In the history of South Korean urbanism, the 2010s will most likely go down as the decade of city walks, or “dapsa.” Aided by social media in the early years of the decade, groups of citizens formed walking groups that explored old neighborhoods in Seoul. Local governments joined in and began to sponsor walks and train leaders for the groups. Most events are on Saturdays and many alternate between city walks and mountain climbing.

What caused the boom in city walks and what does it mean? Several things came together in the 2010s to bring about the trend. One is generational. Many of the leaders and most avid participants are members of the 386 Generation. After spending the 1980s engaged in politics as students, the generation settled down in the 1990s and began to focus on family and career. Many of the early leaders in Korea’s IT boom in the 1990s were from this generation. By the 2000s, they were moving into middle age and their peak earning years.

By the 2010s, the 386 Generation began entering its 50s, a time when children leave home and careers begin to wind down. After years of being busy, the 386 Generation found itself with more free time and began to take an interest in the urban environment that was rapidly changing with the spread of redevelopment projects.

The redevelopment of older neighborhoods into apartment complexes spread in 2000s and by the end of the decade, much of the urban environment that the 386 Generation had grown up in had disappeared or was about to disappear. Areas of the city that had not yet been redeveloped became increasingly rare, and walks offered a chance to connect with childhood memories. In areas where demolition had been planned, walks offered the chance to lament about change, to experience nostalgia full on, by taking pictures of what was about to disappear.

Other generations, of course, participate in city walks. Older generations like them because they are a chance to meet new people. Like the 386 Generation, walks also give them a chance to connect with childhood memories. Older generations experienced more poverty than the 386 Generation, making nostalgia less appealing. The act of explaining the past and the difficulties it contained is appealing to older generations because it helps give meaning to their life experience.

Younger generations also like city walks, not for memories, but as a chance to explore a world they know mostly from images. The construction of the satellite cities of Bundang and Ilsan in the late 1980s caused an apartment boom that spread nationwide in the 1990s. At the same time, changes in zoning made it possible to replace single-family houses with multi-family buildings. By the end of the decade, the apartment had become dominant. Most Koreans in the 1980s and onward thus grew up in some form of communal housing and have no memory of alleys lined with “hanok,” or Korean traditional houses, and other types of single-family houses.

Though city walks related to each generation differently, they create a cross-generational space free of social rigidity because participants get to know each other outside of social hierarchy. The notion of a superior and a subordinate is much weaker among walkers, thus making it easier for different generations to communicate freely.

Another reason for the boom in city walks, of course, is the boom in travel, particularly foreign travel. Koreans who visit other countries, particularly Europe, find the old cityscapes exotic. For many, it is the first time that they have been able to equate being old with having value. As more Koreans discover that old cityscapes have historic and cultural value, they begin to take a second look at Korean cities through city walks. 

What does this all mean? More than anything, it means that Koreans have embraced the city. During the first half of the 20th century, the modern city was alien to Koreans because it was the center of alien power. During much of the last half, it remained alien because the anonymity and lack of community differed sharply from traditional rural life. During the politically active 1980s, those critical of the emphasis on economic development viewed the city as the center of crass commercialism and romanticized rural life.

The implications are profound because as people look at the urban environment around them, they will begin to develop opinions and develop the courage to express them. Over time, this should increase interest in local politics and help reduce the dominance of bureaucrats in making decision about the urban environment.

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.