Chapter 142: That Time I Started Redevelopment in South America.

TL: Skye

Having decided on redevelopment, Yu-jin stood before the cameras to deliver his first address to the nation in quite some time.

Dressed in a suit with a gold-trimmed ceremonial sword at his waist, Yu-jin wore a grave expression.

Gone was the flexible demeanor he usually showed during Cabinet Meetings. His face was serious and resolute.

“My fellow citizens of San Marcos, whom I deeply respect.”

Yu-jin began in a somber voice.

“A few days ago, a Category 4 hurricane struck our Republic of San Marcos. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt sympathies to every citizen who suffered damage.”

Yu-jin paused for a moment and looked straight into the camera.

“Fortunately, not a single person lost their life. All seventeen injured citizens suffered only minor injuries and have now completed treatment.”

Yu-jin’s voice dropped a register.

“That was possible because all of you maintained order in a time of crisis and cooperated with the evacuation. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the soldiers and public officials who worked on evacuation operations from dawn until night.”

“Of course, the overall damage was by no means small. Roughly ten percent of Libertad’s homes were either partially or completely destroyed. That means thousands of households have lost their homes. In addition, seventy percent of Choi City’s beachfront facilities were damaged, and thirty percent of the crops at Tortilla Farm were lost.”

Emotion crept into Yu-jin’s voice as he read out the figures.

“Yesterday, I personally visited the affected areas.”

Yu-jin looked into the camera with a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

“I saw people standing blankly in front of their collapsed homes. I saw places where people had lived their entire lives reduced to piles of rubble overnight. I saw mothers carrying their children as they trudged toward the shelters with weary steps.”

Yu-jin lowered his head slightly.

“As President, as the man who promised to protect the safety of our people, there was only one thing I could say in the face of those scenes.”

Three seconds of silence.

“I am sorry. And I make you this promise.”

Yu-jin’s voice hardened.

“I will make sure we never suffer such a tragedy again. I will not simply rebuild the homes that collapsed. I will build homes that will not collapse again.”

Yu-jin took a step forward.

“We will redevelop Libertad’s Old Town. We will demolish all the aging buildings brought down by the hurricane and build new homes in their place. We will incorporate wind-resistant and earthquake-resistant designs, creating homes that will stand firm even when the next hurricane comes, homes where every citizen can live with peace of mind.”

Yu-jin spoke firmly into the camera one last time.

“Six years ago, we started with nothing. We had no roads. We lacked electricity. We did not even have enough food. But we did it. We built highways, raised cities, and created a nation that has drawn the attention of the world.”

Yu-jin clenched his fist.

“San Marcos will not fall. We will rise again. Thank you.”

And with that, the address to the nation came to an end.

Immediately after the broadcast, reactions erupted across San Marcos.

“His Excellency is grieving!”

That was where it started.

As footage of Yu-jin lowering his head during the address was replayed over and over, a wave of emotion swept through the population.

“I heard His Excellency stayed in the situation room all night on the day of the hurricane without sleeping a wink.”

That was true.

“I heard His Excellency refused to go down to the bunker and stayed in the Presidential Office until the very end.”

That was also true.

“I heard His Excellency hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for days.”

This was where the rumors started getting distorted.

“They say His Excellency cried at the disaster site?”

“I heard His Excellency donated money out of his own pocket.”

By this point, facts were no longer important.

Rumor bred rumor, emotion fed emotion, and the entire country arrived at a single conclusion.

‘Whatever His Excellency plans, we follow him. No questions asked.’

The entire country was swept up in an atmosphere where people seemed ready to leap into a fire if it was His Excellency’s will.

And amid all this, Yu-jin was meeting Park Dongsu, CEO of Hyunhwa Construction, which would be responsible for the largest section of the redevelopment project.

“So the construction costs shoot up if we build more than thirty floors?”

“Yes. Compared to fifteen-story buildings, the construction cost per household doubles. We also wouldn’t be able to guarantee the construction schedule.”

