Housing Dynamics in Korea
Building Inclusive and Smart Cities

Housing in Korea has been part of the government policy development agenda for the past three decades contributing to reducing the historical housing shortage and improving the quality of dwellings. Despite its achievements, Korea now faces a housing affordability challenge as prices are too high for several social groups (i.e. newly wedded), owner occupancy levels are decreasing, and social housing is struggling to meet demand. Korea has a complex social housing system largely focused on low-income households, who still suffer from housing poverty in terms of housing stability, affordability and quality.
A holistic view on housing policy to promote a more inclusive society and sustainable economic growth is needed. To overcome the current housing challenge requires expanding the network of public housing providers by including the private and community sectors that could alleviate the government’s financial burden. Korea is linking housing and urban regeneration strategies to respond to the complex challenges of social inclusion, job creation, housing and economic revitalisation. Korea has been at the forefront of smart city development for more than a decade, which has brought benefits to Korean cities such as integrated transport systems, and it is now committed to applying the concept as a vehicle for inclusive growth.
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Addressing Korea's urban challenges through urban regeneration and smart city solutions
This chapter examines Korea’s urban challenges from the perspective of urban regeneration and smart city solutions. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the urban regeneration strategies to revitalise cities. It underlines the need to align labour market, business development, transport, inward investment and social policies to reinforce urban regeneration strategies and ensure sustainable outcomes for the long-term. Critically, this chapter discusses the links between housing policy and urban regeneration programmes as it stresses that housing policies require an integrated approach to build more inclusive cities. The chapter highlights the need for a long term thinking and local leadership in urban regeneration to be successful. Finally, the chapter analyses how Korea is using smart city technologies and strategies to build resilient, liveable and inclusive cities. It stresses Korea’s international leadership on the area while acknowledging that could use smart city developments to promote service innovation. The chapter concludes with proposals to use smart city platforms for urban development.
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