Blaž Križnik
- Paper
- Bio
Co-author: Kon Kim (University of Seoul)
Wholesale redevelopment used to dominate urban development in Seoul, resulting in massive dispossession and displacement of residents, and destruction of communal life, which has been recognized as one of Asia’s most aggressive gentrifications. While the state facilitated gentrification in the past, it has recently taken a more active role in preventing gentrification by introducing comprehensive urban regeneration as an alternative to market-driven urban redevelopment. The study focuses on the transformation of traditional industrial clusters and examines how different approaches contributed to gentrification in Seoul. It compares the transformation of Sangwangsimni, a pilot case of market-driven New Town Development Project, and Changsin-Sungin, an early example of the state-led Urban Regeneration Project. The authors conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with major stakeholders, involved in the transformation of two neighbourhoods, and reviewed relevant policies and legislation. The study outcome shows that urban redevelopment in Sangwangsimni resulted in state-facilitated commodification of what has been seen as undervalued private land, and of diverse communal assets. In contrast, the state-led urban regeneration in Changsin-Sungin has managed to engage residents in creating communal assets, which paradoxically opened the door for the commodification of these assets. The shift in the commodification of material towards immaterial assets reveals the changing scope of gentrification in Seoul. Although urban regeneration prevented displacement and strengthened communal life in Changsin-Sungin, the study shows that it could contribute to the commodification of governance and management of communal space, services and identities. Ultimately, this could negatively affect residents’ perception of urban regeneration and contribute to a sense of deprivation of their communal life. The authors argue that the understanding of gentrification in Seoul needs to extend beyond physical dispossession and include symbolic dispossession, resulting from the commodification of localities.
Blaž Križnik is an associate professor of urban sociology at the Graduate School of Urban Studies, Hanyang University in Seoul, and senior researcher at the Institute for Spatial Policies in Ljubljana. He worked previously as professor at the University of Seoul and Kwangwoon University, and as visiting research fellow at Seoul National University Asia Centre. His research is focused on comparative urban studies, urban social movements, and Korean studies. Blaž is a coauthor of Community-based Urban Development: Evolving Urban Paradigms in Singapore and Seoul (with Im Sik Cho) and co-editor of a forthcoming volume on civic urbanisms in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Taiwan (with Im Sik Cho and Jeffrey Hou).
Kon Kim is a research professor in the Institute for Urban Humanities at the University of Seoul. Kon completed his Ph.D. in urban studies (University of Westminster), and holds a master in urban regeneration (University College London) and bachelor in architecture (Korea National University of Arts). His research interests focus on three related areas: urban community, urban governance, and creative place-making. He is a co-researcher of the Korean government-funded project Humanistic Approaches to New Urban Communities in the Digital Polis of Seoul.
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