Last updated on August 16, 2024
A short trip to Busan and Daegu helped put Korean urban issues in sharper focus.
Each city has a Jung-gu District at its center, which helps make for an interesting comparison. The Jung-gu District in Busan is 2.8 square kilometers and has a population of 49,000; the Jung-gu District in Daegu is seven square kilometers and has a population of 77,000. Jung-gu in Daegu is larger in area and population, but the population density is less.
Like other cities in Korea, the historic commercial center of Busan and Daegu came under pressure in the 1990s as people and businesses began to move to newer sections of the city. Most of the newer areas had new apartment complexes with higher income residents whose children attended better schools. These areas were, in short, mini-versions of the Gangnam area in Seoul.
As higher income people moved, shopping and entertainment went with them. By the late 1990s, older areas of cities fell out of favor and began to decline as people tried to keep up with the Joneses. By searching out newer areas where successful people in the know go.
The trend started in Seoul first as Myeong-dong and Jongno began to decline in the late 1980s as Gangnam began to boom. Nampo-dong and nearby areas in Busan began to decline in the late 1990s. The Dongseongno shopping area of Daegu has avoided decline, but other areas of central Daegu have declined.
Decline in the Korea context means a loss of people and business. When people stop coming to an area, businesses close, which exacerbates the cycle. The movement of offices and public facilities in search of newer facilities also affects thecycle. Redevelopment plans that linger or that have been cancelled cause residential areas near the city center to lose population as unmaintained housing becomes unlivable.
The Jung-gu Districts in Busan and Daegu began to decline in the 1990s, reaching bottom by the end of the 2000s, but are now showing signs of rebirth. Nampo-dong in Busan, for example, has become the new hot spot, attracting large crowds of young people and tourists. The Nampo-dong crowds have become to spill over to nearby Gukje Market and other areas of Jung-gu District. The alley of used bookstores in Bosu-dong is attracting more customers after years of slow decline.
In Daegu’s Jung-gu District, old buildings on the edges of Donseongno are being renovated and turned into cafés and restaurants. Of particular interest is the restoration of several Japanese colonial-period buildingin the Bukseongno area near Daegu Station. The Bukseongno Tool Museum opened recently in a restored Japanese colonial-period shop. Nearby, a café and architect’s office share a Japanese style shop and a guest house will soon open in another Japanese-style building nearby. These green shoots are the result of cooperation among individuals, citizens groups, and local governments.
In looking at Jung-gu Districts in Busan and Daegu, several patterns emerge. The most important is a flow of people and attracting people to an area requires hardware and image making. In the case of Nampo-dong, the new Lotte Department Store help increase foot traffic in the area. Improvements in pedestrian infrastructure along the main street and in the side streets made the area more attractive. City-sponsored events and resulting media coverage also helped make the area appear interesting, lively, and, perhaps most important, new.
To stir the flow of people, non-ideological approaches through trial and error are required. From a buy-local stance, the Lotte Department Store and the many brand-name chain stores in Nampo-dong are overpowering competition local shops and nearby Gukje Market.
A closer look shows, however, shows that these shops have attracted people to the area and that many of the people end up window shopping at the expensive shops while saving their purchases for local shops and Gukje Market.
Likewise, the restoration and reuse of Japanese colonial-era buildings in Bukseongno in Daegu is, from an ideological perspective in Seoul, a taboo. Japanese colonial-period architecture has, however, helped attract people to the old center of Incheon and, most notably to Gunsan, and it shows the promise of doing the same for Daegu.
The Jung-gu Districts in Busan and Daegu still face a number of challenges, particularly a continued decline in population, but recent efforts have arrested the decline. They show the importance of non-ideological, often ad hoc, cooperation between government, local merchants, citizens groups, interested individuals, and, yes, big business.