'Excellent Cases of Alley Economy Support Projects' Presentation... Final Ranking to Be Decided on the 14th

9 Local Governments and Public Institutions Selected for Revitalizing Neighborhood Commercial Areas and Promoting Good Rental Business Practices

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 13th that it has selected nine outstanding cases of the ‘2021 Alley Economy Support Project’ promoted by local governments and local public institutions nationwide, and will hold a presentation contest on the 14th (at aT Center) to determine the final rankings.

This year, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety conducted the project divided into local alley market recovery projects and Good Landlord Movement projects to strengthen the role of the public sector in overcoming the difficulties faced by small business owners hit by COVID-19. In this contest, 42 outstanding cases from local governments and local public institutions were submitted, and after written evaluations by internal and external experts, seven cases of local alley market recovery projects and two cases of Good Landlord Movement projects were selected as presentation candidates.

The approach centered on alley economy councils, which actively cooperated with residents and merchants who are the main agents of the alley economy to enhance the sustainability of the projects and the self-sustaining power of alley shops, received favorable evaluations. ‘Seoul Gwanak-gu’ attracted attention by classifying alley markets by characteristics, establishing development strategies by district, and promoting alley projects in collaboration with local artists. ‘Seoul Business Agency’ was recommended as a case of ‘alley tour-type regional revitalization’ by creating the symbolic street ‘Jaemiro’ in Namsan Ani Town and promoting alley events linked with the animation center, shops, and schools.

‘Daegu Jung-gu’ promoted a project supporting young entrepreneurs to create youth jobs related to the local specialized fashion jewelry industry and to solve the hollowing-out problem of the precious metal alley. ‘Daegu Dong-gu’ revitalized the commercial district by developing alley brands, characters, joint brand products, and packaging centered on the merchant community center to create a luxury theme road in the Peace Market Chicken Gizzard Alley and actively promoted it.

‘Incheon Bupyeong-gu Facilities Management Corporation’ collected employees’ salaries to establish a social contribution fund, used the fund to support small business owners through banner promotions, and improved the payment system for public parking lots and sports facility fees to be made with local currency. ‘Gwangju Gwangsan-gu’ operated the Sanjeong-gil Alley Economy Council, which includes merchants, residents, foreigners, experts, and administrative agencies, and made various efforts such as the Manse Challenge (10,000-step walking) and the Happiness Wandering Group to attract floating population to the commercial district.

‘Daejeon Yuseong-gu’ formed a youth IT support group in collaboration with the local AI startup industry to overcome the crisis of small business owners caused by the generalization of non-face-to-face transaction methods due to the spread of COVID-19, and supported digital operations of small restaurants.

Looking at the cases selected in the Good Landlord Movement support project section, various efforts such as rent reductions for owned properties, local tax reductions, and repair cost support for small business rental sites stood out. The ‘Back to Dongdaemun!, DDP Fashion Mall Revitalization Strategy’ promoted by Seoul Facilities Corporation was selected as a case of wholesale market revitalization by establishing a cooperative system with the merchants’ association and Seoul City, attracting young entrepreneurs, and supporting self-manufacturing merchants. In Gyeongsangnam-do, the Good Landlord local tax reduction was promoted, and the ‘Let’s Help Small Business Owners’ movement was carried out, actively promoting good landlord and tenant business sites.

At the presentation contest held on the 14th, the nine outstanding cases will be introduced, and by combining the scores of written evaluation and presentation evaluation, one grand prize, four excellence awards, and four merit awards will be finally decided.

Going forward, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to publish a collection of outstanding cases including those that received good evaluations in the written evaluation besides the nine selected outstanding cases this time, and share it with all local governments and public institutions.

Regional Economy Support Officer Gu Bon-geun said, “Through this contest, local governments and local public institutions showed remarkable efforts to recover the alley economy by leveraging the characteristics of their respective regions and institutions,” and added, “I hope these efforts will expand to local governments and public institutions nationwide and develop into projects that small business owners and the alley economy can tangibly feel.”

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