[Interview] Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, "Realizing a Cultural Tourism City through Large-scale Complex Cultural Town Development and Underground Space Development Projects in the Hongdae Area"

Construction of 3 Large Complex Cultural Facilities and Promotion of Mapo Publishing and Printing Smart Anchor... Development of Local Tourism Specialty Products such as Mapo Tour Bus, Hongdae Alley Parade, and Mapo Manbo... Full Efforts to Revitalize Local Economy through Underground Space Development in Hongdae Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “We will accelerate the creation of a cultural tourism city that will be the key to revitalizing the local economy, including the development of three large-scale complex cultural towns in Mapo and the underground space development project around Hongdae.”

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo District, said in an interview with Asia Economy that he will make every effort to create jobs and revitalize the local economy through the realization of a cultural tourism city.

Mapo District plans to newly establish three large-scale cultural complex facilities.

First, a cultural complex town is being promoted on the site of the Mapo Yusuji public parking lot near Mapo Station. The preliminary feasibility study was recently passed, and completion is targeted for 2024. The tentatively named “Hallyu & Performance Tourism Complex,” with a total floor area of 11,717㎡ and five floors above ground, will have four performance halls with a total of 1,942 seats. It is expected to serve as a specialized performance venue for performance tourism in the future.

Also, the “Danginri Cultural Creation Power Plant” project, which remodels the Seoul Combined Thermal Power Plant located in Hapjeong-dong into a cultural complex space, is currently in the design phase. Scheduled for completion in 2022, the cultural and artistic space to be established in the decommissioned thermal power plant units 4 and 5 will consist of an industrial heritage experience space, performance halls, exhibition halls, and event halls.

Lastly, the tentatively named “Mapo Publishing Culture Promotion Center” is scheduled to open in early 2020 within the public contribution facilities inside the Hongdae Entrance Station complex station building. The Mapo Publishing Culture Promotion Center will be created as a space focused on publishing culture for “creative activities and startup support” and as a complex cultural space.

The district plans to create a cultural and tourism cluster linked to the Han River, Hongdae, and Sinchon areas through these three newly established large-scale cultural complex facilities.

In addition, to foster urban manufacturing linked to the design and publishing special development promotion district near Hongik University, the district is also promoting the construction of the “Mapo Publishing & Printing Smart Anchor.”

The “Mapo Publishing & Printing Smart Anchor Project” is Mapo District’s future innovation growth project to support local small manufacturers by building a scale-up facility that can handle the entire process of “planning-production-distribution” in the urban area densely populated with design, publishing, and printing industries.

The project site is the former Mapo District Office’s 3rd annex (Seongsan-dong 81-85 and four other lots), which offers convenient transportation and accessibility. The building will have four basement floors and five above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 7,638㎡. The total budget is 19 billion KRW, including 5.4 billion KRW from national and city funds and 8 billion KRW from private investment, with completion targeted for 2022.

The district plans to strongly support small manufacturers through the Smart Anchor project by offering low rent and integrated “planning-production-distribution” facilities. It also aims to create a specialized publishing and printing ecosystem unique to Mapo and generate a total of 685 related jobs.

Furthermore, the district is actively promoting various projects to transform Mapo into a “tourism city in the world” by leveraging its excellent tourism resources.

These include the Incheon Airport transfer tour hub project utilizing accessibility to the international airport, the Mapo tour bus that visits major tourist attractions in Mapo, and the Hongdae alley parade.

To attract large-scale MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Convention, Exhibition) group visits, the district has cooperated with domestic travel agencies for a year to promote special event venues and tourist resources in the area and support their preliminary inspections. Through this strategic marketing, it successfully attracted 4,600 members of the Indonesian MCI group in February.

In particular, to solve the chronic parking shortage around Hongdae, the district is promoting the development project of underground spaces in the Walkable Street area and Eoulmadang-ro area. This project will create an underground parking lot and an above-ground cultural plaza, contributing to the continuous development of Hongdae culture, expansion of tourism infrastructure, increased tourists, and revitalization of the local economy.

Furthermore, “The Walkable Street area around Hongdae will be transformed into a 3,400㎡ Indie Street. Symbolic sculptures and a busking performance hall, which will become urban landmarks, will also be created. Various artistic performances such as parades and festivals will be expanded and operated year-round here, solidifying its status as a cultural and artistic city.”

Mapo District was highly recognized for continuously developing various tourism resources and received the “2019 Seoul Tourism Award (Tourism Policy Category)” at the “2019 Seoul Tourism Week” event and the “Encouragement Award” at the “2019 National Goal Implementation Excellent Local Government Competition.”

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo District, said, “We will contribute to revitalizing the local economy and creating jobs by attracting domestic and foreign tourists in the future, and we will also expand opportunities for residents to enjoy culture.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.