[Choi Jun-young's Urban Pilgrimage] New Towns and Alleys

The symbol of alleys in the past was frustration, unpredictability, and messiness
Realized the existence and value of alleys through 30 years of new town experience
In the 2020s, comfort with irregular, naturally occurring forms should be created

In 1994, at the peak of the completion of the first phase of new town development and settlement, a newly appointed professor posed a question to the students: “Where will be the most valuable space in the city of the future?” Each student pondered and offered various answers, but none were close to the correct one. The professor’s answer was “golmok” (alley). The students all wore expressions of disbelief. They had felt through their classes and daily lives that alleys, symbols of disorder and inconvenience, should be eliminated through systematic planning and development and replaced with wide, grid-patterned street networks to create a desirable future city. It was hard to imagine such alleys as valuable future spaces.

Alleys, commonly found in the spaces of old cities, were narrow passages that made vehicle movement difficult and provided no clear information about where they led. Representing frustration, unpredictability, and untidiness, alleys symbolized the past and were considered something to be removed in the future. It took 20 years to realize that such alleys could be precious urban spaces.

Well-maintained new towns present a neat and orderly image to both residents and outsiders. Regularly arranged parks and various convenience facilities provide satisfaction in daily life, and geometrically arranged street networks create smooth and convenient traffic flow through predictability. Trees that grow over time transform the initial barrenness into warmth and abundance. However, the wide streets characteristic of new towns do not provide comfort to users as planners had hoped. Although the well-planned layouts appear perfect on paper, they often cause discomfort to the people who actually use the spaces, like the discomfort felt when climbing stairs that cannot accommodate everyone’s stride.

After experiencing various forms of future-oriented new towns over 30 years, people gradually came to newly appreciate the existence and value of alleys. The regular layouts of new towns were perceived as monotonous, while the irregular forms of alleys came to be seen as rhythmic. For generations born and raised in new towns, alleys became spaces where they could experience fun and unpredictable variety. Starting with Samcheong-dong, alleys in existing urban areas such as Garosugil, Itaewon, and Hongdae became attractive spaces bearing the suffix “-gil” and turned into places bustling with people and money.

The reason people flock to alleys is largely due to the human scale and pace that alley spaces provide. Building heights are related to road widths, so buildings in narrow alleys tend to be low and easily comprehensible at a glance. Instead of planning routes in advance and parking cars in underground garages of specific buildings, alleys offer the freedom of spontaneous choices. The narrow width of alleys makes vehicle entry difficult, empowering pedestrians. Shops formed at a walking pace offer small but subtle rhythms of change. In alleys, people become relaxed and leisurely. Divided into small spaces, alleys continuously change little by little, providing new appearances and experiences to people.

New towns announced one after another to solve the problem of soaring housing prices focus on convenient transportation, abundant greenery, and securing land to strengthen self-sufficiency functions. Various concepts are applied to new towns or housing development zones, but their essence is the separation of spaces according to use. Functions that might conflict are separated as much as possible or buffered to avoid interference. This arrangement, emphasizing minimizing congestion and harmonious order, often leads to isolated areas connected in sequence, which can hinder urban vitality. Attempts are underway to supply land with various integrated functions to solve this problem, but it is difficult to significantly change the existing land use patterns. Such land forms will resemble the existing standardized layouts.

To overcome the limitations arising from the spatial characteristics of new towns dominated by large apartment complexes, the presence of districts with irregular, naturally occurring forms rather than geometric street patterns and road layouts may be necessary. The idea of artificially creating alleys may feel unnatural and forced, but if the fundamental purpose of new towns is to provide spaces that people desire, such approaches and attempts are not impossible. Artificial intelligence could play a role in creating natural and irregular spaces rather than geometric layouts. What is needed for the most human-centered spaces might be the cold calculation of computers rather than humans.

New towns are spaces created to solve the problems of existing cities. New towns developed in the past, when greenery and urban infrastructure were lacking, focused on providing these elements. New towns built in the 2020s should allow people to feel the human scale and comfort that alleys in old cities provided. If we are a bit more ambitious, it might be necessary to leave spaces throughout the city that can change according to future demands and preferences. A true future city is one that is not created all at once and ages all at once but continuously changes and creates newness. We hope for new towns that embrace the heritage of alleys from the past while preparing for the future.

Legal Expert, Yulchon LLC