The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 3rd that it conducted repairs on old dwellings and demolitions of vacant houses in 177 villages over the past 10 years through the urban vulnerable area living condition project called the 'Urban Renewal Project.'
The Urban Renewal Project is aimed at improving living conditions for residents in vulnerable areas such as slums and shantytowns by supporting the expansion of living and safety infrastructure and repairs to houses. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Local Era Commission jointly oversee the project.
Since its introduction in 2015, the project has invested 379.8 billion won in national funds (total project cost of about 542.5 billion won) to carry out operations in 177 villages. A total of 98 sites have been completed, while 79 sites are currently in progress.
The selected areas are primarily old villages that were formed a long time ago, such as refugee villages and the back streets of the original city, where infrastructure such as roads, sewage systems, and urban gas supply is poor, dwellings are severely deteriorated, and there is a high proportion of vulnerable groups. In the selected areas of the Urban Renewal Project, improvements have been made to the living environment, including the installation of sewer lines, consolidation of urban gas supply, expansion of parking lots and shared facilities, as well as repairs to dwellings and demolitions of vacant houses.
After the completion of the project, improvements in living convenience facilities, safety, disaster prevention, and housing were highly regarded. Residents have been surveyed to feel that the village where they live has become 'cleaner and safer' since the initiation of the Urban Renewal Project. Additionally, the Urban Renewal Project functions as a 'platform project' beyond mere physical housing condition improvements, conducted in connection with initiatives from other ministries such as the Ministry of Justice’s crime prevention environmental improvement project, the Ministry of Environment’s slate roof removal project, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s elderly care services, resulting in high satisfaction levels among local governments and residents.
On the same day, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will sign a memorandum of understanding with corporations, non-profit organizations, and public institutions in Yeouido, Seoul, to promote the '2025 Public-Private Partnership Housing Improvement Project' aimed at repairing old houses in urban vulnerable areas.
The 'Public-Private Partnership Housing Improvement Project' has been implemented since 2018 to complement the financial support-centric limitations of the Urban Renewal Project that supports vulnerable areas in cities. Using private funding and expertise, the project has repaired old houses in villages benefitting from the Urban Renewal Project, totaling 1,104 dwellings repaired without cost to residents across 32 locations.
This year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to promote the 'Public-Private Partnership Housing Improvement Project' for about 250 households in five designated areas of the Urban Renewal Project.
Lee Sang-joo, head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Land and Urban Department, noted, 'Based on the achievements of the Urban Renewal Project carried out over the past 10 years, we will actively strive to develop and expand this project to support urban vulnerable areas and excluded groups so that every citizen in our country can secure a minimum quality of life anywhere in the country.' He added, 'House repairs are the specific projects through which residents can perceive the effects of the Urban Renewal Project the most, and we will continue to promote the Public-Private Partnership Housing Improvement Project in cooperation with supporting organizations.'