[Walking Through Seoul]The Exotic Appeal of Seoul’s Alleys

A Landscape Disappearing with Apartment Complexes

A Journey to the Foreign Country Called the Past

An Inconvenient Space Pushed Aside by "Efficiency"

Seoul’s Hidden Alleys Attracting the Young and Foreigners

Among the photos of Seoul posted on social networking services (SNS), alleyways appear with remarkable frequency. While there are also many images of famous tourist attractions such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, everyday eateries, shops, and public transportation, alleyways seem to make up the largest portion of urban landscape photos. Why are Seoul’s alleyways so popular? To find the answer, it is first necessary to understand the history and characteristics of Seoul’s alleys. There are few cities in the world with a long history that lack alleyways. Automobiles, which emerged in the late 19th century, only began to become widespread in the early 20th century. In fact, the history of cars running through cities spans just a little over a hundred years. Before then, except for the aristocracy and upper classes who rode horses, most people walked. Before the 20th century, all cities around the world developed around walking. In the truest sense, cities were built on a "human scale."

Alleyways developed within these urban landscapes. While old cities did have central boulevards, these were limited, and people usually traveled by foot through alleys. In the Joseon era, Hanyang’s main roads were Sejongno, connecting north and south, and Jongno, linking east and west; all other passageways were alleys. Before Georges-Eugene Haussmann constructed wide boulevards in mid-19th century Paris, even that city had few major roads, and most of its thoroughfares were medieval alleyways. In Cordoba, Spain, there are scarcely any major roads; the entire city is connected by alleys, making Cordoba famous for its labyrinthine streets. Kyoto, which served as Japan’s capital until 1868, was a city with a grid plan and thus had many main roads, but with the exception of these, most paths used by ordinary residents were also interconnected alleys.

When people think of alleyways, they may imagine a typical scene in terms of width or length, but alleyways have always been far more diverse than that. In Hanyang, for example, alleys formed along streams were wide and long, and connected to other alleys. A representative example is the long alley stretching from behind the shops on Jahamun-ro, the main road in that area near Gyeongbokgung Station Exit 2, all the way to Chebu-dong and Nuha-dong. Up until the Joseon era, today’s Jahamun-ro was Baekundongcheon, a stream, and this alley served as a major passageway for the area. Alongside the main alleys, much shorter and narrower alleys would frequently branch off, eventually leading to even smaller alleys that sometimes ended in dead ends. Traces of these alleyways remain in parts of Chebu-dong and Nuha-dong today. Cordoba also has a similar hierarchy of alleyways. When I first visited in 2023, walking through the city’s maze of alleys of varying widths and lengths, I was reminded of Seochon in Seoul.

Having served as the main transit routes in cities for a long time, alleyways faced major challenges in the 20th century and remain vulnerable to disappearance today. The biggest reasons are, as mentioned earlier, the advent and spread of automobiles, and population growth. Cars require wide roads to travel safely, as well as parking spaces. To adapt to these changes, cities began constructing major roads, which inevitably meant demolishing many buildings. This had a major impact on the old city ecosystems. Many places, like Baekundongcheon, had streams covered over and turned into roads. Seoul historically had many alleyways not only in the old city center within the Four Great Gates, but also in other areas. Even today, traces of alleys and streams that have been converted into roads can be easily found in every neighborhood. As Seoul’s population increased, the use of not only private cars but also buses, taxis, and delivery trucks soared, making road expansion and widening essential.

Lifestyles changed dramatically as well. In multi-generational families, household chores were mainly handled by women. Women went grocery shopping almost every day at nearby markets or specialty stores. In the latter half of the 20th century, as more women entered the workforce, they had less time to manage both work and household duties, while car usage continued to rise. Apartment complexes, seen as a symbol of convenience, multiplied rapidly, and as large apartment blocks were built, alleyways gradually disappeared. It was not long before alleys began to be seen as narrow and inconvenient. In Seoul and many cities worldwide, neighborhoods with many alleyways saw residents gradually move away, and the remaining homes were converted into accommodations for tourists.

Yet why have alleyways regained popularity? Ironically, most people who frequently visit and enthusiastically photograph alleys do not actually live in them. To these people, alleys are fascinating and exotic places. Do they truly like alleys? Their feelings seem a bit different. Since they do not live there, it is difficult to judge. Compared to the uniform streets dominated by artificially constructed apartment buildings, alleys preserve traces of various eras and maintain a sense of organic formation. For those who have never lived in an alley, such scenes appear unfamiliar and foreign.

This sense of exoticness evoked by alleys is neither quite romanticism nor nostalgia. While some may experience such sensitivity, the fact that the age group most actively photographing alleys are those in their 20s and 30s, who mostly grew up in apartments, suggests this is not about romanticism or nostalgia. To truly feel a sense of romance about alleys, one must be able to connect the image of the alley with a romantic sensibility. Likewise, to feel nostalgia, one must have memories to recall and a desire to reconnect with the past.

Even so, as images of alleyways appear frequently on social media, they may seem romantic at first glance, but they do not present as obviously romantic images as, say, red roses or champagne. Nostalgia, for instance, is a feeling more likely to be experienced by those who have lived in or frequently visited neighborhoods filled with alleys; for Millennials & Gen Z who have lived only in apartment complexes, such nostalgia is much harder to come by.

Not only Korean Millennials & Gen Z but also foreigners take many photos of Seoul’s alleys. Naturally, when they come to Korea, they experience a sense of exoticness. While there are also many photos of live octopus cooking on a steel pan, awkward English signs, Hanok cafes, or people in Hanbok strolling through palaces, compared to these clearly exotic images, Seoul’s alleys are relatively less "exotic" or "novel," yet still unfamiliar and intriguing.

Over the past 15 years, I have led many Seoul walking programs organized by the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch. Foreigners participating in tours of old neighborhoods usually found alleyways fascinating and took photos non-stop. Many commented that the quiet, tranquil atmosphere of these alleyways, right in metropolitan Seoul, was especially attractive.

The British novelist L.P. Hartley began his 1953 novel "The Go-Between" with the line, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." If we divide people interested in alleyways and eagerly photographing them according only to their sense of exoticness, then all of them are, in a way, "foreigners" to alleyways. For those born and raised in different environments, this sense of unfamiliarity brings both a mysterious feeling and a visual and intellectual stimulus. Strolling through a space rich in exoticness, away from the bustle of daily life, is akin to watching a movie—a means of momentarily escaping reality.

As redevelopment progresses, Seoul’s alleyways will become increasingly scarce. The fewer that remain, the more precious they will become. Those seeking experiences different from their everyday scenery, hoping to escape reality and immerse themselves in another world, will increasingly seek out the exoticness of alleyways. Over time, as the generations who have lived in alleyways dwindle, the age range of those enjoying them will broaden. In the years ahead, in addition to the sense of exoticness, there will come a day when people feel nostalgia for their younger days spent eagerly roaming alleyways and taking photos.

Robert Fouser, Former Professor at Seoul National University