[This Person] Park Seongsu, Songpa District Mayor, Takes Action to Revive Local Small Businesses

Songpa-gu Enacts Ordinance to Designate 'Alley-type Shopping Districts'... Specialized Streets and Food Alleys Eligible for Various Supports Like Traditional Markets, Including Onnuri Gift Certificate Affiliation

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, Taking Steps to Revitalize Alleyway Commercial Districts through Amendment of Ordinance Designating Alleyway Shopping Areas

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, announced on the 25th that he will support alley commercial districts to revitalize the stagnant alley economy and help small business owners overcome management crises.

To this end, the district enacted the "Ordinance on Designation of Alley-type Shopping Districts" on September 30.

This ordinance follows the revision of the Special Act for the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts (August 11, 2020), expanding the scope of support from existing traditional markets and shopping districts to alley commercial districts. According to the ordinance, if the district designates an "alley-type shopping district," it can receive support equivalent to that of traditional markets and shopping districts.

In particular, existing shopping districts could only be designated if retail and wholesale stores accounted for more than 50% within the area, which excluded many small business store clusters from various supports.

In consideration of the reality that there are many specialized streets and food alleys in the region, the district enacted the ordinance and will actively designate "alley-type shopping districts."

An "alley-type shopping district" can apply if there are 30 or more stores operated by small business owners clustered within an area of 2,000㎡ or less, regardless of business type. The formation of a merchants' association or merchants' organization is also one of the main conditions.

The designation is finally decided by the Alley-type Shopping District Deliberation Committee, considering regional characteristics, commercial district size, and development potential.

Once designated as an "alley-type shopping district," various commercial district revitalization projects such as ▲ brand development and promotion ▲ online marketing support projects and consulting to improve the business environment can be supported.

Also, the use of Onnuri gift certificates is possible.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, "Alley commercial districts are under great threat due to aggressive expansion of large-scale stores and the surge in e-commerce caused by COVID-19," adding, "We will actively foster competitive alley commercial districts through the designation of 'alley-type shopping districts' and strive to support them so that it leads to revitalization of the local economy."