According to the CEO of Hyunhwa Construction, the requirements of wind-resistant design meant that construction costs rose exponentially the taller the buildings became.

And there was more.

“Even then, we wouldn’t be able to prevent damage completely. Sustained high winds can still shatter tempered glass. For example, in Louisiana in 2020, a twenty-two-story building survived a hurricane structurally, but suffered such severe exterior damage, including to its windows, that it ultimately had to be demolished.”

Even after spending that much money, the buildings still would not be completely safe.

“Hmm...”

CEO Park was absolutely right.

‘I definitely got this wrong.’

Because Yu-jin had been thinking of Korea, his mind had naturally gone straight to high-rise apartment buildings.

In the end, there was only one answer.

“If you intend to supply two hundred thousand units, you’ll have to double the redevelopment area from its current size.”

Halve the number of floors and double the land area instead.

“That’s going to mean a lot of relocated residents...”

Obviously, the hurricane had not destroyed every house.

Looking at Libertad as a whole, around ten percent of its buildings had been damaged, while within Old Town alone, roughly forty percent were partially destroyed.

That meant the remaining sixty percent of the homes were perfectly intact.

So what would they have to do to carry out redevelopment?

They would also have to relocate the sixty percent of residents whose homes were perfectly fine.

If they doubled the redevelopment zone on top of that, the number of relocated residents would increase dramatically as well.

In truth, this was the biggest problem with redevelopment.

Even in Korea, the greatest obstacle to a redevelopment project was securing the residents’ consent.

Legally, agreement from at least seventy-five percent of residents was required, and even after that threshold was met, a handful of fiercely opposed residents could delay a project for years.

There would be protests, lawsuits, and compensation negotiations that went nowhere.

Then the association executives would skim money off the top, triggering another round of lawsuits.

In Korea, the word redevelopment was practically synonymous with conflict.

There was even a saying that if someone had an enemy, they should recommend a housing cooperative apartment project to them.

But.

Yu-jin casually chose to double the redevelopment site.

“Understood. We’ll expand the redevelopment zone. Since the buildings will be lower, I’d like construction completed as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, understood.”

Yu-jin’s reason for making that choice was simple.

‘The compensation package is just too sweet, isn’t it?’

Even if the project had to grow in scale, lowering the overall construction costs would also reduce the financial burden on the citizens.

They would have to wait until construction actually began to know for sure, but there was even a chance residents might be able to hand over their old homes and receive brand-new ones essentially for free.

More importantly.

In San Marcos, conflict over redevelopment simply could not exist.

*

After Yu-jin decided to expand the redevelopment zone, officials from the Ministry of Construction and Housing went out to meet the residents of Old Town.

“Good day. We are here to inform you about your relocation under the redevelopment project.”

A middle-aged man folded his arms and asked.

“You’re telling me to move? My house is perfectly fine. Do I really have to leave?”

The project team employee replied calmly.

“This redevelopment is being carried out under His Excellency’s personal initiative.”

The man’s expression changed.

“I’ll pack my things and leave right now.”

There was not a citizen in San Marcos bold enough to object to His Excellency’s will.

And the terms were excellent as well.

“If you surrender the Land Use Rights to your old home, you will be eligible for a presale allotment on a brand-new apartment scheduled for completion in two years at a very modest price. If you lack the funds, Tortilla Bank can provide you with a low-interest loan.”

“What? You mean I give up my old house, wait two years, and get a new one instead?”

“That is correct.”

“...I can’t believe this.”

To the people of San Marcos, who had never even encountered the concept of redevelopment, it sounded almost like magic.

Give up the Land Use Rights to an old, rundown house, and receive a state-of-the-art apartment in return.

And because they did not own the land itself, but merely leased the right to use it, there was far less resistance to giving it up.

“Ughh, His Excellency gave us jobs and food, and now he’s even making sure we have homes...!”

And so the citizens began swimming in a bubbling cauldron of emotion, and thanks to that, the relocation rate climbed at an astonishing pace.

