Ideas in Korean politics have a short lifespan. Every five years, the election of a new president brings a flurry of proposals to address issues left to fester in the final years of the previous administration.

One such issue is the revitalization of city centers. The issue surfaced during the last years of the Lee Myung-bak administration (2008-2013). The new Park Geun-hye administration promised to address the issue, but it has since faded from public discourse amid the intense political controversies of 2014. This is unfortunate, because city centers in Korea remain in a bad state.

History explains much of the problem. Since its founding as the capital in 1394, Seoul has been the largest and most dominant city. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), each region of Korea had an administrative center that became the most important city in the region.

Things changed in the late 19th century as foreign pressure forced Korea to open ports to foreign trade, which stimulated the growth of port cities. During the later years of the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), industrialization stimulated rapid urbanization, particularly in Seoul and the port cities of Busan and Incheon. Regional administrative centers from the Joseon period, such as Daegu, also grew rapidly.

Rapid economic growth beginning in the 1960s brought another wave of rapid urbanization that continued until the 1990s. Seoul and established regional centers grew rapidly, but a new set of new industrial cities, such as Ulsan and Changwon, grew rapidly. The main problem facing cities in these years was intense crowding and lack of infrastructure to support the growing population.

As Korea made the shift from developing nation to developed nation in the 1990s, standards of living rose along with expectations. The new cities of Bundang and Ilsan in Gyeonggi Province were built outside of Seoul, ending the rapid rise in the city’s population. Other new cities followed, and this in turn was followed in the 2000s by the redevelopment of older areas of the cities. And Gangnam, which had been fields as recently as the 1970s, emerged as rival business center to the historic center of Seoul.

The pattern of change in regional cities was similar, but with one important difference: The hollowing out of central business districts was more extreme. New cities built inside existing cities became the center of government and business. Since the 1985, the city halls of Busan, Incheon, Gwangju and Daejeon have moved away from the historic central business districts, leaving Daegu the only major city where this has not happened. Business in search of larger more up-to-date offices have also moved, and new shopping centers catering to more well-to-do apartment dwellers have followed.

With several notable exceptions, new cultural institutions have been built in the new areas outside the historic city center. City art museums in Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon, for example, have all been built in new areas. Most of the branches of the National Museum of Korea are located in newer areas or on the outskirts of cities.

All of this has left regional city centers largely devoid of cultural institutions. Shrinking professional employment has left mostly shops, restaurants and bars. As the population ages and brick-and-mortar retail continues to give way to online shopping, shops will close, thus accelerating the hollowing-out process.

To remain vital, city centers need people. They need both a combination of business and cultural activities as well as permanent residents. Seoul understands this and has taken steps to ensure that the historic city center remains vital.

The number of cultural institutions in the center of the city has increased with the opening of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the Museum of Modern and the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. New office and hotel development has helped keep it vital as a business center. Art galleries remain concentrated in central areas, and Daehangno remains a thriving theater district.

Regional cities need to emulate Seoul by creating things to do in the city center that people cannot do in other places. Building cultural institutions is one way; creating unique experiences is another. The Asian Culture Complex in Gwangju is an example of daring new construction.

Building new buildings is one option; creative reuse of existing buildings is another. The Daejeon Museum of Art’s Creative Center and the Daegu Modern History Museum are interesting examples of reuse. Over time, a revitalized city center should help with the more intractable problem of how to attract people to nearby residential areas that have been hollowing out at an even more rapid pace.

By Robert J. Fouser

Robert J. Fouser, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, writes on Korea from Ann Arbor, Michigan. ― Ed.