Evaluation of the Criteria for Designating Maintenance Districts in Low-Rise Residential Areas: Urban Renewal Projects in Seoul

Since the 1970s, the South Korean government has been redeveloping blighted residential environments and adopting large-scale redevelopment policies to solve urban housing-related problems. However, it is difficult to designate areas for redevelopment and identify areas where redevelopment is currently unfeasible. This study establishes a framework to support decision-making in a selection of housing renewal districts. The proposed Residential Environment Maintenance Index (REMI) overcomes the limitations of existing indicators, which are often biased toward physical requirements. Using this, we rationalize the designation of maintenance areas by considering both physical and social requirements and outline the renewal district designation procedure. To derive REMI, we used an analytic hierarchy process analysis and estimated the index’s reliability by clarifying the relative importance and priority of the indicators based on surveys of 300 subject matter experts. We analyzed various simulations by applying REMI at sites where maintenance is currently planned or discharged in Seoul. These reveal that the total number of urban renewal projects can be adjusted by adjusting the number of renewal district designations through the proposed REMI according to the economic situation. The results have implications for understanding REMI’s possible application and flexible management at the administrative level to pursue long-term sustainable development.