Pangyo New City Is to Be Developed 1 to 2 Years Earlier

Pangyo New City in Sungnam, Kyonggi-do is likely to be divided into an apartment area and a private house area. The apartment area will be developed first.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MCT) announced on the 14th that it is promoting the measure to develop first the apartment complex in the Pangyo new town site, which is anticipated to be constructed in the area bordering Bundang new town that lies to the east of Kyongbu express way, in order to restrain the rise of apartment price in the Kangnam district.

`Private Academy District (tentative name)` to which distinguished private academies are expected to be invited is to be prepared in the commercial area of the `divided area to be developed first`, which would disperse the densely populated academies in Kangnam district in Seoul.

The ministry will consult related departments about the measures and will provide special incentives to private academies coming into the academy district such as granting building sites at cheap prices, tax benefits, and the establishment of `high schools for special purposes`.

If the early divided development proceeds satisfactorily, the move to the new apartments for 10,000 families will occur faster by 2 to 3 years from the anticipated 2009.

A high official of MCT said, "The price of houses in Kangnam will not be stabilized simply by conducting tax investigations without dispersing of the demand for housing and private academies which is concentrated in the Kangnam district."

But the biggest problem is solving traffic congestion. The roads to Seoul are already saturated due to the development of the Bundang New City and Jukjeon district in Yongin city.

In relation to the matter, the Minister of MCT Lim In-Taik said, "The timeline for the Pangyo New City development depends on when the new Bundang line opens. We are looking into taking measures to accelerate the opening date of the new Bundang line by 1 or 2 years which is scheduled in 2008."

Ja-Ryong Koo bonhong@donga.com