earticle

영어

Gentrification is a phenomenon in which increased rent resulting from the influx of huge capital forces the existing inhabitants out of a city to its outskirts. Previously confined mostly to residential area, it is now found almost everywhere as well as particular areas such as commercial zones. There have been many case studies and theories on gentrification in other countries, but in Korea the studies are short in history, a direct application of the western theories has its limitation, and such application may lead only to different results from reality. Gentrification is an ongoing phenomenon, but it has a lot of controversy with different scholars having different opinions and concepts about it. In addition, the actual phenomena in the downtown areas are going on differently in different countries or in different cities. This paper discusses the gentrification phenomenon happening in the original downtown area in Busan Metropolitan City. The Jungang-dong area, dubbed as the original downtown area in Busan, was the center of art settled by the artists who took refugee before and after the Korean War. However, in 1998, it went through a period of rapid economic recession as the central business district shifted away to other area with the relocation of the city hall buildings. The city government created ‘Totatoga,’ a space rental project for starting publication utilizing the empty space of the buildings, for the purpose of revitalizing the area as part of the urban regeneration initiative. As time went on, the area began to recover its vitality but met with an unexpected gentrification phenomenon. Though the area regained its vitality, it soon became the magnet for newly established shopping malls, leading to a gradual raise in the rents which forced out the residents who had previously settled there. Regarding this, the city government has enacted an ordinance to prevent this gentrification phenomenon and strengthened its support for the affected residents. However, the artists who moved in here faced various problems because they were the group formed not spontaneously. The city government has presented a guideline for their exchanges with local residents, but in many cases, such regulation is not enough to reinvigorate a community. In addition, since they have to go through an evaluation process for their works after the termination of their contracts, they are not in a good position to freely act and speak out their minds, so profound efforts should be made to address this issues.