Korea's urban regeneration projects have focused on building facilities and expanding visitor numbers over short periods, failing to lead to long-term regional change, a researcher has pointed out. The argument is that, like Europe, Korea should evaluate changes in a city's image, its communities, and residents' quality of life together, while designing the post-project operating system from the initial stage.
Lim Jin-myung, a researcher at the Centre for Culture and the Creative Industries at City St George's, University of London, said in a written interview with the Seoul Economic Daily, "Korea tends to evaluate urban regeneration results by physical indicators within a short period, but most of Europe's leading cases differ in that they also examine long-term social change."
Europe experienced urban decline earlier, in the 1970s and 1980s, due to the downturn of the steel, coal, and textile industries. Glasgow in the United Kingdom, designated European Capital of Culture in 1990, built cultural facilities along the River Clyde, once a shipbuilding hub, transforming the city's image and attracting tourists and investment. Culture-based urban regeneration later spread to cities such as Bilbao in Spain and Mons in Belgium. A defining feature was that they started from the region's history and its industrial and cultural identity, rather than simply transplanting an external success model.
By contrast, Korea's urban regeneration projects are typically pursued in cycles of three to five years. Because short-term results such as the number of spaces created, visitor counts, and budget execution rates are prioritized, the focus falls on building facilities, and operation after a project ends is easily pushed aside. This contrasts with Europe, which tracks not only tourism revenue but also residents' pride, sense of community connection, youth cultural participation, and quality of life over the long term, continuing its support accordingly.
The project structure centered on the government and local governments is also cited as a limitation. When administrations take the lead, there is a greater chance that weight is placed on facilities and events that can be shown within a term of office, rather than on long-term regional change. If the private sector and residents cannot continuously participate in project planning and operation, spaces may be left neglected or existing programs may be halted after support ends.
Lim said, "What you measure ultimately determines what you create," pointing out that "if performance indicators are physical, projects inevitably converge on physical results." He went on to say that an independent operating organization, professional personnel, and multi-year funding commitments are needed to continue projects even when the administration or a local government head changes, stressing, "Along with building facilities, it must be designed from the initial stage who will operate them, with what funding, and for how long."
