Seoul to cut Moa Town project timeline by 18 months in push to deliver 80,000 homes

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has unveiled a new initiative to shorten the timeline for its Moa Town program — a small-scale redevelopment scheme for aging low-rise residential neighborhoods — and is now soliciting candidate sites. The city aims to select 100 candidate sites by 2030 to lay the groundwork for an additional 80,000 Moa housing units.

Seoul said Monday it will begin accepting applications for candidate sites under the new Moa Integrated Planning framework starting Nov. 2. Eligible areas must cover between 20,000 and 100,000 square meters in total, with at least 50 percent of all structures — and at least 50 percent within each planned project zone — classified as deteriorated. Areas already pursuing or applying under other redevelopment schemes, including rapid integrated planning and redevelopment programs, are excluded, as are zones where at least 25 percent of landowners or owners of at least one-third of the total land area are opposed, and areas where speculative activity or illegal subdivision of private road shares has been confirmed.

Moa Integrated Planning refers to a public-private collaborative framework in which residents and the government jointly draw up a Moa Town management plan while simultaneously advancing the formation of a Moa housing cooperative. The goal is to adapt Seoul's flagship redevelopment tool — rapid integrated planning — to the Moa Town context, cutting the time from site selection to ground-breaking from roughly six years to about four and a half years, a reduction of approximately 18 months.

To apply, a proposed project zone must secure the consent of at least 60 percent of landowners and owners of at least half the total land area. Consent forms must carry serial numbers issued by the relevant autonomous district office. In addition to paper forms, consent may be collected through an electronic signature system designated by the city.

Candidate sites will be determined through a selection committee that includes outside experts in urban planning, architecture and transportation. Selected sites will receive support covering 50 percent of the cost of drawing up a management plan, and the district office will immediately begin commissioning the necessary studies.

"We plan to select around 20 sites per year, taking into account the appropriate volume of projects for each Moa Town, while comprehensively reviewing the urgency of residential improvement needs and local conditions," a Seoul city official said. "However, the number of sites selected and the scale of supply may be adjusted based on close monitoring of housing supply and demand conditions going forward."

The process for drawing up Moa Town management plans will also change. Previously, district offices or residents prepared management plans independently. Going forward, Seoul and the district office will jointly develop plans, with a resident participation group — representing landowners in the candidate site — taking part. Seoul will commission architectural planning studies while the district office handles urban planning studies, and the two will be integrated into a single plan. Resident representatives will be consulted first, and their input will be incorporated following a public briefing session.

A consultative body called "Moa One Team" — bringing together residents, Seoul, the district office, a Moa integrated planning coordinator and the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation — will operate at each Moa Town site. The body is intended to address the lack of coordination that arose when planning, project execution, and administrative and project entities operated in separate, sequential stages.

Another key feature is that cooperative formation preparations can begin at the same time as site selection. Seoul and district offices will pursue a "Moa Town pre-designation" process, under which a management plan containing only the legally required elements — such as the Moa Town boundary, land use plan and infrastructure provisions — is approved and publicly announced first. During the public inspection and briefing stages required for pre-designation, district offices will issue sequentially numbered consent forms for cooperative formation, allowing residents to receive and sign them. Once the required consent rate and other conditions, including a founding general meeting, are met, the cooperative can be established.

The city also plans to develop Moa housing architectural guidelines during the management plan stage, providing direction on building placement, height and form while balancing public interest and project viability. The Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation will support the process by conducting project feasibility analyses and calculating estimated cost shares for individual landowners when consent forms for cooperative formation are being collected, improving transparency and credibility.

The city also announced anti-speculation measures for Moa Town project sites. The reference date for calculating pre-sale rights will shift from the date of application receipt by the city or district office to the date the zone boundary is made public. The eligibility standard will also be tightened: whereas previously a pre-sale right was recognized if a ground-breaking notice was filed by the reference date, going forward applicants must secure separate ownership of their unit by the day after the reference date. For plots designated as roads, the city expanded the land transaction permit zone to cover all private roads across Seoul effective Wednesday, strengthening oversight.

The city said the existing resident-proposal system will remain in operation only through this year, with all applications unified under the Moa Integrated Planning framework from 2027. In addition, whereas public-participation Moa Town projects were previously selected through a separate annual application process, residents will now be able to indicate their interest in public participation when applying under the Moa Integrated Planning candidate site process. Residents who wish to learn more can attend district-level public information sessions being held throughout October.

Meanwhile, at its 11th small-scale housing improvement integrated review subcommittee meeting held Thursday, Seoul approved — with modifications — Moa housing project implementation plans and Moa Town management plans for four sites, including Seogye-dong in Yongsan-gu, the city announced Friday. As a result, a Moa Town project in Seogye-dong near Seoul Station will for the first time pursue an upzoning to a quasi-residential zone.