A compact community equipped with public housing, parks, child care and commercial facilities will be built above a highway in northern Seoul as part of efforts to meet housing needs for the young and the newly wed, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday.

According to a blueprint revealed by the municipality and the Seoul Housing and Communities Corps., an artificial plot of land will be built above a 500-meter section of the Bukbu Expressway to create a public housing complex for 990 households, to include green space and recreational facilities for residents.

The blueprint, picked through an international competition, shows that 11,400 square meters of space will be created in the envisioned community to accommodate a camping site, a playground for pets and walking path.

The area next to the highway -- about 13,500 square meters -- will have shared offices and youth startup support centers.

Green space will total 27,000 square meters.

The municipality said a special “bridge system” will be used when the compact community is built, to separate its structures from the expressway and minimize vibrations and noise.

The city plans to break ground for the new site in the second half of 2021 and complete construction in 2024.

The compact community is a Seoul government project to renew urban spaces by using the land above roads and traffic islands in order to offer more public housing targeting the young and the newly wed.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)