Seoul City government says it wants to phase out the Parasite-style semi-basement apartments after people drowned in them during the floods. No new ones will be allowed and current owners will have 20 years to convert the flats into non-residential spaces.
— Jean Mackenzie (@jeanmackenzie) August 10, 2022
Cool. Now do earthquake-proofing.
The new move to phase out semi-basement lodging is little more than a knee-jerk reaction to recent flood-related deaths. Putting the phase-out on a twenty-year timeline means that the current president won't be responsible for seeing this through. It's essentially a meaningless gesture that makes politicians appear to be doing something.
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Still, if it actually comes to fruition, it would be something. Whether it's a good thing or not remains to be seen. Will there be measures to ensure affordable housing for the people who usually live in these semi-basement apartments? I'm not holding my breath on this, given the government's track record when dealing with the housing crisis. But if there's just a phasing out of these housing units with nothing to take their place, this could do more harm than good. (And I agree that 20 years seems suspiciously long....)
I guess we'll have to check back in twenty years.
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