Gwangju City to Develop Dongmyeong-dong, Dong-gu as a 'Local Representative Commercial Area'

Selected as the No.1 Commercial District in Central Gwangju for Culture and Tourism Coexistence

Local Brand Tourism Resource Development... Revitalizing the Regional Economy

Gwangju Metropolitan City is developing the Dongmyeong-dong commercial district in Dong-gu as a ‘representative commercial district of Gwangju.’ The strategy is to nurture Dongmyeong-dong into a self-sustaining flagship commercial area and to revitalize the local economy by turning its coffee-centered local brands into tourism resources.

Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Gi-jeong) announced on the 20th that it has finally selected the Dongmyeong-dong commercial district as the target site for the ‘2024 Excellent Commercial District Intensive Development Project’ to invigorate the local economy and create a flagship commercial district through fostering Gwangju-style local brands.

Gwangju City and the Gwangju Economic Promotion and Win-Win Job Foundation conducted a public contest targeting local commercial districts. After a first round of document evaluation and a second round of on-site evaluation by a panel of internal and external experts, Dongmyeong-dong was confirmed as the ‘No. 1 flagship commercial district.’

The Dongmyeong-dong commercial district was highly evaluated for its growth potential as Gwangju’s representative commercial district where culture and tourism coexist, thanks to improved residential environments through urban regeneration new deal projects, and its proximity to the tourist complex cultural space ‘Traveler’s House’ and the tourist attraction ‘National Asia Culture Center (ACC).’

This year, Gwangju City will support Dongmyeong-dong with a total project budget of 110 million KRW for specialized product development and local content operation.

The Dongmyeong-dong commercial district is a place where residents themselves create unique cultures by converting hanok and houses within the alleys into distinctive cafes, restaurants, and workshops, making it a popular spot among young people.

In particular, Dongmyeong-dong has secured an annual project budget of 50 million to 100 million KRW through collaboration between the commercial district community and Dong-gu, and has been holding a coffee festival that highlights the characteristics of the cafe street since 2021.

Gwangju City plans to focus on developing the Dongmyeong-dong cafe street into a local brand commercial district imbued with Gwangju’s unique colors and culture, similar to ‘Gangneung Coffee.’

Additionally, to ensure continuous growth and linkage with surrounding commercial districts, the city will support commercial district revitalization through a mid- to long-term master plan, story development, specialized product development, design sculptures for brand expansion, collaboration programs and pop-up stores through nurturing local creators, and local events.

Joo Jae-hee, Director of the Economic Startup Bureau, said, “Since Dongmyeong-dong was selected as the first project site for Gwangju’s excellent commercial district development support project, we will actively support its growth as Gwangju’s representative commercial district to invigorate the local economy and alleyway commercial districts.”

Meanwhile, the Dongmyeong-dong commercial district received the ‘Excellent Case Award for Alley Economy Recovery Support Project’ from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety twice, in 2020 and 2022.

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