Regeneration of industrial facilities into cultural facilities in Seoul: Studying location value

Abstract

Seoul is a rapidly developing city that attempted to keep up with the swift rate of industrialization by constructing large buildings with short life cycles to provide basic urban facilities. Today, however, these buildings are obsolete, and Seoul has become a cultural city rather than an industrial one. Rather than destroying these old buildings, many seek to transform them into cultural facilities, thereby giving them location value. This study examines both international and domestic case studies to determine five ways that such revitalization endows these spaces with location value. Through this, the study demonstrates that providing historic buildings with traditional Seoul architectural and urban characteristics with location value creates a meaningful city in which traces of past industrialization coexist with the present. As Seoul continues to develop as a cultural hub in South Korea, this paper's findings suggest directions for future urban design.