Lee Kwang-jae, chairman of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, has proposed easing restrictions on university campuses, where high-density development is currently limited, to expand the housing supply. University land must now be used primarily for education and research purposes and faces limits on floor-area ratios and building heights. Under his plan, those rules would be relaxed so that housing and research facilities could be built together on campuses. The aim is to link the proposal to the government's cross-regional mega special zone policy, developing universities into spaces that combine jobs with housing and improving living conditions for executives and employees of companies that move in.
In an interview with Seoul Economic Daily, Lee said, "Creating university cities is a solution that addresses jobs, housing and regional revitalization all at once," adding, "I will pursue this by grafting the university city concept onto the cross-regional mega special zone bill." He continued, "I have already raised this with the prime minister, and the government is currently holding extensive cross-ministry consultations," saying, "We plan to work out how to provide settled living conditions within university spaces together with the mega special zones."
The core of the university city concept is to raise the utilization of campus space and concentrate housing, research and education functions in one place. "The approach is to attract companies and research institutes to universities and supply housing for students, researchers and the executives and employees of resident companies," he said. "If universities and companies link talent development with hiring and housing is also provided, we can increase local jobs and reduce population outflow." He added, "Dormitory capacity at universities in Seoul covers only about 11% of students, and monthly rent for studio units near campuses exceeds 600,000 won," stressing that "using university land would let us address the housing problem facing young people in Seoul without the burden of separate land acquisition costs."
To that end, Lee argues that institutional changes are needed to ease floor-area ratio and building height limits on university land and to broaden the permitted uses of property designated for educational purposes. "Current rules that make it difficult to use educational assets for profit-generating businesses are an obstacle to building university cities," Lee said. "Existing land-use rules that strictly separate residential, commercial and industrial functions also need to be revised to accommodate mixed-use development."
Lee also proposed introducing a "national lifetime basic asset" program under which the state would invest 100 million won for each newborn and manage the funds over the long term. Based on 250,000 to 300,000 births a year, the plan would require 25 trillion to 30 trillion won annually. Assuming an average annual investment return of 7%, the 100 million won set aside at birth would grow to about 386 million won by age 20 and about 6 billion won by age 65, according to the explanation. "What we need now is a major shift from a state that spends money to a state that earns money," Lee said. "When a world of artificial intelligence becomes universal, gains from labor will shrink, so we need to prepare from now."