Urban Redevelopment Challenges in Seodong: The Struggle of an Aging Community

“Many people have sold their houses due to redevelopment projects, leaving behind numerous vacant homes. Houses are empty here and there,” said Jeong Mal-Beun (75, Geumjeong-gu), who lived in Seodong for 35 years. The Seogeumsa 5 Reconstruction Promotion District and its houses, which have been filled with people since the designation of the policy migration area, are waiting for redevelopment after losing their owners.

In Geumjeong-gu, where the Busan Campus of Pusan National University (PNU) is located, Seodong was formed as a policy migration area. Seodong, located on a sloping mountain with minimal infrastructure such as water and electricity, has narrow alleys barely wide enough for an adult to stretch their arms. It was once home to Korean War refugees and returning citizens but began to see an increase in vacant houses in the mid-1990s due to the decline of the industrial complex and persistent poor living conditions.

The 2020 Busan City Vacancy Survey found that 220 of 370 vacant houses in Geumjeong-gu, home to PNU Busan Campus, are in Seodong. “Channel PNU” recently investigated Seodong, which is increasingly resembling a slum due to the growing number of vacant homes awaiting redevelopment.

■Seodong, where returning Koreans and refugees flocked

According to Woo Shin-Gu (Prof. of Architecture, PNU), in 1968, Seodong was designated as a policy migration area under a Busan Metropolitan Government project. This led to the forced relocation of many Korean War refugees, returning citizens, and residents of the shantytown in Yeongju-dong to the area. According to the thesis “A Study on the Process of Changes of Policy Migration Area in Busan - Focused on the Seo-dong Policy Migration Area, Geumjeong-gu,” most shantytown residents were refugees of the Korean War and Koreans returning home. The city provided uniform land in a short period of time at a low price so that low-income residents could afford it. However, because it was a small rural area where 16 households lived at the time, migrants had to suffer from a lack of jobs and infrastructure such as public transportation and convenience facilities.

After those who did not belong to the policy migration area settled in the Seodong area, shantytowns were created. Prof. Woo said, “It is a village created by people who couldn’t live in the policy migration area and started to build houses in the mountains. It is poorer than the policy migration area.” On November 10th, when “Channel PNU” visited, some houses in the shantytown were left with one side-wall torn down or cracked walls.

■Geumsa Industrial Complex and Seodong Market

The Geumsa Industrial Complex, which once employed over 20,000 workers, began to decline in the 1990s due to the collapse of the Busan shoe industry, the IMF crisis, and factory relocations to other cities. At this time, leasing factories can also be found around the Geumsa Industrial Complex.

Seodong Market was in its golden age with the Geumsa Industrial Complex and also lost its vitality. “Since the Geumsa Industrial Complex is closed and a new town is coming in, people are moving in, and it’s hard to do business. Those who sold their house in advance sold it at a high price and bought an apartment, but the housing price went down again, which is messed up,” said B, who has been working at Seodong for 47 years. Jeong Bong-Seon (75, Myeongjang-dong), who worked at the market for 50 years, said, “A couple of years ago, people left the houses due to redevelopment. When I got married, the Geumsa Industrial Complex was crowded, making it difficult to go around the market, and I used to sell everything that I brought to the market.”

■Redevelopment ahead, but…

Vacant houses that were created when people left the building have been left unattended for decades, but it is difficult to immediately resolve the issue. According to an employee of the architectural department of the Geumjeong District Office, a vacant house maintenance project is being implemented, but it is difficult to apply the project as people own their own houses for investment purposes. “Houses in the financial expenditure promotion zone of Seogeumsa 5 are often vacant due to redevelopment projects. The maintenance of vacant houses is more like a private sector,” said an Administration & Welfare Center employee in Seo1-dong.

It is also difficult to improve the environment due to overlapping projects. “The redevelopment promotion area cannot be designated as the urban regeneration revitalization area,” said an official at the urban regeneration department at Geumjeong District Office. “There were some scary and dangerous parts when I went to investigate the area. Even if it is a redevelopment area with a few residents, some people are still living there, so I think public institutions should manage it,” said C, a statistical surveyor at the Population and Housing Census District Office.

Even redevelopment projects to improve the poor Seodong area are slow. It was selected as a reorganization promotion zone as a new town project in 2007, but this has not progressed due to a lack of business feasibility, non-cooperation by residents, difficult selection of construction companies, lack of expertise of the promotion committee, disputes over interests, and administrative limitations. As a result, the Seogeumsa 5 Reorganization Promotion District received approval for the project implementation plan on July 29th.

However, experts diagnosed that the environment in Seodong needs to be improved as the issue of vacant houses is on the rise. Prof. Woo said, “The buildings have been aging for over 40 years, and are not waterproof, so there are hygienic problems in the living environment. As there is little anti-vibration performance, the worst-case scenario is disaster.” He added, “The areas that are excluded from redevelopment areas, such as Bugok 4-dong, are gradually improving the surrounding environment with projects such as urban regeneration instead of redevelopment.”

Reporter Oh Jeong-Rin

Translated by Seo Ye-Jin