.

The “100 Regulatory Innovations for Reconstruction and Redevelopment” initiative is a project designed to identify and improve repetitive regulations and institutional barriers at redevelopment sites. The district will discover issues based on on-site realities and resident feedback. Matters that can be resolved at the local level will be addressed directly, while those requiring changes to laws or systems will be submitted as proposals to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the national government.

The core of the initial improvements focuses on simplifying the procedures for amending maintenance plans. Under current laws, “minor changes” are only enumerated in a limited manner, so even small amendments arising during feasibility or architectural planning stages are excluded if they do not fit into the specified categories. In such cases, parties are required to repeat consultations with relevant departments, hold resident briefings, allow public inspections, and solicit opinions from the council. According to the district, this leads to longer project timelines and additional costs, which in turn increase the financial burden on union members.

As a solution, the district recommended revising the Framework Act on Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance so that only “major changes”—for example, changes affecting 20% or more of a zone’s area—are explicitly regulated by law, while all other changes can be exempted from administrative procedures.

The improvement plan also addresses the challenge of collecting initial consent forms for projects. For proposals to draft or suggest maintenance plans, a certain percentage of consent is required from land and property owners. However, according to the district, in some areas, more than 40% of owners are non-occupants who have not updated their registered addresses, making it difficult to obtain consent forms. Therefore, the district proposed creating a “resident notification system” in which the administrative agency verifies property owners’ addresses and directly notifies them of the consent collection.

Regarding the government’s ongoing policy to delegate the right to designate maintenance zones to district governments, Nowon expressed its support while also proposing supplementary measures. The district explained that once designation authority is transferred, district governments will be able to take the lead from zone designation to integrated review, reducing administrative bottlenecks. However, it also pointed out that the current threshold of “fewer than 500 units” under discussion would have a limited impact, and suggested raising the bar to “fewer than 1,000 units.”

Additionally, the district proposed other improvements, such as conditionally allowing extensions of the effectiveness period (currently 5 years) for traffic impact assessment approvals, introducing online general meetings and electronic voting rights during the organizing committee phase, and easing requirements for electing associate vice-chairs in union establishment.

Mayor Seo Juno stated, “Reconstruction and redevelopment directly affect the lives and assets of residents, so projects should not be delayed by unnecessary regulations and administrative procedures.” He added, “By listening directly to residents in the field, we will identify and improve 100 regulatory innovation tasks during the 9th term.” He also said, “By combining the district’s prompt administrative support with regulatory improvements from the government and Seoul Metropolitan Government, we will accelerate reconstruction and redevelopment projects and create changes that residents can truly experience.”

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