From Sweet Home to Happy Housing

Remember Bogeumjari ("Sweet Home")? LEE Myung-bak's government decided to bite into Seoul's remaining green sanctuaries to build homes for the underpriviledged - behind the noble alibi, an environmental, urban, economic, and social nonsense (see "Tighten your greenbelt").

"Sweet Home", but Sour Greenbelt: welcome to Bogeumjari Gangnam

The PARK Geun-hye government tries another concept: Haengbok Jutaek ("Happy Housing"). The idea is to improve existing neighborhoods, promote social mixity, and - hopefully - develop a more sustainable story while building 10,000 new units to rent for households in the need.

How to find affordable land on more central areas? By covering railway tracks and reservoir facilities, for instance, like at Oryu-dong Station (Guro-gu), or Gajwa Station (Namgajwa-dong, Seodaemun-gu). It confirms recent declarations about covering railways across Seoul, something the DMC would badly need to improve the urban continuity with Susaek-dong and Eunpyeong-gu.

I don't know how if the "University Student Town" planned over Gajwa Station (Gyeongui Line) will replace or compete with a similar project in Hongje, also in Seodaemun, also targeting students from the 5 nearby universities (see "Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway"):

Seodaemun University Student Town and other Happy Housing projects ("서대문엔 대학생 타운, 안산엔 외국인 센터 짓는다" - Chosun Ilbo 20130521)

Overall, 6 neighborhoods have been selected in Seoul*, plus one in Ansan, where the story will be about multicultural dialog (in Gojan-dong, Danwon-gu, with a focus on foreign workers). The final list will be confirmed in July, and authorizations signed by the end of the year. Other regions might follow.

Anyway, "Sweet Home" or "Happy Housing", it still doesn't look like a little house on the Seoul prairie...


Seoul Village 2013
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* the other 4 are in Garak-dong and Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu, Gongneung-dong in Nowon-gu, and Mok-dong in Yangcheon-gu