▲ Yongsan Children's Garden
Two out of every three Seoul citizens oppose the supply of public housing utilizing the Yongsan Park site, a survey showed.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it obtained these results by conducting a public perception survey on the supply of public housing utilizing Yongsan Park targeting 1,000 citizens aged 18 and older residing in Seoul.
The survey was commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to Kstat Research, a professional polling agency, and was conducted from August 20 to 23 among 1,000 citizens aged 18 and older living in Seoul.
It was conducted through landline and mobile RDD telephone interviews, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
According to the city, opposition to the supply of public housing in Yongsan Park was recorded at around 63.9%.
Looking only at "strongly oppose," it accounted for nearly half at 46.7%, while "mostly oppose" stood at 17.2%.
Supportive opinions stood at 32%, about half the level of opposition.
"Strongly agree" was surveyed at 16.7% and "mostly agree" at 15.3%.
Opposition opinions were higher than support across all groups, regardless of gender, age, and residential district.
Among women, 66.1% expressed opposition, compared to 61.5% of men. By age group, opposition was highest among those in their 30s (67.1%), followed by those aged 70 and older (66%), ages 18 to 29 (64%), those in their 60s (63.1%), those in their 40s (61.8%), and those in their 50s (61.3%).
By region, opposition was highest in the southeastern district at 70.3%.
The downtown district stood at 65%, the southwestern district at 63.5%, the northwestern district at 62.8%, and the northeastern district at 60%.
As for the reason for opposition, "a short-sighted policy that damages the park for future generations to solve the short-term housing shortage" was chosen the most.
As a result of multiple-choice responses, 81.2% of opposing respondents selected this.
The city explained that this response was high regardless of gender, with 82.6% of women and 79.5% of men, and exceeded 75% across all age groups and regions.
In addition, responses stating "it is difficult to expect a prompt housing supply effect because it takes a long time to return the U.S. military base and purify soil contamination" recorded 42.3%, and responses stating "traffic congestion and the burden on urban infrastructure such as water and sewage systems could increase" recorded 41.9%.
On the other hand, citizens who supported the housing supply cited "contributing to housing stability for the homeless" as a major reason.
69.3% of supportive respondents selected this.
"Enhancing publicness by supplying public housing instead of private development" accounted for 56.1%, and "utilizing the excellent location in downtown Seoul" accounted for 44.3%.
The city explained that opposition to the supply of public housing in Yongsan Park exceeded 60% across all age groups and regions, showing that citizens' perception of the public and future value of Yongsan Park has been widely formed.
It added that it plans to utilize the survey results as basic data to show citizens' opinions in consultations with the government.
Ahn Dae-hee, head of the Future Spatial Planning Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "Regardless of the necessity of housing supply, citizens' opinions that the public value of Yongsan Park must be preserved have been confirmed," adding, "We will closely examine the concerns and demands of citizens contained in the pros and cons, and strive to create Yongsan Park as an open space that even future generations can enjoy."
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