Planned for years, a redevelopment project on Seoul’s Baeksa Village has started to get serious.
Baeksa Village is the last remaining shantytown in Seoul, located at the edge of Buram Mountain in Junggye-dong, Nonwon-gu. A shantytown is an informal village built by residents. Baeksa started to form in 1967, when residents of Cheonggyechun and Yeongdeungpo moved in due to a city development project which involved the removal of their homes. Though there used to be many tenants in Baeksa Village, the village is sparsely populated today.
Now, the government has established a new way of redevelopment. The concept of the redevelopment project is “Preservation of the Original Form.” This method of redevelopment is focused on remodeling while maintaining the existing structure of the village, in order to conserve the low story houses formed along the configuration of the ground.
Also, the project involves the creation of a to create a community vegetable garden and a small museum about the history of Baeksa Village. Such methods of redevelopment are being used in other areas such as Guryeong Village in Gaepo-dong and Gangnam-gu in Yangcheon-gu.
In the meantime, another project on Baeksa Village is currently in progress. Seoul City is recording information of Baeksa Village on a 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) database. The information includes physical information such as structure, construction and natural surroundings as well as population and present state of affairs. Information about tenants’ lives—such as population categorized by occupation or time of the day—will also be collected through interviews and questionnaire.
Seoul City is planning to complete the redevelopment of Baeksa Village in 2016. It is hoped that this method of redevelopment will help enhance the quality of the lives of tenants while preserving the last shantytown in Seoul.
Jongwon Lee
Jongwon Lee is a 11th grade student of Youngshin Girls' High School. She has been working as a student reporter for two semesters.
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