"Rising Population, Lagging Infrastructure"... Pyeongtaek City Takes Action on Godeok New Town Issues

Pyeongtaek City Launches First Public-Private-Public Council for Godeok Internationalization Planning District
Over 30 Participants Including LH, National Assembly Member, and Resident Representatives
Mayor Choi Wonyong: "We Will Persevere Until Residents Can Truly Feel the Change"

Pyeongtaek City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Choi Wonyong) has established a "Public-Private-Public Council" for the Godeok Internationalization Planning District, aiming to resolve long-standing issues in the area and directly reflect the voices of local residents. The city is now actively operating the council.

Pyeongtaek City held the first meeting of the 'Godeok Internationalization Plan District Private-Public-Official Consultative Body' on the 22nd at the City Hall Urban Policy Conference Room. Provided by Pyeongtaek City

On September 22, Pyeongtaek City announced that it held the first meeting of the "Godeok Internationalization Planning District Public-Private-Public Council" at the City Hall Urban Policy Conference Room. This council was created as a public-private cooperation body, reflecting the need for a "resident communication council" that was raised during a National Assembly policy meeting in August.

About 30 people attended the meeting, including Pyeongtaek Mayor Choi Wonyong, National Assembly member Yoo Eidong, provincial and city council members, officials from Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), and resident representatives from Godeok-dong.

Following a presentation by LH on the current status of the Godeok Internationalization Planning District project, Pyeongtaek City identified issues and improvement demands in four areas: transportation and parking, international schools, sports facilities, and parks and green spaces. Participants discussed solutions for each area through a Q&A session and open discussion.

Pyeongtaek City pointed out that, although repeated changes to the development plan have greatly increased the planned population and number of households, the infrastructure—such as roads and parks—has actually been reduced.

According to the 20th amendment to the Godeok Internationalization Planning District development plan, the planned population increased by 21,708 people (16.0%) and the number of households increased by 14,160 units (26.1%) compared to the original plan. However, the number of grade-separated interchanges was reduced from three to one, and the per capita park and green space area for residents decreased by about 29% compared to the initial plan.

Resident representatives called for prompt measures, stressing that daily inconveniences such as traffic congestion and parking difficulties are worsening as move-ins continue.

Mayor Choi Wonyong stated, "The Godeok Internationalization Planning District is a national policy project that began based on the special sacrifices Pyeongtaek citizens have made for the greater good of national security. However, with continuous changes to the plan, only the population and number of households have grown, while essential infrastructure for daily life such as roads, transportation, and parking has regressed compared to the original plan."

Going forward, Pyeongtaek City intends to hold regular council meetings to monitor the implementation status of improvement initiatives in each sector and to achieve concrete results in resolving the issues facing the Godeok Internationalization Planning District.

The mayor added, "Pyeongtaek City is investing large-scale budgets in facilities such as the art center, library, museum, sports facilities, and public offices to invigorate the Godeok District," calling on LH to fulfill its responsibilities as a public project operator.

He further emphasized, "This meeting provided an opportunity to directly hear about the problems and issues of the Godeok District from both citizens and project operators. We will continue our efforts until residents can truly feel a change."

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