Wonju, Hwacheon, Chuncheon selected for urban renewal with 32.5 billion won in state funding

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Gangwon Province announced Tuesday that Chuncheon, Wonju and Hwacheon-gun have been selected in the "2026 First-Half Urban Renewal Project Competition," with a combined 32.5 billion won ($21.1 million) in state funds to be invested through 2030 to revitalize the three cities.

The selected cities will carry out tailored urban renewal projects reflecting each area's distinct characteristics, with the goals of expanding basic living infrastructure, stimulating local economies and achieving sustainable urban development.

Wonju plans to launch an urban renewal project in the Taejang 2-dong area, a neighborhood whose development was long constrained by the presence of Camp Long, a US military base, leaving it in decline. The project aims to create a space where culture and local commerce coexist.

Over four years, 21 billion won will be invested to build an archiving center, rest areas and local-product retail shops — spaces designed to draw visitors and encourage spending. An experiential space linked to the National Gangwon Science Museum, which opened last year, is also expected to attract more visitors and boost the local economy, while significantly improving living conditions in the long-neglected neighborhood.

Hwacheon-gun plans to build a community complex center in the Sanae-myeon area to address a shortage of aging public facilities and basic living infrastructure, and to create a resident-centered hub for administrative services and culture.

The four-story facility, to be built over three years at a total cost of 8.2 billion won, will house an administrative welfare center, a dementia care center, senior citizen classrooms, sports and cultural program rooms, and a digital literacy education room. The project is expected to transform an aging public building into a community hub offering expanded welfare, health and cultural services tailored to the area's growing elderly population.

Chuncheon plans to develop a tourism hub and visitor-stay facilities by making active use of the former Gangchon Station site and idle riverside land. The aim is to revive the area's old reputation as a premier destination for group outings and rebrand it as a new urban tourism draw.

The four-year, 25 billion won project will create an imagination garden station, an imagination plaza, an ecological garden and a garden street, with the aim of drawing tourists, encouraging longer stays and injecting new energy into the area's sluggish local economy and commercial districts.

Gangwon Province said urban renewal is a core investment in its response to population decline and regional deterioration, and pledged to accelerate the supply of resident-centered living infrastructure across the 41 urban renewal projects currently underway. The province added it will continue to identify new urban renewal projects suited to the characteristics of each locality.