Seoul City to Focus on Developing Unique Alleyway Commercial Districts as 'Local Brands'... 3 Billion KRW Support Over 3 Years

Transforming Alley Commercial Areas into Local Brands to Create Attractive Districts Where People and Money Gather
Starting with 5 Sites This Year... Up to 3 Billion KRW Invested per Commercial Area Over 3 Years for Development and Revitalization

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is focusing on nurturing unique and attractive alleyway commercial districts into local brand commercial areas where people and money gather. The core is to launch alleyway brands that reflect regional characteristics and cultivate small business owners who will transform the commercial districts into places where people want to stay.

On the 20th, Seoul announced plans to invest up to 3 billion KRW over three years per commercial district to support everything from foundational development to revitalization. This year, five major alleyway commercial districts will be selected for intensive incubation. Experts and small business owners will collaborate to discover the unique value of each area, and the project aims to foster sustainable and self-sufficient commercial districts by establishing foundational infrastructure and developing specialized programs tailored to each district.

Support will be provided in various ways, including ▲facility improvements, creation of stay-infrastructure, and formation of theme zones ▲development of brand stories, community building, commercial district events, and nurturing anchor stores ▲training local creators, providing startup funds, establishing win-win agreements between merchants and landlords, and strengthening merchant capabilities. This comprehensive support aims to address the limitations of existing commercial district revitalization projects and ensure continuous and stable operation of the districts.

To ensure successful project implementation, close cooperation will be maintained with the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, which has extensive experience in nurturing small business owners, the local governments responsible for detailed project execution, and the small business owners who are the main stakeholders of the commercial districts. The project will proceed in stages to build commercial district infrastructure, develop local branding, and strengthen self-sustainability. The first phase will be led by the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, while subsequent phases will be systematically managed by commercial district development organizations established by local governments.

Seoul will accept applications for the '2022 Local Brand Commercial District Development Project' from March 21 to April 7 this year. Eligible applicants include Seoul-style alleyway commercial districts with potential that possess local content such as regional characteristics and cultural resources, require revitalization due to stagnation in commercial activities, and can establish win-win agreements between merchants and landlords to prevent concentration within the district.

Applications should be prepared jointly by merchant organizations and local governments, and submitted to the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation. To enhance understanding of the project, an online briefing session for local government officials and others will be held in March. Detailed information is available on the websites of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation.

Im Geun-rae, Seoul’s Small Business Policy Officer, said, “Small business owners in alleyway commercial districts have endured difficult times due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of online shopping trends. We will actively support alleyway commercial district content and innovative small business infrastructure to revive local commercial areas.”

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