Redevelopment Stalls in South Korea's Southern City, Busan

Reported by Junbeom Yang, Araslanova Kseniia

Edited by Rosangela Buono

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA - Redevelopment is taking place all over Busan. However, it is falling behind.

Newly built skyscrapers contrast strongly with abandoned old houses due to the planned redevelopment.

After the Korean War, the city was expanding rapidly and large number of buildings were constructed. But, as these buildings gradually disoriented, the need for another development arose. In particular, Busan is known to have a mountainous landscape, so a lot of houses

were built on the mountains, and this negatively affected the cityscape.

However, as of 2023, redevelopment has slowed down significantly compared to five years

ago. This happened due to the fact that Korean real estate market is facing many challenges, resulting in less demand of housing. In addition, the current inflation is so severe that it is too expensive to build a house due to high costs.

Jeonpo-dong and Munhyeon-dong are two districts of Busan, located in the center of the city. Despite this, compared to other areas, Jeonpo-dong and Munhyeon-dong are considered to be one of the most undeveloped ones as notable development of this districts occurred in the 1970-1980’s, and the redevelopment started only decades later. As of now, only central areas of Jeonpo-dong and Munhyeon-dong are renovated, while some parts of outer area are still in need of redevelopment.

When the redevelopment occurs, basic infrastructure such as roads and buildings as well as cityscape improve. In fact, in Jeonpo 2-1 area, Jeonpo Buyoung Apartment and Seomyeon IPark were newly constructed in 2017, where electric poles and wires are underground, whereas in other Busan areas they are mostly overhead. The residents’ quality of living also increased as there are many facilities within the apartment complex, such as a kindergarten, library, senior citizen center, and playground.

I-Park Apartments in Jeonpo 2-1 District is a successful redevelopment case. Parents with children are heading home in the I-Park apartment complex in Jeonpo 2-1.

Many real estate agencies are located in the redeveloped apartment complex.

If the previous case of Jeonpo 2-1 was the type of redevelopment of all infrastructure after demolishing all buildings, there is also the type of redevelopment, where maintains the existing buildings are maintained, while the reconstruction occurs. This is the case of Jeonpo Cafe Street. Jeonpo Cafe Street was originally a street where many hardware stores were concentrated, but a few cafes appeared, and tourists began to flock to this area. The city of Busan at that time conducted several projects, such as road maintenance project and establishment of a park nearby.

Nowadays, Jeonpo Cafe Street is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Busan that many locals and tourists visit every day. On Jeonpo Cafe Street, there are many opportunities to enjoy yourself at various kinds of restaurants, cafes, and bars. Based on the examples of Jeonpo Cafe Street and Jeonpo 2-1 area, it seems clear that redevelopment can significantly improve the quality of life.

Many young people are heading to Jeonpo Cafe Street.

Since Jeonpo Cafe Street was created, only a few hardware stores remain.

Nevertheless, there are significant underlying issues in the redevelopment process that should be addressed, especially related to the elderly population.

Busan has the largest number of senior population among the metropolitan cities in Korea. According to Statistics Korea, the percentage of people aged 65 or older in Busan was found to be 22.2%. Moreover, roughly half of the population of Busan is expected to consist of senior citizens by 2050.

Most of all, generally, if a person has to move to a new apartment due to their old house being demolished in the process of redevelopment, they are required to pay for relocation expenses. Most old people tend to live in aged houses, and the new apartments are usually very costly, making the moving expenses very high. Because of escalating inflation and the overall deteriorating economy, these expenses became even higher. Considering these factors, an overwhelming majority of senior population cannot cover the relocation expenses, thus, not being able to afford recently built apartments. As a result, the redevelopment is very unlikely to be of any assistance to the people aged 65 and older.

Dolsan Village, built by refugees during the Korean War, is currently undergoing redevelopment and is scheduled to be completed by 2027.

Household goods are left in the abandoned house due to the planned demolition in the redevelopment process.

“Another reason [why elderly people may be against the redevelopment] is a personal one. Senior citizens don't want to leave because they have a lot of memories associated with those houses”, explained Seongcheol Kim, President of the Busan Metropolitan Government Association of Redevelopment and Maintenance. Even if they are promised to receive a monetary compensation, many of seniors refuse to move out of the houses, which they lived most of their lives in, leading to the clash of opinions between original residents and the government or private companies responsible for redevelopment.

Jeonpo 1-1 area redevelopment is currently on hold due to the severe conflict among the residents.