SH, GH and iH to hold joint seminar on community-centered public housing

The Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation announced Monday that it will co-host the "2026 Greater Seoul Housing Corporation Joint Research Seminar" with its counterparts in the metropolitan area.

Organized by the Korea Housing Services Society, the event is jointly hosted by SH, Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (GH) and Incheon Urban Corporation (iH), and is scheduled to take place Friday at 3 p.m. at Ferrum Hall on the third floor of Ferrum Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The seminar brings together the Greater Seoul housing corporations' research consortium to discuss community support and residential service roles in public housing, under the theme "Beyond public housing supplier, toward community designer."

The event will address public housing policy and operational strategies for responding to care gaps and social isolation stemming from the rise of a super-aged society, a low birth rate, and the growing number of single-person and elderly households.

Presentations will be delivered in the following order: Kim Young-wook, a professor in the department of architecture at Sejong University, on "Urban and residential complex development strategies based on spatial structure analysis for community revitalization"; Kim Young-guk, a senior researcher at the SH Urban Research Institute, on "Public housing community service strategies for realizing aging in community"; and Park Seok-gyu, head of the urban research team at iH, on "iH's child-friendly and senior-friendly community housing model in response to low birth rates and aging."

Im Gwang-bin, head of the urban housing research division at GH, will then chair a panel discussion on public housing community support strategies, joined by Ki Yun-hwan, a senior research fellow at the Incheon Research Institute; Nam Won-seok, a senior research fellow at the Seoul Institute; Park Gi-deok, a research fellow at the Gyeonggi Research Institute; Jo Seung-yeon, a principal researcher at the LH Land and Housing Institute; and Kwon O-jeong, co-standing representative of the Korea Housing Services Society.

SH President Hwang Sang-ha said the importance of care and community within apartment complexes is growing as society ages, birth rates fall and single-person households increase. "Based on the discussions at this seminar, we will continue to review residential service and community support measures for public housing," he said.

As the government pushes to expand public rental housing, the role of the corporations carrying out that mission is becoming increasingly important. Discussions on rental housing for diverse age groups and demographics — from newlyweds to seniors — are expected to gain further momentum.