643 homes to be built in Gwangjin-gu, Seongbuk-gu under Seoul's small-scale housing renewal program

Aging low-rise residential neighborhoods in Gwangjin-gu's Gui-dong and Seongbuk-gu's Seongbuk-dong are set for renewal through Seoul's Moa Housing and Moa Town programs, with a combined 643 units to be supplied across the two sites.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday that its 10th Integrated Deliberation Subcommittee on Small-Scale Housing Improvement, which met Thursday, approved two proposals — one with modifications and the other conditionally: a Moa Town management plan for the area around 587-58 Gui-dong, Gwangjin-gu, and a Moa Housing project implementation plan for the area around 226-1 Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu. Once completed, the projects will deliver a total of 643 Moa Housing units, including 92 rental units.

The Gui-dong site, covering 20,358.1 square meters, will be developed as a Moa Town project with two Moa Housing clusters, increasing the number of units from the current 320 to 591 — a net gain of 271 units, including 92 rental units. The plan also calls for a new road connecting Guiganbyeonno 3-ga-gil — a stretch that had been cut off on the western side of Gunam Elementary School and Seoul Gwangjin School — to Guiganbyeonno.

The Seongbuk-dong site, centered on the area around 300-5, will see a Moa Housing project replace a deteriorated residential neighborhood that is 48 years old, adding 14 units to the existing 38 for a total of 52 apartment units.

To respect the surrounding landscape and hilly terrain, the development is planned as a low-rise complex with four above-ground floors and four below-ground floors. To ease development conditions, the city said it would relax the building coverage ratio in the natural landscape district from 40 percent to 50 percent and raise the height limit from 16 meters to 20 meters.

The pedestrian environment will also improve. Currently, vehicles and pedestrians share the same road, but the redevelopment will create a dedicated walkway, making it easier for local residents to get around.

"This deliberation has set the stage for renewing the aging low-rise residential areas in Gui-dong and Seongbuk-dong," said Myeong No-jun, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Housing Bureau. "We will support follow-up projects to improve not only housing supply but also the everyday living environment that residents can feel directly — including school commute routes and local pedestrian infrastructure."