The purpose of this study is to evaluate the residential environment improvement program as an alternative for housing renewal program implemented under the principle of profit maximization. The housing renewal project has led to various problems such...
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the residential environment improvement program as an alternative for housing renewal program implemented under the principle of profit maximization. The housing renewal project has led to various problems such as the lack of urban infrastructure the aggravation of urban environment, and the displacement of low-income residents in renewal areas. The residential environment improvement program implemented by a multi-family housing building method was introduced to mitigate physical and socio-economic problems resulted from the housing renewal project. The evaluation of the multi-family housing building method would provide the policy direction on residential improvement of the low-income community. In evaluating the method, this study focuses on a few key variables including the floor-to-area ratio indicating the physical density and residents’ relocation rate representing socio-economic stability due to the problem of data availability. This study found that there was no substantial improvement in physical and socio-economic conditions in project districts by the multi-family housing building method. This finding implies that there is no difference between the residential environment improvement program by the multi-family housing building method and the housing renewal project in terms of project outputs. The policy to improve urban blighted areas should consider public financial supports and community-based renewal method which would mitigate negative effects led by existing residential renewal projects.