Cityscape: Volume 23 Number 1 | Regulatory Reform and Affordable Housing

The goal of Cityscape is to bring high-quality original research on housing and community development issues to scholars, government officials, and practitioners. Cityscape is open to all relevant disciplines, including architecture, consumer research, demography, economics, engineering, ethnography, finance, geography, law, planning, political science, public policy, regional science, sociology, statistics, and urban studies.

Cityscape is published three times a year by the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Cityscape Home  |  View Past Issues

Regulatory Reform and Affordable Housing

Volume 23 Number 1

Mark D. Shroder

Michelle P. Matuga

Balancing the Trade-off Between Urban Development and Preservation: Experience from South Korea

Seung-Hyun Ha
Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation

Allison Garland
Wilson Center Urban Sustainability Laboratory

Urban regeneration is a potent catalyst to advance more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable cities. Across the globe, cities are seeking innovative strategies for planning and mobilizing resources to revitalize struggling and neglected neighborhoods and transform underused land in declining commercial and industrial areas. Without careful planning and attention to preserving local culture, however, urban regeneration projects can accelerate displacement, gentrification, and loss of cultural heritage.

This case study focuses on the Korean approach to urban regeneration that preserves unique local and regional identity while simultaneously putting safeguards in place to prevent commercial gentrification, protecting small businesses, and promoting local industry. Public financial support and planning regulations have been effective in revitalizing declining urban areas, preserving regional historical assets, and preventing gentrification. Additionally, appropriate compensation for personal property loss minimizes opposition and enables the pursuit of public interest to preserve historical and cultural assets. This study details the strategic leveraging of regeneration projects to achieve broader urban goals for local economic development and cultural heritage preservation.