Last updated on August 16, 2024
Many visitors to Bukchon instantly fall in love with its rows of traditional-style houses and sweeping views of Seoul. The neighborhood is also known for its galleries and shops, many of which sell traditional Korean arts and crafts.
Like all forms of paradise though, Bukchon has its share of problems. The increasing number of tourists has created more traffic and noise. Rent increases have driven out local businesses and small craft shops and cafes and restaurants have come in. The Samcheong-dong area has become so commercialized that it has become to lose its appeal. A spike in real estate prices in the late 2000s put parts of Gahoe-dong beyond the reach of all but the very wealthy. The list goes on.
All excesses reach a limit, however, and over the past couple of months, concerned residents of Bukchon have come together to voice their concern. The initial trigger was a proposal to flatten the hill in the road that goes in front of the Jeongdok Public Library.
The narrow road is the only east-west road in Bukchon and is historically important as a link between Gyeongbok Palace and Changdeok Palace. Plans for flattening the road were linked to plans to build a large public toilet near the top of the hill. A gallery and a tourist information center were added to those plans, further expanding the range of the construction. Adding to the concern were plans to build an underground parking garage under the Jaedong Elementary School.
Residents of the area who were already worried about the heavy tourist impact on Bukchon were alarmed at the scale of the proposed construction. They saw the road, the public toilet, and the parking garage as a collection of proposals designed to attract more tourists to Bukchon with a particular focus on the convenience of bus tourists. Having reached their limit, the residents formed a group called Concerned Residents of Bukchon to oppose the plans and discuss how best to improve the area from the perspective of the residents.
Concerned Residents of Bukchon succeeded in halting plans to flatten the road, but plans for the public toilet and underground parking garage are moving forward, albeit more slowly. The group is developing ideas to make existing public toilets more accessible, thus eliminating the need for the large public toilet. Concerned Residents of Bukchon is also thinking of other ideas to improve the quality of life in Bukchon.
Old cities and neighborhoods in other places offer clues toward a solution to the problems that beset Bukchon. The case of Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, is particularly relevant because construction and planning laws are similar in Korea and Japan. The emperor of Japan lived in Kyoto from 795 to 1868, but political power came and went. The Imperial Household and the important Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines allowed Kyoto to maintain its position as the heart of refined Japanese culture, even as political and economic power developed elsewhere. The depth of history and culture attracts around 50 million tourists to Kyoto every year, with spring and fall being the busiest seasons.
The tourist impact on Kyoto is substantial and it occasionally causes bitter controversies. For most residents, however, the tourist impact is manageable. The vast majority of tourists come by public transportation. Tourist buses crowd main streets during peak seasons, but they park in designated areas that to the side or behind major tourist sites. They never park on streets in neighborhoods. The buses are almost hidden from public view. The idea of hiding applies to public toilets as well. Most tourist sites have public toilets to the side of the entrance or in some other semi-hidden area. There are public toilets in other areas as well, but they are small and not placed in prominent positions.
Kyoto’s way of dealing with tourists is simple: Let Kyoto be Kyoto. Instead of changing Kyoto to fit tourist needs, Kyoto quietly adds what tourists need on the side. Kyoto knows that people, all 50 million of them come because they want to experience Kyoto, not Tokyo or Osaka.
Kyoto offers inspiration to those who are worried about Bukchon. Leave the hilly streets as is, keep public toilets out of view, and invite people to come by public transportation and enjoy the neighborhood on foot, and above all, keep the elegant human scale that makes Bukchon so attractive amid the jumble of concrete that dominates the rest of Seoul.