Changwon Special City Selected for Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Soridangil Project' Public Contest

Mayor Hong Nampyo Declares, “We Will Make Soridangil the Best Attraction in the Southeast Region”

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam has secured 500 million KRW in national funding after its ‘Soridangil Naedongnaesal (I Save My Neighborhood)’ project was selected as a national government project.

Selected by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 20th, the Naedongnaesal project aims to revitalize the alley commercial district by utilizing idle facilities in the depressed shopping area. From 2024 to 2026, a total of 1 billion KRW will be invested over three years, including 500 million KRW in national funds and 500 million KRW in city funds.

Selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Public Contest: 'Soridangil Project'.

Soridangil is a compound word of Sodap-dong + ‘Ridan’ (from Gyeongridan-gil), referring to the commercial district around Sodap-dong, Jung-dong, Seosang-dong, and Buk-dong in Uichang-gu. This area once served as the old downtown of Changwon, but after the 39th Division relocated in 2015 and new towns were developed, it lost its function as the old downtown and began to decline.

While large-scale commercial spaces were newly established around the new town area, the Sodap Market area experienced relative neglect in development, leading to the decline of the alley commercial district. To overcome this, in 2021, under private leadership, young entrepreneurs created a street called ‘Soridangil’ as part of the ‘Changwon Jung-dong Urban Regeneration Project,’ which gradually gained popularity through word of mouth.

The newly selected project aims to restore the self-sustainability of the depressed commercial district and create a representative regionally specialized street in Changwon through branding that utilizes local resources.

The main components include ▲creating a ‘co-working space’ by repurposing abandoned idle facilities into startup and community spaces ▲holding the ‘Delicious Sound’ cooking contest to discover and nurture excellent local food and beverage creators ▲the ‘Spring of the Alley’ environmental improvement project to redesign the neighborhood and engage residents ▲‘How About My Carrot?’ in collaboration with the online secondhand trading platform Danggeun Market ▲and ‘Semoro,’ a promotion project utilizing local resources such as Soridangil alley tours, concerts, and exhibitions.

If this project is successfully implemented, the Soridangil area is expected to recover the self-sustainability of the commercial district, which had been neglected and difficult to restore for a long time, and to reemerge as a commercial district that discovers new creators and grows independently.

Additionally, through thorough follow-up management and continuous efforts to discover subsequent linked projects, there are plans to promote Soridangil as an economic community hub that plays a central role in a mutually prosperous economy through regional economic community functions.

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, said, “Through this project, we will not only revive the local commercial district but also create an environment conducive to youth entrepreneurship, making Soridangil the top attraction in the southeastern region.”