Gentrification in Korea

Once upon a time there was an area of Seoul that had funky coffee shops, unique restaurants and a plethora of shops of all kinds – it even had three record stores for the discerning music lover. Go to the popular public square on a weekend and it would be packed with local university students selling neat items such as handmade jewelry and painted running shoes; at night the same area would be packed with youths busking indie pop songs. One could finish off a delicious dinner of Thai food and then stroll over to hang out at one of the local shisha bars.

But Hongdae has changed since its heyday. Most of the funky cafés have been replaced by ubiquitous chains and the restaurants, too, have become more homogeneous (the excellent Thai restaurant is now a Korean barbecue joint because there clearly aren’t enough of those!). Yes, even that trio of record shops have all since closed their doors. The weekend art market is still kicking but many of the stalls are being operated by Hongik University alumni hawking far more professionally made goods at far higher prices.

Gentrification is an increasing problem and not simply in Hongdae. The popular theatre district of Daehangno has seen large-scale, popular productions such as Nanta thrive while smaller companies have been forced to move out of the area due to higher rents. The renowned Insadong strip in central Seoul has seen similar changes with old school art shops being replaced by popular Korean cosmetics stores and, yes, more café chains. Cities around te world have revamped whole nighborhoods with money and infrastructure but at the cost of a neat districts losing their character – and once that happens there’s no going back.

Vocabulary:

✓ gentrification: the process of renovating an area so that it may be more attractive

✓ funky: cool; unique; unusual

✓ plethora: a large number; an abundance

✓ shisha bars: Middle Eastern bars with special pipes for smoking

✓ heyday: a time of peak popularity; when things were better

✓ ubiquitous: very common; sometimes too common

✓ homogeneous: things that are alike; similar

✓ alumni: former students of a high school or university

✓ old school: old fashioned

✓ infrastructure: facilities and services needed for a community

✓ go downhill: something that isn’t as good as it used to be

Questions:

1. Have you ever been to Hongdae, Daehangno and/or Insadong? Have you noticed them change over the years? Do you think any of them have gone downhill? Do you know of any other Korean communities that have undergone gentrification?
2. What do you think can be done to prevent gentrification from ruining other neighborhoods? Is there a way to make a community more attractive while keeping its unique character
3. In this essay I mention record stores. Did you ever used to visit record shops? Are there any types of stores or other neighbourhood elements that are gone that you miss?
4. Can you think of any benefits of gentrification?