Dobong District Newly Designates Four Alley Shopping Districts

Benefits Include Facility Improvements, Marketing Support, and Onnuri Gift Certificate Program

Dobong District in Seoul (Mayor Oh Eon-seok) has newly designated four local shopping districts as Alley Shopping Districts. This is a follow-up measure after the district became the first among Seoul’s autonomous districts in July to ease the designation criteria for Alley Shopping Districts.

Eon-Seok Oh, Mayor of Dobong District (center), and the newly appointed president of the Alley Shopping District Merchants Association are taking a group photo to commemorate the new designation. Provided by Dobong District.

Previously, the district revised the “Dobong District Ordinance on Supporting the Revitalization of Alley Shopping Districts” to significantly ease the existing standard from 30 stores per 2,000 square meters to 15 stores. This opened the way for small-scale shopping districts that did not meet the previous requirements to be designated as Alley Shopping Districts.

Once designated as an Alley Shopping District, these areas are eligible for a variety of benefits, just like existing shopping districts, including facility improvements, marketing and consulting support, and participation in the Onnuri gift certificate program.

After completing the new designation process on October 1, the district finalized all subsequent administrative procedures by the end of last month. The newly designated Alley Shopping Districts are: Banghakdan-gil (around Madullo 657 and Dobong-ro 152-gil), Seonghwangdang-gil (around Dobong-ro 165-gil and Dobong-ro 169na-gil), Noheraeng-gil (around Dobong-ro 133-gil and Banghak-ro 3-gil), and Hakmaeul (around Banghak-ro 10-gil and Dodang-ro 9-gil).

With this new designation, the number of Alley Shopping Districts in Dobong District has increased to five. Mayor Oh Eon-seok stated, “We will continue to work closely with the merchants’ associations to revitalize the local commercial districts and actively support their development into popular destinations.”