The culture has increasingly been recognized as a critical engine of economic growths in recent years while previously it was regarded as an additional benefit of the economy. Due to the growing awareness of the importance of cultures, diverse cultura...
The culture has increasingly been recognized as a critical engine of economic growths in recent years while previously it was regarded as an additional benefit of the economy. Due to the growing awareness of the importance of cultures, diverse cultural development strategies are competitively implemented in many cities to promote urban economic development. Despite the advantages of urban culture development, possible hidden side effects of newly developed urban cultures were exposed after the implementation. For instance, it was found that creating a new urban culture has been accompanied by changes in the local communities, such as declines in the traditional cultures and burdens to the local residents. Nevertheless, dynamic changes of urban cultures can be attractive since diverse cultural functions in the urban area draw many people and other cultures. These cultural phenomena can be found in Daehakro of Seoul which was declared as the cultural district in 2004 for the performing art centers. According to the increased number of small-size theaters, the cultural district of Daehakro—about 1.1 kilometers away from the Hyehwadong Rotary to the Ihwadong Rotary including Hyehwadong, Dongsungdong, Ihwadong, Yeongeondong, and Myeongnyundong—has been developed as a center of performing arts.
Based on an actual case of the Daehakro, this study investigated the core mechanisms of both expanding diverse cultural resources and activating cultural districts for the purpose of supporting policy makers in implementing robust cultural policies, which can be effective in promoting urban regeneration. In particular, this study conducted a survey targeting three groups including visitors, local residents, and local merchants in order to analyze both the importance of and satisfaction with management components of the cultural district. Based on the survey results, this study further analyzed priorities among management components to assist appropriate policy making according to the objective of the cultural district. Finally, this study diagnosed problems in current situations of operating the cultural district of Daehakro, by examining cause-and-effect relationships in the feedback process among satisfactions of visitors, local residents, and local merchants. The research results of this study are described as follows.
First, by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and by conducting in-depth analysis of the level of contribution among four management component—the facilities, supervisions, policies, and finances—to the overall satisfaction with the cultural district, the most important components is investigated as “policies” (β=.289, p<.001), followed by “supervisions” (β=.163, p<.01), “finances” (β=.158, p<.01), and “facilities” (β=.152, p<.01).
Second, by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and by conducting in-depth analysis of the level of contribution among sub-components in terms of facilities to the overall satisfaction with the cultural district, “conservation and utilization of resources for cultures, arts, and histories”, “securing public facilities and cultural spaces”, and “improvement of accessibility and transportation systems” are chosen as priorities with β=.236 (p<.001), β=.187 (p<.01), and β=.145 (p<.01), respectively.
Third, by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and by conducting in-depth analysis of the level of contribution among sub-components in terms of supervisions to the overall satisfaction with the cultural district, “management of diverse individual amenities", “monitoring the smoothness of conducting cultural events”, and “job creation and education program of cultural event for relevant industry” are chosen as priorities with β=.260 (p<.001), β=.217 (p<.001), and β=.206 (p<.001), respectively.
Fourth, by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and by conducting in-depth analysis of the level of contribution among sub-components in terms of policies to the overall satisfaction with the cultural district, “partnership among cultural event organizing committees and governments”, “mitigation of regulations on cultural events”, “the local residents committee and agreement”, and “regulations on purpose and kinds of the commerce based on characteristics of the cultural district” are analyzed as β=.209 (p<.001), β=.182 (p<.01), β=.125 (p<.05), and β=.169 (p<.01), respectively.
Fifth and finally, by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and by conducting in-depth analysis of the level of contribution among sub-components in terms of finances to the overall satisfaction with the cultural district, “financial supports for organizing street fairs”, “facilities and rental fee supports on the cultural events”, and “tax reduction” are investigated as β=.202 (p<.01), β=.184 (p<.01), and β=.159 (p<.05) in order.
The analysis of survey results on the importance and satisfaction level of the management components of the cultural district imply that it is crucial to increase the amount of cultural facilities and small theaters in the cultural district of Daehakro. However, it was noted to be more important to enhance the quality of cultural district in terms of fulfilling various society’s needs and social/cultural management criteria. The detailed implications are explained as follows.
First, although the district has become more vitalized with an increased number of visitors and commerce, land values and rental fees have also moved upwards.
Second, cultural festivals and events seem to be slowly vanished due to the fact that the cultural street has become more and more commercialized.
Third, by considering changes in components and environments of the Daehakro, the policy improvement needs to be employed with respect to the effective and feasibility of the cultural district.
Fourth, it is important to p