Land acquisition methods and housing construction agents for prompt housing supply: A long-term comparative case study of Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea

Abstract

The structure of the development project for housing supply should be chosen carefully because each structure has specific advantages and disadvantages. Because the provision of housing lots does not always lead to housing construction, assessment of each structure is required from viewpoint of actual housing provision. This study investigates usage approval dates of housings in Land Readjustment and Housing Site Development projects designated between 1937 and 1999 in Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea, to examine the difference between land readjustment and expropriation method for methods of land acquisition, and between individual landowners and developers for agents of housing construction. The event history analysis reveals that among all housings constructed over a 20-year period, apartments constructed by developers in Housing Site Development projects required a median of 8.44 years for 90% of those to be completed, while low-rise housings constructed by individuals in Land Readjustment projects took 18.50 years. This study reveals the trends in the provision of actual housing in each project type for housing policymakers to refer to.