Guryong Village

Guryong or Guryong Village (Korean: 구룡마을) is an illegal encampment (commonly called a shantytown) on private land in Seoul, South Korea, on the edge of the affluent southside district of Dogok-dong, Gangnam District from which it is separated by a six-lane motorway.[1][2][3]

Guryong, winter of 2013

It was first created in 1988 by people evicted from houses in other low-income areas demolished during the city's rapid development prior to the 1988 Olympic Games, and who came to this area as their last refuge.[1][3][4][5][6] Since at least 2011, there have been plans for re-purposing the area and relocating the residents, though little progress has been made due to disagreements between officials on the best plan of action.[1][4][7][8] Current government plans propose to demolish Guryong in 2015 and arrange subsidized housing for residents.[9] It has an estimated 2,500[1][6] to 4,000[3] inhabitants (all numbers are estimates as no demographic survey of that area has ever been conducted[3]), primarily impoverished elderly,[3][5] living in between 1,200[10] and 2,000 shacks and trailers[4] in a village area of about 286,929 square meters (about 70 acres).[4] Individual houses have the size of about 16 to 99 square meters.[3] The residents, who have established a postal service in their area, have received temporary residence cards in 2011.[11] The village has buildings like kindergarten and church, utilities like water, gas and electricity, for which payments are communal; and its own security, all organized through two village associations.[3][11]

Due to unsafe construction, the village has been affected by a number of fire accidents.[12]

It has been called "the last slum in Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district"[9] and "the last shanty town in Gangnam"[1] and, broader, "the last remaining urban slum in Seoul".[12]

See also

References
  1. Blason, Jo (14 July 2014). "Gangnam, shanty-style: life in Seoul's Guryong Village slum – in pictures". The Guardian.
  2. Karen Bell (2014). Achieving Environmental Justice: A Cross-National Analysis. Policy Press. pp. 87–89. ISBN 978-1-4473-0594-1.
  3. Young-yu, Yang; Yong-whan, Chung; Dong-ki, Min (12 February 2005). "A Village the City Ignores". Global Action on Aging. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
  4. Eun-Jee, Park (21 July 2014). "Redevelopment of a Gangnam slum languishes". Korea JoongAng Daily.
  5. Yoo, Reera (4 May 2015). "Seoul to Demolish the Last Surviving Slum Near the Ritzy Gangnam District". KoreAm. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.
  6. Taylor, Kirsty (8 February 2012). "Coals to keep Guryong shantytown warm". The Korea Herald.
  7. Da-ye, Kim (18 June 2014). "Clash looms over developing shanty town in Seoul". The Korea Times.
  8. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/02/116_173154.html
  9. Park, Ju-Min (4 May 2015). "Go inside the last surviving slum of Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district before South Korea demolishes it". Reuters.
  10. Hyo-Sung, Ahn (13 November 2013). "Fire exacerbates split in Guryong". Korea JoongAng Daily.
  11. Williamson, Lucy (22 March 2012). "South Korean shanty town on sought-after real estate". BBC News.
  12. Kyung-min, Lee (5 December 2014). "Seoul to develop shanty town in Gangnam". The Korea Times.

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