The interior of a Safe Care Home selected in 2023 is seen in this undated file photo from the Seoul city government. Yonhap

The Seoul city government said Thursday it will provide 170 home-like elderly care facilities by 2030, shifting away from the conventional dormitory-style facilities.

The new facilities, dubbed "Safe Care Homes," feature a unit care structure, in which two to three elderly people share a living room and a common living room and private and public space is divided, the government said.

The floor area per person is set to meet 25.1 square meters, which is larger than the legal area of 20.5 square meters. The existing elderly care facilities have a dormitory-style structure with rooms lined up in a row.

The city government selected nine houses as Safe Care Homes last year and plans to provide five more this year before steadily increasing the total number to 170 by 2030.

Applications for the new program will be accepted through autonomous district offices from May 3-13 and successful applicants will be provided with remodeling expenses of up to 293 million won ($213,168) and initial operating expenses. (Yonhap)