From Yeoksam to Jongsam, Citius, Altius, Infirmius

In case you were out of this shapeshifting town over the past few months, a few bits to catch up. The usual mixed bag about urbanism and business, art and culture, life and death..

The good news is that the city has taken seriously the issue of nightlife economy. For those of you who used to know Seoul before the 2018 labor reforms* and struggle to explain to newbies how restaurants took orders after 9 pm and all neighborhoods were alive after 10 pm, help could be on the way. 

The approach is holistic with a transversal pilot across 7 administrations: the Planning and Administration Office, the Economic Office, the Culture Headquarters, the City Transportation Office, the Public Relations Bureau, the Tourism and Sports Bureau, and the Citizens’ Livelihood and Labor Bureau  Regulatory reforms and incentive shall boost 'Night Economy Coexistence Zones' (e.g. around the DDP, Hangang riverside, Namsan), and 25 'Seoul Moonlight Yajang' spots shall enjoy late hour cultural and public transportation. I don't know if the policies are optimal, but I like the intention to help Seoul get some of its mojo back.

Likewise, I'm all for a more balanced urbanism, where people can live, work, and play without long commutes, and on paper, that's what the 'Lifestyle Hub Revitalization Strategy' pledges to do so by allowing mixed-use urban development with - even better - a focus on non-Gangnam areas (e,g. 70 'lifestyle hubs' by 2030 starting with Chang-dong, Seongnae-dong, Junggok-dong to the East, Doksan-dong to the West). Over the past 5 years, Seoul has revitalized 92 station areas, adding over 6.6k public rental housing units, 16k units for young adults and newlyweds. The idea is to further boost affordable jeonse, extend to all 325 stations, and to stimulate activity along key connecting axes (Growth Potential Zone Revitalization Project). But Seoul pushes particularly hard, extending the radius from 250 to 350m around stations (500m for transfer stations), and unleashing verticality (35-floor limit abolished, FAR up to 1300% in areas like Yeoksam-dong or Jayang-dong). 

Seoul's new tripod

I can't help but think of these 1990s-2000s 'new town' ads featuring supersized 'apateu' blocks and gigantic subway station totems towering over undersized cityscapes. Again, this is not a zero sum game, Korea's population is not exactly booming. Besides, supertall towers actually disconnect inhabitants from their neighborhoods. This is potent medicine, and not necessarily good medicine, so drink responsibly.

At least OH Se-hoon is not pushing for claiming bits of Seoul's evershrinking greenbelt or even Yongsan Park for new housing projects (LEE Jae-myung playing it LEE Myung-bak-style on that one).

Left and right, Korea remains addicted to 'budongsan', obsessed with obsolete visions of urbanism born from postwar urgency. BTW fun to roam that Seoul Museum of History expo about 60 years of urban planning:

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At least some old Seoul villages survive and even thrive. TimeOut  even decided that Jongno-3-ga was the coolest neighborhood in the world:

TimeOut crowning Jongno-3-ga

But of course this place is just the disneyfied shell of  'Jongsam' s old self. Yes, outdoor barbecues feel almost like the good old times, yes, some Ikeson dong hanok survived, but no one actually lives in them anymore, and tourists can't experience the real thing.

'#TimeOut dubs #Jongno3ga the world's coolest neighborhood. #Ikseondong disneylandization paid off. Significantly one of the last spots where #Seoul nightlife survived 2018 labor-reforms.' (@theseoulvillage - 20260917) 

Jongno remains a most special place. And between October 1 and 14, just hectometers from Jongno-3-ga, don't forget to pass by KOTE for Nuances' 'Archaeology of the Present'' exhibition featuring 15 artists (Célia BRISOT, Elodie CATHERINE, Zoé CONSTANS, Salomé DUBOIS-HAN, Kämy DOBI, Tim FRANCO, Sébastien SIMON, Alaric HAMACHER, Stéphane MOT, Romain TENOT, Emmanuel L. M. WOLFS, Jung Ran KIM, Pascal BELMAS, Nils BOUVYER, L’ATELIER PIEPRZOV). ICYMI the occasion to see my 'spacetime capsule' or Tim Franco's tribute to Bogwang-dong. 

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* reminder: the measures, theoretically meant to help the little guy, were so radical and sped up that the opposite happened and hundreds of thousands of jobs disappeared even before COVID hit the fan. 

Cross Road Blues: a street of rain, fire, flying words, and flying rats

This 500 m long stretch of asphalt is by no means Itaewon's most glamorous place: before merging into Bogwang-ro*, it connects main street (Itaewon-ro) with mean streets (red light district).

As part of the complete overhaul of Korea's address system**, it has recently been renamed Usadan-ro (우사단로) to honor Usadan, a shrine to the rain spirits in Bogwang-dong. That's certainly more upscale than the previous name, Sobangseo-gil (소방서 길), which refered to the local Fire Station... and definitely classier than "Hooker Hill", as the area is often referred to (no, not because of the Hookah bars).

20 years ago, the place swarmed with G.I.s at night, either on watch to make sure Higgs Bosons didn't fly between more or less passably inebriated individuals, or off duty but nonetheless testing this Sarge Hadron Collider from the inside. On the hottest summer nights, at the top of the hill, you would often see dozens of young Westerners holding quarts of (officially) orange juice, and chatting in the middle of the street, except for the early birds who claimed the few seats at Kettle House. Back then, even after the courtesy call paid by (to?) the local cops, the only place that served drinks during the curfew must have been one hell of a cash cow (a cow that would replace milk with soju, that is).

Still nowadays, there's something bourbonstreetish, even on a Sunday afternoon:



I also uploaded a short video of those "Flying Rats Taxiing" on Seoul Village's YouTube playlist. The video's so shaky you may think I'd down a couple of kettles before shooting it, but the truth is that first I'm not a pro, and second a car almost took a slice from my behind while I was filming with my phone.

Actually, I arrived in advance for this month's Wordsmiths gathering (FLOW opening only at five), so I walked a bit uphill. I also passed by where What The Book used to be, wondering how neighborhoods could change if you just let different words fly around.

Given time, the new name Usadan-ro shall be adopted, and help change the image of the whole neighborhood. Even if, just to be on the safe side, local authorities made sure the Northern half of the street couldn't be contaminated: for the moment, the curvy road to the Grand Hyatt, with all its luxury residences, is simply called "Itaewon-ro-27-gil".

Anyway, this place can't be totally evil: a crossroads leading to a church, a former shrine, and the Mosque?

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* the leg of the "T" in the Hamilton Hotel intersection, Bogwang-ro goes South almost all the way down to the river - it then meets Seobinggo-ro
** see "The Great Korean Revolution : addresses with house numbers and street names" followed by "New address system in Korea : 2 more years"