The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is moving forward with the construction of Creative Economy Campus Neighborhoods in an effort to resolve problems related to youth and local economies, such as housing instability, unemployment, and others.

The SMG selected the Anam-dong Startup Culture Campus Neighborhood, led by the Korea University, a highly motivated partner in the plan, and will begin establishing a detailed implementation plan during the second half of the year.

In order to gradually transform the university neighborhoods that have become places for adult entertainment into creative districts for creating jobs, the SMG will make a new urban restoration model and establish a model for cooperation, focusing on the 52 university neighborhoods located in Seoul.

The construction of campus neighborhoods will be carried out using a variety of private resources, and in particular, the SMG will invest roughly 152 billion won by 2025 using both tangible and intangible assets such as space, equipment, human resources, and other resources of the universities.

This project will be carried out using the 1 + 4 method, in which housing stability, cultural characterization, revitalization of business districts, and regional cooperation will be achieved focusing on promoting startups. The campus neighborhood development project is categorized into ① the “local creativity type,” which synthetically applies the 1 + 4 objectives, and ② the “program type,” which focuses on unit projects.

To begin, a budget of 10 billion won will be invested by 2020 in the Anam-dong Startup Culture Campus Neighborhood project, which will be carried out in the 170,000㎡ area surrounding Anam-dong, near Korea University. The SMG plans to select three additional “local creativity type” areas in 2017, and by 2025 construct campus neighborhoods in a total of ten university neighborhoods.