SINGAPORE – To alter the picture of public housing in South Korea being deemed by many as “low-cost and shameful”, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon hopes to take a leaf from Singapore’s public housing insurance policies.
“I realised that Singapore has step by step improved the design and architectural stage of public housing,” he informed The Straits Instances in Seoul earlier than his go to to Singapore beginning final Friday (July 29).
“I’m very impressed by the enhancements Singapore has achieved over time.”
On the town to attend the continued World Cities Summit, Mr Oh spent Saturday learning some landmark initiatives by the Housing Board.
He noticed a mannequin for Singapore’s new prime location public housing (PLH) scheme, which imposes stricter shopping for and promoting circumstances on flat house owners to maintain public housing in prime areas inexpensive and inclusive.
“The PLH… aligns with Seoul’s coverage path,” he mentioned. “We are going to construct high-quality rental housing within the metropolis centre or close to subway stations in order that the newlyweds, youth, and individuals who simply began their profession can dwell in an residence near their office.”
In search of options on the right way to handle problems with childcare and ageing inhabitants, he visited Kampung Admiralty – Singapore’s first public silver city mission that has each eldercare and childcare amenities and is situated inside an property in style with younger {couples} with kids.
Seoul has the same mission tentatively named Gold Village, and it additionally has plans to design items that permit three generations to dwell collectively however lead separate lives.
The Mayor additionally visited Eco@Punggol – Singapore’s first eco city – for concepts on sustainable dwelling, city improvement and sensible infrastructure.
Throughout his five-day go to that ends on Aug 2, Mr Oh can be scheduled to fulfill authorities officers together with Minister for Nationwide Growth Desmond Lee.
On the World Cities Summit, which is held on the Sands Expo and Conference Centre from July 31 to Aug 3, Mr Oh hopes to advertise Seoul metropolis’s imaginative and prescient and announce the return of tourism.
“We’ve got set a really aggressive goal to draw 28 million individuals throughout the subsequent 4 years,” he mentioned.
He added that Seoul drew 14 million vacationers a yr earlier than the Covid-19 outbreak, and there at the moment are many new points of interest for vacationers, similar to an hour-long trekking course on Bugak mountain that provides “a spectacular night time view of Seoul”.
“We plan to proceed to put money into constructing extra points of interest to make Seoul a must-visit metropolis,” he mentioned.
