[Walking Through Seoul] "Seoul-Style" Cultural Activities: Hiking and Reading

Seoul's Cultural Life Through Data
World Cities Culture Forum Report
28% Green Space Ratio Thanks to Seoul's Many Mountains
Hiking Is a Popular Cultural Activity Among Citizens
Top Rankings in Libraries and Book Loans
Doubts About the Criticism That "Koreans Don't Read Books"
Deep Connection to University Culture Since the 1970s
3rd in the World for Number of Museums and Art Galleries
No World-Famous Landmarks,
But Cultural Infrastructure Is at a Global Level

The word ‘global’ has not been heard as frequently since the 2020s. Moreover, the free trade order that was established over a long period through ‘globalization’ has become a subject of criticism at some point. In contrast, as the threat of war and political conflicts have increased worldwide and the climate crisis has worsened, more people have started to worry about survival itself rather than dreaming about the future. As a result, the word ‘global’ now even feels somewhat outdated.

However, on the other hand, considering that the world is undeniably becoming smaller, the activities of various institutions and organizations created during the golden age of globalization remain meaningful. Among them is the World Cities Culture Forum, which collects and studies cultural life data from about 40 major cities worldwide. The cultural life status of Seoul, which joined this forum together with the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture in 2013, can also be examined through this data.

Founded in 2012 under the leadership of the City of London, the World Cities Culture Forum aims to promote the comparison of policies among cities worldwide to foster citizens’ cultural life. It accumulates data grouped into five major categories: ‘Basic Data,’ ‘Cultural Infrastructure,’ ‘Cultural Participation and Tourism,’ ‘Creative Economy,’ and ‘Education,’ covering more than 60 items. The forum publishes reports related to city culture policies and current status. The subcategories within these five groups include totals, percentages, and statistics per 100,000 people, among which percentages and per 100,000 statistics are very helpful for accurate comparisons. Individual cities provide data with slightly different processing methods, some data may be missing, and the years may vary. Besides data accumulation, the forum holds an annual general meeting to promote exchange, which was held in Seoul in 2017.

Where does Seoul stand among the five categories? First, in ‘Basic Data,’ notable items are the ‘percentage of foreign-born population’ and the ‘percentage of public green space.’ In Seoul’s case, about 4% of the population was born abroad, which is relatively low among 32 cities but higher than neighboring cities Tokyo and Taipei, as well as higher than S?o Paulo in Brazil, which has a long history of immigration, and Hong Kong, which has a strong international image. The green space ratio is about 28%, placing Seoul around the middle among 33 cities. This is much higher than Tokyo’s 7.5% and Taipei’s 6.6%, not because Seoul has many parks but because there are many mountains within the city. Hiking is a ‘Seoul-style’ cultural activity enjoyed by many Seoul citizens.

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History as seen from Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

‘Cultural Infrastructure’ has the most subcategories, among which the number of bookstores per 100,000 people is 5.3, relatively low among 33 cities. In contrast, libraries rank 2nd with 11.5 per 100,000 people, and total book loans rank 10th. This suggests that Seoul is an active reading city, casting doubt on the recent criticism that “Koreans do not read books.”

Seoul’s reading culture is deeply connected to the ‘university culture’ formed since the 1970s and can be considered alongside hiking as a ‘Seoul-style’ cultural activity. Various active reading clubs and reading blogs recently can be seen as new expressions of this ‘tradition.’ Additionally, the number of museums and art galleries ranks 3rd after Paris and LA; art galleries rank 4th after New York, Paris, and London; theaters rank 5th; movie theaters rank 7th; and film festival events rank 4th. From this perspective, Seoul may lack historic, landmark museums or theaters like Paris or London, but in terms of cultural and artistic infrastructure, it is almost among the world’s top cities.

Looking at the ‘Cultural Participation and Tourism’ category, the citizen participation rate does not correspond proportionally to the number of cultural infrastructures. For example, the percentage of Seoul’s working-age population visiting museums, art galleries, and galleries annually is about 25%, ranking 15th among 21 cities. London, which ranks highest, is at 61%. This indicates that although infrastructure ranks high, the number of users is relatively low. It is presumed that this is due to longer working hours and commuting times compared to citizens of other cities. Regarding ‘foreign tourist statistics,’ based on total numbers from 2010 data, Seoul ranked 3rd after Hong Kong and London, but in terms of population percentage, it ranked 11th at 175%. Barcelona, where recent protests against overtourism occurred, ranked 3rd with a staggering 521%. This shows that Barcelona is more affected by foreign tourism than Seoul.

The employment rate in the ‘Creative Economy’ category is interesting. Seoul ranked 26th among 32 cities with 3.73%. Barcelona ranked 1st in this category. Depending on how the creative economy is defined and how data is collected, Seoul’s low ranking may be explained, but it is also presumed that the large corporation-centered economic structure has influenced this result.

Finally, there is the ‘Education’ category. The percentage of adults with a university degree is 39%, ranking 15th among 28 cities. Melbourne ranks highest at 61%, but if calculated focusing on the younger generation, Seoul’s rate would be similar. Seoul ranked 10th in the total number of international students, lower than New York or Tokyo with similar populations, but considering the much shorter history of international student inflow, it shows that the internationalization of universities is accelerating. Regarding art and design education institutions, which are one of the success factors for the creative economy, Seoul ranks 1st among 20 cities in the number of students majoring in art and design at general universities and also 1st when including specialized schools. Seoul has thus secured an important asset for the development of the creative economy.

Within the data of the World Cities Culture Forum, Seoul is already a culturally significant global city. Although it lacks world-famous cultural landmarks like Paris or London, its cultural infrastructure and creative economy-related educational foundation are rich enough not to fall behind many cities worldwide. From this perspective, Seoul’s cultural policy seems to need to focus more on how to increase the ‘utilization’ of existing resources rather than expanding infrastructure by building or creating something new. This is precisely what the data is telling us.

Robert Fauzer, Former Professor at Seoul National University