Starlight Sinsari Emerges as a Representative Attraction of Gwanak-gu

Starlight Sinsari Commercial District Renaissance Project Enters 5th Year, Accelerates Until the End; All Six Performance Indicators Including Monthly Sales and Foot Traffic Rise... Sillim Station Exit 7 Near Starlight Sinsari District Reborn as Pedestrian Safety Specialized Street

Starlight Walk held last year

Recently, the area around Sillim Station in Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) has been reemerging as one of the district's representative attractions.

Since 2020, the district has been promoting the ‘Byeolbit Sinsari Commercial District Renaissance Project’ to revitalize the commercial area around Sillim Station.

Now entering its fifth year, the ‘Byeolbit Sinsari Commercial District Renaissance’ is the first project in Seoul selected through a competition by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The district plans to invest a total of 8 billion KRW over five years until March 2025 for environmental improvements, festivals, and other activities to activate the commercial district.

The main target areas include the ‘Seowon-dong Shopping Street’ centered around Sundae Town near exits 3 and 4 of Sillim Station, and the areas around ‘Sinwon Market’ and ‘Gwanak General Market’ opposite Byeolbit Naerincheon (Dorimcheon).

Key achievements from last year include infrastructure improvements to enhance customer convenience, such as ▲entry of 30 stores into Naver’s ‘Neighborhood Market Shopping’ platform ▲securing new public restrooms (Gwanak General Market) ▲operation of a parking payment booth (Renaissance Shopping Mall) ▲replacement of four high-mounted lighting films. Additionally, the district maximized the commercial area's appeal by renewing the design of the mural (trick art) in front of the waterside stage at Byeolbit Naerincheon.

Furthermore, to strengthen commercial district capabilities, the district has promoted ▲development of 2,050 stores ▲pest control programs ▲benchmarking projects for excellent commercial districts, and has worked to expand customer experience by operating ▲delivery menu tasting events ▲Sundae food trucks ▲specialty product (Makgeolli ‘Makholly 7.0’) tasting sessions.

In particular, the district extended the operation period of the popular ‘Byeolbit Walk (lighting festival)’ from one month to two months, providing abundant attractions not only for commercial district visitors but also for local residents. This included linked events such as ▲flea markets ▲relay performances ▲store coupon booths, which encouraged extensive use of the commercial district by residents.

Thanks to these efforts, the average monthly sales per store in Byeolbit Sinsari recently increased from 16.22 million KRW to 17.01 million KRW. All six performance indicators?floating population, satisfaction, friendliness, store cleanliness, and brand awareness?showed improvement compared to 2022.

As this year marks the final year of the project, the district plans to devote full efforts to achieving a successful conclusion. In addition to various festivals and events like Byeolbit Walk, the district will focus on activating Naver’s ‘Neighborhood Market Shopping’ to secure customers accustomed to delivery services in line with changing consumption trends. It will also enhance convenience by operating parking booths and producing hygiene products using the commercial district’s BI.

Alongside this, the district plans to nurture ‘core stores’ that can attract customers to the commercial district by developing ‘2,050 stores’ and representative delivery menus through expert-led consulting. It will also hold a ‘Performance Sharing Forum’ to showcase the five-year achievements and publish a ‘Renaissance White Paper’ to wrap up the project.

Mayor Park Junhee stated, “Over the remaining year, we will mobilize all administrative resources to ensure a brilliant conclusion to the Byeolbit Sinsari Commercial District Renaissance. We will continue to provide diverse support so that Byeolbit Sinsari can flourish as a representative commercial district of Seoul.”

Meanwhile, Gwanak-gu recently transformed a 1,300-meter section around exit 7 of Sillim Station, near the Byeolbit Sinsari commercial district, into a pedestrian-friendly street, injecting new vitality into the Sillim Station commercial area.

Through processes including ▲road resurfacing ▲partial creation of pedestrian paths ▲color pattern paving ▲pedestrian priority road signs, the area was reborn as the ‘Sillim Station Area Pedestrian Safety Specialized Street,’ a walkable space prioritizing people over cars.

The district expects that by creating a pedestrian-centered specialized street around exit 7 of Sillim Station, where pedestrian traffic is heavy, the vicinity will rise as a representative attraction of Gwanak-gu.