Beside a Freight Railway, Where the Greenbelt Was Released

In 2010, the area around the Hangdong Railway was released from protected greenbelt status, becoming the only Seoul site in the country's third wave of "Bogeumjari" affordable public housing districts.

Key takeaways

In 2010, Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs selected well-located greenbelt areas for a third wave of "Bogeumjari" (a Korean government affordable-housing program) districts, and Hangdong was the only one of these located in Seoul. Fact The Hangdong district was planned as a "green city" in coordination with the Seoul Botanic Park and similar green spaces, and its green space ratio reaches 28 percent. Fact Eleven apartment complexes broke ground starting in 2016, with residents moving in progressively from 2019 onward. Fact The Hangdong district is often called Seoul's last public housing district. Fact

What to look for on site

How the Hangdong area changed before and after the greenbelt release (see reference materials)
Newly built apartment complexes standing right beside an industrial railway
The street parks and Yeokgokcheon Stream waterfront park built as replacement green space

Editorial note

It's inaccurate to say "the Hangdong district was always planned as a new town." Make clear that this involved a policy decision to release protected greenbelt land.