Yongin City Eases Designation Criteria for 'Alley-type Shopping Districts'

30 Stores within 2000㎡ → 25 in Commercial Area, 20 in Others
Onnuri Gift Certificate Membership Application, Facility and Management Modernization Participation Available

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 29th that it will ease the designation criteria for 'Alley-type Shopping Districts' starting from the 12th of next month to foster alleyway commercial areas and revitalize local commercial districts.

'Alley-type Shopping Districts' is a system implemented by the government since 2020 under the "Special Act on the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts." It allows small business clusters that do not meet the criteria for 'traditional markets' or 'shopping districts' to receive support equivalent to traditional markets and shopping districts if they meet certain standards.

Once designated as an 'Alley-type Shopping District,' businesses can apply to join the Onnuri Gift Certificate program. They can also participate in facility and management modernization projects.

However, there have been criticisms that the requirements have been too strict, making it difficult to be designated as an 'Alley-type Shopping District.' In fact, there are currently no areas in Yongin designated as such.

This easing of designation criteria follows the recent passage of a partial amendment to the "Yongin City Ordinance on the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts" at the city council's extraordinary session plenary meeting.

Previously, the criteria required at least 30 stores within an area of 2,000㎡ or less. However, with the ordinance amendment, in commercial areas, the designation can now be made if there are 25 or more small business stores within the specified area, and outside commercial areas, if there are 20 or more stores.

The requirement for the consent of land and building owners when applying for designation as an alley-type shopping district has also been removed. Additionally, while public areas such as roads were previously included in the designated area's size, public facilities will now be excluded from the area calculation, further easing the area criteria.

A city official stated, "We plan to strategically foster the livelihood economy centered on alleyway commercial areas," adding, "We will expand support to revitalize local commercial districts by promoting shopping district activation projects."