Seoul City Selects 5 Promising Alley Commercial Areas Including Jangchungdan-gil and Hapmartte... Plans to Develop 100 by 2030

Jangchungdan-gil, Hapmartteu, Seonyuro-un, Oryu Beodeul, Yangjaecheon-gil 5 Commercial Districts Selected
Establishing Commercial District Specialization Foundation~Developing Specialized Programs~Activating Commercial Districts with Detailed and Systematic Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has selected five promising neighborhood commercial districts and will invest up to 3 billion KRW per district over three years, focusing on budget, facilities, content, and strengthening merchant capabilities to transform them into distinctive and attractive representative commercial districts of Seoul.

On the 29th, Seoul announced the final selection of five sites for the Local Brand Commercial District Development Project. This project selects promising neighborhood commercial districts to showcase local brand identities reflecting regional characteristics, supporting 'hardware' such as facility and infrastructure improvements, 'software' including content and community, and 'humanware' by nurturing small business owners who will transform the commercial districts, thereby fostering neighborhoods where people want to stay.

The selected commercial districts are ▲ Jangchungdan-gil (Jung-gu, Toegye-ro) ▲ Hapmart (Mapo-gu, Seongji-gil) ▲ Seonyuro-un (Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yangpyeong-ro) ▲ Oryu Beodeul (Guro-gu, Oryu-ro) ▲ Yangjaecheon-gil (Seocho-gu, Yangjaecheon-ro), totaling five locations.

Seoul will systematically support these districts over three years with up to 3 billion KRW each, from establishing foundations for specialization to developing and revitalizing district-specific programs. This year, five districts are incubated first, aiming to create 100 local brand commercial districts by 2030.

The Jangchungdan-gil commercial district in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, is evaluated to have abundant potential demand due to nearby Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Jangchung Gymnasium, National Theater, and Dongguk University. Additionally, local cultural resources such as Jangchungdan Park and Namsoyeong Square, along with unique attractions like the country's only Coffee Grinder Museum, will be linked to develop it into a tourist hotspot.

The Hapmart commercial district in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, features differentiated attractions such as Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine, Danginri Cultural Creation Factory, and Yanghwajin Historical Cultural Park. Adjacent to the Hongdae commercial district and the Design Publishing Development Promotion Zone, it is attracting independent bookstores, galleries, and cafes with a trendy vibe. The plan is to develop it into a unique, hip neighborhood where the MZ generation gathers.

The Seonyuro-un commercial district around Seonyudo Station in Yangpyeong-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, will focus on Seonyudo Park, a representative content where one can enjoy Seoul’s beautiful scenery. It aims to discover and nurture popular and distinctive stores within the area to create a differentiated district where freedom and sophistication coexist. The Oryu Beodeul commercial district in Oryu-dong, Guro-gu, is a retro-style alley shopping area with various businesses. It plans to restore the 'Oryu-gol Joomak Street,' once shaded by willow trees where travelers rested, and create a storytelling commercial district filled with nostalgia by linking Oryu-gol Joomo and traditional liquor sommeliers.

The Yangjaecheon-gil commercial district in Seocho-gu will combine the natural environment of Yangjaecheon Stream with rich cultural and artistic resources such as the Seoul Arts Center, National Gugak Center, and Korea National University of Arts, developing into a high-quality urban healing district where classical music and gugak flow year-round.

This year, the first year of the project, Seoul, Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, and autonomous districts will collaborate to provide focused support for the selected districts to become representative commercial districts, including ▲ story discovery ▲ BI development and facility installation for ‘brand development and expansion,’ and ▲ discovery of anchor stores and citizen participation events for ‘marketing.’

Furthermore, to strengthen competitiveness and sustainability of neighborhood commercial districts, efforts will be made to build local networks, organize merchants, and provide merchant capacity-building education. In addition, detailed support will be added for stable and systematic promotion, such as fostering local creators’ startups and signing win-win agreements between landlords and tenants.

The city emphasized that it will conduct commercial district resource surveys and expert consultations for the five selected districts to refine business plans that maximize content and strengths reflecting each district’s characteristics, and steadily implement the project over three years. Im Geun-rae, Seoul’s Small Business Policy Officer, stated, “The Local Brand Commercial District Development Project is a Seoul-style commercial district revitalization initiative that develops promising neighborhood commercial districts into highly competitive representative districts through comprehensive support. It will serve as a model to revive neighborhood commercial districts struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.”