Selling Global Seoul: Competitive Urban Policy and Symbolic Reconstruction of Cities

Abstract

The paper focuses on a process of symbolic reconstruction of cities, where the existing image or meaning of places is purposely changed with the aim of attracting new investments, events or tourists to a particular city. The process of symbolic reconstruction is situated within the context of growing competition among cities. Symbolic reconstruction also affects tourism development in cities by providing an easily marketed and consumable image and meaning of places. The case of the Cheonggyecheon restoration in Seoul helps in understanding how symbolic reconstruction of cities is related to and affected by competitive urban policy, urban renewal and city marketing. Observing local consequences one can conclude that while the Cheonggyecheon restoration and resulting symbolic reconstruction of the city helped Cheonggyecheon to become the major tourist attraction and icon of global Seoul, it also resulted in a decline in local places and cultures. Such outcomes of urban renewal contradict strategic goals of urban policy and may prevail in the end over the benefits, which the Cheonggyecheon restoration brings to tourism development and everyday life in Seoul.

Decadência e renascimento do Córrego Cheong-Gye em Seul, Coreia do Sul: as circunstâncias socioeconômicas de seu abandono e a motivação política por detrás do projeto de restauração

“…Aliás, o discurso precisava se revestir de certa monumentalidade e verniz filosófico. Seul precisava, assim, se transformar em uma cidade "orientada para o ser humano e zelosa com o meio ambiente" e, para isso, propôs-se o resgate de seus 600 anos de história, a criação de espaços culturais de preservação do patrimônio, bem como a restauração do ambiente ecológico severamente castigado pela urbanização (Križnik, 2011).…”

Comparing urban renewal in Barcelona and Seoul—urban management in conditions of competition among global cities

“…While certain sectors have flourished, traditional industry and commerce are in decline. Places that have traditionally played an important role in the reproduction of the local economy and everyday life are about to disappear, while local merchants are closing down their businesses (Križnik 2011).…”

“…Such hegemonic discourses related to the Cheonggyecheon restoration were likely used in order to legitimise the instrumentalisation of urban renewal in order to improve the global competitiveness of Seoul. Stakeholders, who opposed the idea of a rapid urban renewal, were excluded from the decisionmaking process, and this affected the negative perception of urban renewal, especially among some residents (Križnik 2011).…”

“…Similarly, the Cheonggyecheon restoration caused the closure or relocation of several bustling streets markets, which were important not only for their economic but also for their symbolic role among the residents. Rising living costs and the demise of traditional jobs accelerated the gentrification of the Poblenou and broader Cheonggyecheon areas, though the urban renewal was not the only reason for it (Križnik 2011). Although there are important differences in terms of the scale and dynamics of both cases, gentrification nevertheless similarly affected the meanings residents attach to the urban renewal process.…”

“…In 2002, the newly elected city government announced a plan to demolish the highway and restore Cheonggyecheon. The restoration was completed in 2005(Cho 2010;Križnik 2011).…”