Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Neighbourhoods for the City
- 2 The Political Economy of Cities in Pacific Asia
- 3 The Logic of Comparisons in Multi-Sited Research Designs
- 4 Sungmisan: The Power of Village Social Enterprises
- 5 Mahakan: Neighbourhood Heritage Curation Attempts
- 6 Tangbu: Saving the Old Sugar Warehouses
- 7 Langham Place: Mega Project-Led Inner-City Regeneration
- 8 Tampines Central: Government-Resident Partnerships at Work
- 9 Neighbourhood Action, Metropolitan Politics, and City Building
- Index
- Publications / Asian Cities
4 - Sungmisan: The Power of Village Social Enterprises
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Neighbourhoods for the City
- 2 The Political Economy of Cities in Pacific Asia
- 3 The Logic of Comparisons in Multi-Sited Research Designs
- 4 Sungmisan: The Power of Village Social Enterprises
- 5 Mahakan: Neighbourhood Heritage Curation Attempts
- 6 Tangbu: Saving the Old Sugar Warehouses
- 7 Langham Place: Mega Project-Led Inner-City Regeneration
- 8 Tampines Central: Government-Resident Partnerships at Work
- 9 Neighbourhood Action, Metropolitan Politics, and City Building
- Index
- Publications / Asian Cities
Summary
Abstract
Sungmisan (Seoul) is the first of the five selected case studies. This neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea, is known for being an active neighbourhood. And the key element defining the cohesiveness and sustainability of Sungmisan are the village businesses. As these businesses serve the regular life needs of the residents, users of these businesses are drawn into contact with each other over the use of these amenities. The alternative school in particular requires a larger and longer-term commitment because of the deposit that must be paid and due to the longer duration of the education process. The other social amenities – the community kitchen, the thrift shop, and the café – work in tandem to support the Sungmisan community. Although these are socially valuable to the community, these businesses are subjected to the discipline of the market as rising rents threaten the viability of these social enterprises. Sungmisan is important because these local experiences and practices have been codified by the city government for use in other Seoul neighbourhoods.
Keywords: Seoul, village social enterprises, local participation, gentrification, community development, urban redevelopment
Significance of Sungmisan
A key strategy in the comparative case approach is the use of local experts as a way of overcoming the lack of detailed local information. Aside from invaluable knowledge, local experts also provide useful site contacts.
Huang Liling, who suggested I look into Tangbu in Taipei as a possible field site, also recommended Sungmisan in Seoul, a neighbourhood where residents manage a number of neighbourhood strengthening projects. Following this lead, I emailed Myungrae Cho, with whom I had an earlier research collaboration. It turned out that Myungrae had written about this neighbourhood and its achievements in an October 2010 article published in Dangkook Herald. Myungrae was also running a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Environmental Justice, located in the Sungmisan area. So, at very short notice, Myungrae arranged to meet up with me. He brought me to the Sungmisan community centre and introduced me to the manager there. Together, we visited the neighbourhood enterprises and I had my first encounter with what was to be my field site in Seoul.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Neighbourhoods for the City in Pacific Asia , pp. 81 - 106Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019