Damyang Mini New Town Development in South Korea Bringing Opportunities for Wood Home Builders
Facing declining birthrates and depopulation, many of South Korea’s rural towns have been trying to deploy a series of policies and approaches to roll back this trend. Damyang, a county situated in the southmost province of Korea well known for its bamboo forests and craftworks, like many others, has been facing the double whammy of losing population to the rapid urbanization and of the ageing population. The town now has 48,000 residents, less than half of its peak in the 1960s.
As part of an ambitious goal to bring back its population to 60,000, Damyang county is developing a low-density mini new town with 1,452 housing units comprised of both single-family and multi-family homes and amenities for 4,500 residents. According to the plan, more than half of the units, 772 of them, will be built out of single-family housing, which is significantly higher than the usual 5% ~ 10% range for new town developments in Korea*.
All of the lots for single-family homes are already sold and major custom wood home builders are establishing their presence to connect with the potential customers.
*For example, one of new town development projects, Songsan Green City, with 150,000 planned population and 60,000 housing units, has about 5,265 lots allocated for single-family housing.
