[Digging Travel] Winding Hills Painted in Pastel Tones Bring Tourism Boom... 'Busan's Machu Picchu'

⑮Pastel-Colored Maze of Machu Picchu 'Busan Gamcheon Culture Village'
Over 70 Artworks Captivate in Every Alley
Recently Suffering from Overtourism... Focused on Finding Solutions

Located in a rugged highland, Busan's Gamcheon Culture Village closely resembles Peru's 'Machu Picchu.' Machu Picchu was forgotten after the fall of the Inca Empire and rediscovered centuries later as ruins, gaining fame as a tourist destination. Similarly, Gamcheon Culture Village transformed from a declining hillside neighborhood into an open-air art gallery by painting pastel tones across its nooks and crannies, becoming a local landmark. Nestled between Cheomasan and Oknyobong, on a steep hillside where shacks and small wooden houses of less than 10 pyeong (approximately 33 square meters) gathered to form a village, how did this community come to be? And how did it come to be recognized as an exemplary case of urban regeneration over time? We take a closer look inside Gamcheon Culture Village.

Panoramic view of Gamcheon Culture Village, Saha-gu, Busan Metropolitan City. [Photo by Busan Tourism Organization]

In the late Joseon Dynasty, the small village of Gamcheon 2-dong in Saha-gu, Busan, where about 40 households lived, was formerly called Gamnae (甘內). The character 'Gam' (甘) derives from 'Geom' (검), which means 'God' (신). It is also said that the village was called Gamcheon (甘泉 or 甘川) because of its good water, though some argue this is a misinterpretation of Geomnae. The discovery of dolmens suggests that since prehistoric times, this area was inhabited by tribal leaders and was likely a sacred site (神域: holy ground) similar to a Sodo (蘇塗).

After the Korean War, refugees flocked to the area, and following a large fire in nearby Bosu-dong in 1955, collective relocation took place, forming the large-scale village seen today. Despite harsh conditions, the village was built and roads laid according to the principle that "all roads must connect, and the front house should not block the back house," allowing the orderly alleys and structure to be maintained to this day.

Due to the dense population in a small area, the quality of life was inevitably poor. Naturally, over time, the population began to decline. The population of Gamcheon-dong, which exceeded 25,000 in 1980, dropped to 9,400 by 2010, nearly a two-thirds decrease. Due to the terrain, reconstruction or redevelopment was difficult, and as more migrants arrived, empty houses increased. The declining village gradually became desolate as young people moved away.

The residents, unwilling to watch their village fall into crisis, began to shine in 2009 when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism selected the village for the joint art project 'Village Art Project.' This project provided artists with opportunities for creative activities and allowed residents to enjoy art and culture, resulting in the installation of 10 sculptural artworks on walls and alleys throughout the village.

The iconic "The Little Prince and the Desert Fox" of Gamcheon Culture Village.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The following year, six empty houses in the village were remodeled into cultural spaces such as photo galleries, and the 'Miro Miro Alley Project' was launched to install various artworks in the alleys. Subsequently, in 2012, the 'Machu Picchu Alley Project' installed cultural facilities and artworks in three vacant houses, giving birth to symbols of today's Gamcheon Culture Village, such as 'The Little Prince and the Desert Fox' and 'Fish Roaming the Alley.'

Currently, there are over 70 artworks installed in Gamcheon Culture Village. The hillside shantytown where refugees once lived has been splendidly transformed into an open-air art gallery, naturally attracting artists. Empty houses have been reborn as creative spaces and galleries, establishing the village as a cultural hub.

The number of tourists, which was only about 20,000 when the project began in 2011, surged to over 3.08 million in 2019, demonstrating explosive interest. Although tourism temporarily slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.75 million visitors came in 2022, showing a rapid recovery. Notably, foreign tourists accounted for 60% of the total, highlighting the village as a unique attraction found only in Korea. As tourists flocked in, the village launched community businesses operated by the 'Gamcheon Culture Village Residents' Association.' Eleven such businesses are currently running, generating approximately 1.6 billion KRW in sales. All profits are returned to the village development fund and used to improve residents' living conditions and other community projects.

Night view of Gamcheon Culture Village.
[Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

Although Gamcheon Culture Village is hailed as a successful case of preservation and regeneration, the residential area has suddenly become a travel hotspot, causing headaches due to overtourism. According to Saha District Office, the number of residents in Gamcheon Culture Village nearly halved from 3,161 in 2010, the early days of the regeneration project, to 1,558 in 2022. While population decline is a nationwide trend and the village is an old downtown area, the speed of decrease is unusually rapid.

A 2020 report by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements indicated that the appropriate daily capacity for tourists in Gamcheon Culture Village is 2,601. However, even during the off-season, about 5,000 tourists visit daily, and during peak season in July and August, the average daily number reaches approximately 7,000.

As overtourism issues persist, the village is promoting the expansion of profit-sharing projects from increased tourism and requesting local governments to increase village shuttle buses and secure parking lots for tour buses.

In an era of regional extinction due to population decline, Gamcheon Culture Village offers various insights to many regions seeking to revitalize tourism industries by increasing consumer populations. From a once-deserted hillside neighborhood transformed into a tourist destination through cultural urban regeneration projects, to the current situation of seeking diverse solutions to overtourism that infringes on residents' lives, Gamcheon Culture Village stands steadfast beneath Cheomasan, as always.