It passed ninety-five percent in just one week, and by the second week, the remaining five percent had also left their homes.

Something that could take ten years in Korea was finished in two weeks in San Marcos.

Of course, the circumstances in Korea and San Marcos were different, so a direct comparison would be unfair.

Everything from the laws to land policy was different.

Even so, the speed in San Marcos was bizarrely fast.

The Korean construction company employees watching all this had the same thought.

‘If it were this easy in Korea, we’d make an absolute fortune.’

Of course, part of the reason was that the San Marcos government’s relocation measures were exceptionally well planned.

To minimize any reluctance about moving, housing for the relocated residents was prepared in Phase 1 New Town.

Phase 1 New Town had originally been planned as a rental housing complex to alleviate the housing shortage in metropolitan Libertad.

But with the unexpected variable of the hurricane, the government decided to use it as temporary housing for residents displaced by the redevelopment.

Of course, there were still some problems.

With the redevelopment zone doubled in size, the number of households requiring relocation had risen to seventy-five thousand.

Meanwhile, Phase 1 New Town had only sixty thousand housing units in total, nowhere near enough.

But the relocated residents themselves solved the housing shortage.

“We can just share.”

Relatives, friends, and neighbors began volunteering in droves to have two households share a single unit.

Their reasoning was that even a cramped new apartment was better than living in a Shantytown.

“Thanks to His Excellency, we’re getting new homes. So what if we have to live a little cramped for a few years?”

That was right.

The people of San Marcos were ready to start catching sparrows at any moment if Yu-jin declared, [It’s a harmful bird].

***

While everything proceeded smoothly, Yu-jin was meeting someone at the Presidential Palace.

It was James Miguel, Chancellor of San Marcos National University, eldest son of San Marcos independence hero Abeiro Miguel, and currently the foremost intellectual in the country.

“I asked you here because I wanted your opinion.”

“About the redevelopment, I assume.”

James smiled as he adjusted his glasses. He already knew everything from the news.

“It certainly makes sense to use this opportunity to overhaul the city. Libertad’s basic infrastructure was designed during the colonial period a hundred years ago. The roads are too narrow, the sewer system is old, and the power grid has numerous problems.”

“That is precisely why I wanted your opinion, Chancellor. If you have any thoughts, I would be grateful if you spoke freely.”

Apparently having already given the matter some thought, James began speaking with a clear, focused gaze.

“Since you’re already undertaking something this large, why not draw up an entirely new urban plan?”

“An urban plan?”

“Libertad was never planned in the first place. It simply grew organically over time. No matter how much housing you supply, the same problems will keep coming back if the infrastructure remains unchanged.”

“Then what would you suggest?”

“I think there would be considerable advantages to bringing in urban planning experts, drawing up a comprehensive master plan, and developing the city in stages. Widen the roads, replace the sewer system, redesign the power grid, secure green space. Plan all of that as one integrated system first, and then build the apartment complexes.”

Yu-jin nodded.

‘I was thinking about this way too simplistically.’

James was right. What good was building houses if the roads were too narrow for ambulances to get through, or if clogged sewers meant the same neighborhoods flooded over and over?

Of course, there was one problem.

“We’ll need urban planning experts.”

San Marcos, a country with a generally low level of education, had no urban planning specialists whatsoever.

So what else could they do?

“Do you happen to know anyone you could recommend?”

They would have to bring someone in from abroad.

“As it happens, an old friend of mine earned his doctorate in urban planning from New York University and spent thirty years working at the New York City Department of City Planning before retiring. He also participated in several redevelopment projects in Manhattan. And he happens to be of San Marcos descent.”

Yu-jin’s eyes lit up.

“Someone like that exists?”

“He’s been bored out of his mind since retiring because he has nothing to do. Why not have a conversation with him?”

Yu-jin sprang to his feet and clasped James’s hand.

“Chancellor, you truly are a treasure of San Marcos.”

“Haha, you flatter me.”

It was the moment the grand blueprint for Libertad’s redevelopment began to take shape.

*****

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