Disappearing Homes, Disappearing Cities
Institute for Future Strategy Issue Brief Vol. 48
“Disappearing Homes, Disappearing Cities”
This issue brief diagnoses the rapidly increasing problem of vacant houses across the country and proposes an AI-based intelligent management approach to address the crisis of regional decline and depopulation.
As of 2024, the total number of vacant houses nationwide has reached approximately 1.6 million units, of which about 134,000 homes have remained unoccupied or unused for more than one year. Notably, 66.5% of all vacant houses are located outside the Seoul metropolitan area, making them a key factor accelerating regional decline and the risk of disappearance in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas. The spatial concentration and spread of vacant houses further impose complex social and economic burdens on local governments by damaging local landscapes, increasing crime rates, and promoting the slumisation of surrounding neighbourhoods.
Although the government has responded through legal and institutional reforms and the “Comprehensive Inter-Ministerial Plan for Vacant House Management,” the current survey system still faces structural limitations, including high costs, long survey cycles, and heavy reliance on the subjective judgment of field investigators. In response, this issue brief introduces deep learning–based AI technologies for surveying and evaluating vacant houses using multimodal data—such as image data, spatial information, and 3D scanning—and proposes the establishment of an intelligent vacant house management platform as a national strategic initiative.
Based on these discussions, the brief emphasises the necessity of AI-driven intelligent management for sustainable vacant house governance. It calls for an integrated approach encompassing inter-ministerial cooperation, platform advancement and operational standards, and the establishment of a dedicated institution and governance framework.
