Call for Candidates for 'Living Commercial Districts' to Revitalize Seoul Alley Economy … Up to 70 Million KRW Support

Operating 'Community Store' in collaboration with local residents and merchants during pilot project period
Seoul City to expand to 60 areas by 2022 reflecting resident demand

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The "Neighborhood Commercial Area Revitalization Second Half Project," where residents themselves revive the stagnant alley commercial areas located within a 10-minute walk from subway stations, schools, and community centers, is set to begin.

Seoul City announced on the 3rd that it will accept applications for 20 candidate sites for the second phase of the neighborhood commercial area foundation project until the 11th. The selected commercial areas will carry out pilot projects including task execution for about five months, and the city plans to evaluate the performance of each commercial area around February next year to finalize 10 target sites.

The neighborhood commercial area revitalization project aims to provide services that local residents actually need to activate the alley economy, which has lost vitality due to large supermarkets, online shopping, and franchises, thereby inducing consumption within the region. The city also expects this to help revive the alley economy, which has been experiencing unprecedented stagnation due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The 20 selected candidate sites must form a "Promotion Committee" consisting of residents and small business owners from mid-this month to mid-February next year, operate a "Community Store" providing resident-friendly living services for more than 30 days, and carry out tasks such as establishing a neighborhood commercial area revitalization plan.

The city will support up to 70 million KRW per candidate site during the task execution period, and for the final 10 selected sites, it plans to invest up to 3 billion KRW per location over three years. The final selection will be confirmed through on-site and presentation evaluations based on criteria such as ▲cooperation among project participants ▲understanding of project direction ▲necessity of project implementation.

Earlier, on July 1st, Seoul selected five areas as the first phase neighborhood commercial areas: Sinjeong 6-dong in Yangcheon-gu, Nangok-dong in Gwanak-gu, Changsin-dong in Jongno-gu, Bangbae 2-dong in Seocho-gu, and Garakbon-dong in Songpa-gu, and has been actively promoting the project. The city plans to expand the neighborhood commercial areas, reflecting the demands of residents who are the main customers of local commercial areas, to up to 60 regions by 2022 to revitalize the alley economy, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications for neighborhood commercial area candidate sites can be submitted up to three per autonomous district. Applicants should prepare documents such as business plans, execution capabilities, and budget plans and submit them to the Seoul Small Business Policy Division Regional Commercial Vitality Center (02-2133-5540).

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