While the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea exceeded over 10 million in Asia, Seoul has grown into a major tourist city. However, accommodation running in Seoul with reasonable price are insufficient to meet the demand of individual tourists w...
While the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea exceeded over 10 million in Asia, Seoul has grown into a major tourist city. However, accommodation running in Seoul with reasonable price are insufficient to meet the demand of individual tourists with various characteristics. At this point the inexpensive accommodation called guest house began to increase, at the same time, Seoul City added the “Foreign Tourist City Minbakeop” as a tourist facility service industry in 2012, to expand the low-cost accomodation and to satisfy the tourists who want to experience the Korean home culture, as will as to resolve the shortage of accommodation.
The guest houses currently running in Seoul are more than 400, mainly distributed nearby palaces, museums, and shopping areas, especially 126 among them are running in Shinchon and Hongdae area. The first factor of intensive distribution in Hongdae area is that the commercial cultural district is formed around Hongik University. Secondly, the airport railway opened in 2012 and Subway Line 2 provides way toward major tourist attractions as well as wide-area bus makes convenient access toward the metropolitan area. Finally, it has a suitable environment to operate the guest house with dense low-rise residential area, multi-family houses that is a type of easy construction, within walking distance from Hongik University.
However, the current regulations regarding the location of guesthouse is inadequate that there is high probability of change in the general residential area when guesthouse increases. Living in an era of increasing people desiring for ‘quality of live’, the purpose of this study has conducted by analyzing the impact of guesthouse in residential area, regarded as a resting place for residents and to provide the future direction in terms of urban management.
Seogyo, Donggyo, Yeonnam, where relatively less commercial and more residential area were set as the target site to investigate the impact of guesthouse on street environment or the residents through observation and interviews.
Five positive effects of guesthouse on the area may be summarized as follows. First, guesthouse built in various types and forms provides landscapes on dense residential area. Secondly, it acts as a catalyst for mixed use of residential environment by inducing small commercial districts like bakery, cafes, pubs and restaurants. Thirdly, due to the feature of the guesthouse location in allies, it can increase the pedestrians to allies which leads to vitalization of street arcades. Fourthly, the guesthouse triggers mixed population by inducing foreign tourists as well as commercial arcades eventually leads to diverse experiences to local residents. Finally, consumption
around guesthouse by guests such as convenience stores, cafes and bars causes activation of local economy that could create a new commercial district.
Some negative effects of guest house are noise from guesthouse such as loud voices or sound of dragging luggage, increase of smokers and drunks on the streets. Also shortage of parking space due to the influx of commercial area around guesthouse occurs there for the agreement of users and owners of guesthouse and pubs is necessary.
This study is based on prior experience of analysing impact on a residential environment, In this study, therefore, suggesting the institutional complementary and management of urban space for better living environment.