Seoul Seeks Ways to Bring about Balanced Urban Regeneration： Gentrification Part

Artists and entrepreneurs open galleries and shops in an area where the rent is affordable. As they become successful， the area becomes popular... attracting larger businesses and higher income residents. The growing demand pushes up rent and lease prices... often driving out the long－time residents and original businesses in that area. This is Korea′s version of gentrification what we took a look at in part one of this series. Problem identified. Now， is there a e a viable solution？ Gentrification， a new urban trend： our News Feature tonight the last of our two part series. ″How should Seoul change？″ That was the fundamental question behind this international symposium held under the theme ″Artist， Gentrification， and Urban Regeneration″. Experts discussed gentrification case studies from other countries， and the possible lessons that Seoul could learn from them. ″I think there are a few cases of where gentrification has been successfully slowed down or stopped. The only way I think in which it′s possible to control the process is... through some form of city planning where the city actually restricts housing changes to certain groups.″ New York City， which has a longer history of gentrification than Seoul， has a resident－based committee called ″Community Board″ that participates in the city′s urban planning and development processes. The board′s requests aren′t legally binding but the city takes most of them into consideration. Across the Atlantic… the U.K. has a national network of regional committees... called ″Locality″ that empowers neighborhoods to form organizations and manage community issues on their own. Back in Korea... where gentrification has become the talk of the town，... Seoul′s eastern district of Seongdong－gu， for the first time in the country， enacted an ordinance last September to protect tenants from rising property values. The district office followed examples from overseas to form an independent residents′ committee that has the authority to allow or restrict businesses that wish to move into the disctrict. ″If high－end bars and big franchise stores move in， they will destroy the district′s commercial ecosystem. To prevent that， we created a committee comprised of local residents including landlords， regional representatives and artists.″ The motivation behind such assertive action are the rising concerns regarding gentrification in the Seongsu－dong area. Once a dull industrial neighborhood of factories，... cheap rents attracted many artisans， which in turn， transformed the area into a haven for high quality handmade shoes. Empty factories and warehouses became galleries， while old houses turned into ateliers for shoemakers or cafes with a unique character. ″Before， this was a desolate factory area and the streets were all grey. But now， there′s a street just for handmade shoe stores， and a lot of young students and socially－con ...