T map Exploring Life
Now,
when and where?
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Joy and sadness in the alley
business district
The light and
shadows
of gentrification
The term "gentrification" first appeared in London in 1964. It describes a redevelopment process in which middle-class professionals (gentry) were moving to the underdeveloped housing area, and the working-class and the local residents were displaced outside London due to the high rise of rental fees. In Korea, the phenomenon happened in Garosu-gil, Samcheong-dong and Gyeongnidan-gil, making it a social issue. Based on the analysis of T map data, we followed the light and shadows of gentrification in some preferred alleys of Seoul such as Mangridan-gil, Yeonnam-dong and Ikseon-dong.
Background of gentrification
When deciding a right place for dating or gathering, the hashtags on social media can serve as a highly useful tool. Once you search for "hot places," you will have a shower of information regarding pretty cafes and tasty restaurants. If you refer to some trendy districts that come along, you will easily find streets with many exciting things to discover. The districts such as Gyeongnidan-gil and Yeonnamdong offers familiar names that pop up for hashtags of "hot places" and you will soon identify "rising" places and "fading" districts. If we define such changes as mere "trends" or "changes of taste" in a superficial way, we will have to deal with this complex issue for quite a while. Behind this apparently cool and splendid expression of "hot places," therein lies the gentrification phenomenon, intertwined with various interests such as local people who had settled in the area from the beginning, owners of buildings, franchise, etc. Gentrification begins when artists and small businesspeople arrive in the underdeveloped old town with inexpensive rent fee and start to form a cultural street full of individuality. When the area goes viral via social media and leads to rise of floating population, large-scale commercial capital is invested, and the rent fee increases as a result. The initial settlers and artists who have been contributing to creating a new atmosphere of the alleys cannot handle the high rent fee and have to leave the place. This way, the local culture slowly fades, and the commercial vitality also disappears as time goes by. This is the final stage of gentrification. Starting from Samcheong-dong and Garosu-gil, the areas such as Ilseon-dong and Seongsu-dong have gone through these processes and arrived to present status.
* 2015. 1. ~ 2019. 12.
* Korea Appraisal Board | KB Financial Group Research Institute
* 2015. 1. ~ 2019. 12. | Korea Appraisal Board | KB Financial Group Research Institute
Rising districts, fading districts
We explored eight alleys, which had been topics of conversation in Seoul for the past six years from 2014, to see how they have been evolving over time. Out of buildings constituting each alley, we carried out an analysis, excluding the large franchise stores, by designating small and medium buildings where small business owners are installed. In Samcheong-dong, despite being a typical backward district with low official land prices, attracted artists and craftspeople who brought wind of change to the area, and made the alleys more and more popular. At first, it was believed that the commercial influence of the area would increase for it is close to Bukchon and Insadong. However, popularity did not last long and people diverted their interest. The artists, unable to pay costly rent fee, began leaving the place one after another and large franchise businesses started replacing their nests. This brought tremendous changes to the unique atmosphere of Samcheong-dong. Later, Gyeongnidan-gil and Garosu-gil succeeded popularity of old Samcheong-dong instead.
Gyeongnidan-gil close to Itaewon formed stores with exotic and unusual atmosphere and items. They became spots of TV programs and attracted public attention. Garosu-gil emerged as a commercial district representing Gangnam since fashion select shops and designer stores opened one after another. However, vivacity of the past hardly exists there. Why? It is because Gyeongnidan-gil failed to solve the parking shortage problem, while Garosu-gil transformed into a marketing target area of famous brands. As of 2019, Gyeongnidan-gil reached over 20% of store vacancy rate, the highest rate in Seoul. The vacancy rate on Garosu-gil accounts for 11.3%, also with a high rate.
According to the analysis of commercial districts of Seoul, the possibility of survival of new stores over three years is only about 50%. Stores surviving for five years cover only 38.1%, which is almost as same as that of the popularity from each business district. Samcheong-dong, Gyeongnidan-gil and Garosu-gil were booming for the past five years, but the capital started to flow into new places.
8 alleys with gentrification
in Seoul
* 2014. 1. ~ 2019. 12.
Apperance of new hot places
Now the title of "hot places" moved to Yeonnam-dong and Mangwon-dong. Ateliers of young artists and small stores moved in large numbers movement to the neighborhoods of Yeongnam-dong and Mangwon-dong, due to the high rent fee by the areas of Hongdae and Hapjeong. Yeonnam-dong earned the nickname, "Yeontral Park" (suggestive of Central Park of New York) when the Gyeongui Line Forest Park was created in 2016. With this, Yeonnam-dong emerged as a "Mecca" on social media. Mangwon-dong is nicknamed "Mangridan-gil" inheriting from the original name "Gyeongnidan-gil," which indirectly implies the origin of today's megatrend alleys. Songnidan-gil is also influenced by Gyeongnidan-gil. It is an alley of apartment houses ("villa" in Korean) leading to a residential area from Seokchon Lake Park, It also enhances a synergy effect along with Bangidong Food Alley, as the number of cafes and restaurants is on the rise. Lotte Tower nearby is a favorable factor to attract shoppers. For this reason, this district is expected to grow with success. It is no exaggeration to say that authenticity of hot places can be determined by its photographic value to post on social media. Posting some "evidence" like pictures on social media after visiting popular places now forms part of our daily culture. Instead of repeat visits to the same places, people prefer to focus on seeking completely new places. This is what makes today's trends different. In fact, Ikseon-dong and Seongsu-dong were able to emerge as hot places thanks to the "evidence" picture fever on social media. Ikseon-dong attracts our attention with its unique space remodeled from the traditional house style of Korea (Hanok). On the other hand, Seongsu-dong, renewed from factories and warehouses, is simply perfect to satisfy the taste of today's consumers seeking at newness every moment. However, on the flip side, some residents of Ikseon-dong are sad when they see how their long-settled "nest" suddenly transform into a commercial district. Some business owners must move their respective factories to the outskirts because they can no longer pay the increased rent fees. Imagine this situation. After a certain period of time, if people forget about this area and discontinue their visit, would it be ever possible that the original scenery and identity can be recovered? Gentrification hidden under the splendid name "hot places" or "rising districts" is an ongoing phenomenon observed in many corners of Seoul.
T map Trend Map 2020
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