Why Koreans Shun the Suburbs

[pip]

In cities around the world, harried urbanites look to the suburbs for more space or a nicer house for their money. But in South Korea, the city apartment is still the dream.

https://www.citylab.com/design/2017/...uburbs/539523/

[Crawford]

Never been to South Korea, but the premise sounds implausible. Does Korea have North America-style suburbs within easy commuting distance? I doubt it.

When Koreans immigrate to U.S./Canada, they tend to live in SFH in suburbia. So it does not seem that they have an urban preference. It's more likely that they live in urban housing because that's the only practical option.

[iheartthed]

In contrast, detached houses are associated with substandard living, because few of them have been built since Korea’s economic miracle of the 1960s-1990s. Kim Kyung-hwan, a professor of economics at Sogang University in Seoul, remembers visiting the first apartment building in Seoul in 1962. He was a child, and his aunt lived there.

I happened to be in Korea last month, and this is the impression I got. The outskirt areas around Busan look almost like slums... They reminded me of the favelas surrounding Rio, albeit in much better living condition. By contrast, the centers of Busan and Seoul are all filled with modern apartment high-rises.

[Sun Belt]

South Korea population: 51 million
Land area: 38,000 sq. miles

The land area of South Korea is about the size of Indiana or smaller than Kentucky.

There is not enough available land for them to build traditional suburbs like we can in the U.S. We have land, they do not.

Our most populated state, California (39 million) has a land area of 164,000 sq. miles.

[destroycreate]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I happened to be in Korea last month, and this is the impression I got. The outskirt areas around Busan look almost like slums... They reminded me of the favelas surrounding Rio, albeit in much better living condition. By contrast, the centers of Busan and Seoul are all filled with modern apartment high-rises.

Slums? In Korea? Seems like like a stretch. Pics or didn't happen.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Slums? In Korea? Seems like like a stretch. Pics or didn't happen.

source: https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Locati...age-Busan.html

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Slums? In Korea? Seems like like a stretch. Pics or didn't happen.

They actually do still have a few shanty-type neighbourhoods! They appear to be holdouts from the post-war era that have resisted resettlement.



https://www.theguardian.com/cities/g...ds-in-pictures

[Capsicum]

South Korea was pretty poor until fairly recently, wasn't it? It only became seen as a First World country within living memory of a generation or so.

[Capsicum]

Originally Posted by Crawford

When Koreans immigrate to U.S./Canada, they tend to live in SFH in suburbia. So it does not seem that they have an urban preference. It's more likely that they live in urban housing because that's the only practical option.

Do we expect immigrants to choose housing that reflects their previous society's urban nature, anyways? Especially since the immigrants leaving a place aren't representative of those who stayed.

Do we see examples of immigrants from crowded "old countries" preferring density in the new country, and those from spacious "old countries" preferring more space when they choose a living in the new country?

I doubt it. I don't imagine that immigrants from a highly crowded country like China or India, or a lower population density one like Russia or Bolivia, let these things shape their housing choices, once they've left their old place behind and now have to base their choices on the financial, social, and practical decisions they entail in the society they now reside in, not the one they used to.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Slums? In Korea? Seems like like a stretch. Pics or didn't happen.

What is it like living in such an oblivous bubble?

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Never been to South Korea, but the premise sounds implausible. Does Korea have North America-style suburbs within easy commuting distance? I doubt it.

When Koreans immigrate to U.S./Canada, they tend to live in SFH in suburbia. So it does not seem that they have an urban preference. It's more likely that they live in urban housing because that's the only practical option.

yes. my wife is Korean-Canadian, and I am therefore highly exposed to this community. All but a handful of recent arrivals live in the suburbs. One of the main drawing points for them is the ability to have a home and a piece of land....very important life goals and status symbols.

When I last visited Korea, there were a few shantytown holdouts, but far and away, most people lived in modern, albeit monotonous/sterile apartment blocks.

Seoul is more crowded than Tokyo. There are mountains everywhere in Korea, even in the heart of Seoul (Namsan).


koreadramaland

There is no room for SFH in the style of North America, for all but a few.