Jongno-gu Selected for 'Living Commercial Area Development Project'... Leading the Revival of Changsin-dong Alley Economy

District Mayor Kim Young-jong and officials visiting the handmade store ‘Sunchang Traditional Cheonggukjang’

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) has achieved the great success of being finally selected as the target area for the ‘Living Commercial Area Development Project’ announced by Seoul City to revitalize the alley economy.

As a result, over the next three years, a total budget of 3 billion KRW will be supported, and various projects to invigorate the local economy in the Changsin-dong area will be promoted.

According to the city, 7 out of 10 self-employed businesses in Seoul are located in ‘living commercial areas’ that residents can access within about 10 minutes on foot. However, due to changes in living environments such as online shopping and competition from large corporate franchises and large marts, their monthly sales are lower than the average of all self-employed businesses in Seoul, causing difficulties.

In response, before the Living Commercial Area Development Project, the city conducted a ‘Living Commercial Area Foundation Project’ contest in November last year, carried out pilot projects from November 2019 to June 2020 for eight candidate sites, and evaluated their operational performance.

The candidate sites carried out three tasks: forming a promotion committee, operating community stores, and discovering and supporting hand-made stores. As a result, a total of five districts, including Jongno-gu, were selected as suitable areas for the Living Commercial Area Development Project.

Jongno-gu aims to accelerate the promotion of this project to induce local consumption in the Changsin Living Commercial Area until 2022 and further revitalize the alley economy.

Additionally, based on economic activities, the district plans to restore relationships among local members and support the discovery and training of resident activists.

To establish a foundation for promotion, since December last year, the ‘Changsin Living Commercial Area Revitalization Promotion Committee’ has been formed, consisting of small merchants from Changsin Alley Market, social economy and village organizations, residents, and various local economic actors. Weekly meetings have been held, and multiple resident briefings have also been conducted.

Furthermore, the district recruited living commercial area activists and surveyors who investigate the opinions of village residents and merchants and support the operation of the foundation project. Education, workshops, and meetings were held for them to help understand the living commercial area, promote the necessity of this project, and enhance individual capabilities.

The district also collected opinions from more than 300 residents to discover living services desired by residents and promoted the community store foundation project that provides these services. A ‘community store’ is a shop that incorporates living services needed by residents, such as umbrella rental, printer and restroom use, with a total of seven such stores in the Changsin-dong area.

Additionally, three ‘hand-made stores’ were discovered where the owners directly prepare food using domestic agricultural products as main ingredients and season with natural condiments. The discovery and selection of hand-made stores were also led by a resident planning group, adding significance.

Jongno-gu stated that since the goal of this Living Commercial Area Development Project is to attract residents’ visits to local commercial areas, improve living convenience, and revitalize the local economy, it will continue to take the lead in revitalizing the alley economy based on the participation and cooperation of local economic actors.

Mayor Kim Young-jong said, “Since the pilot project started last year, we have been working to build trust among residents, merchants, and organizations and to find various ways for small business owners to gain competitiveness.” He added, “We will steadily carry out this project in the Changsin-dong area until 2022 to breathe new life into the local economy, which has been stagnated due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.”

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