Abstract
This study examines commercial gentrification, focusing on areas where commercial gentrification occurred or was expected to occur in Seoul, Korea. To identify the general phases of commercial gentrification, we used data collected from January 2015 to January 2019 by cluster analysis. Cluster analysis was conducted with a ratio of terms including “birth”, “replacement”, and “vacancy”, and characteristics including the “homogenization index”, “chain stores”, “vitalization”, and the “front width of stores” were applied. The contributions of this study are as follows. Three clusters were formed and supplemented according to differing types of industry change. Cluster 1 represents a stage where commerce has begun to penetrate residential areas, and it can be seen that gentrification has just started. Cluster 2 is more commercialized than Cluster 1, but characteristics remain in the vicinity of neighborhood commercial facilities. Cluster 3 describes a phase of full vitalization, characterized by franchise stores. The implications of this study are as follows. Commercial gentrification is proven to have distinctly different stages of commercial characterization that can be interpreted and observed sequentially, thereby requiring a differentiated approach to commercial gentrification by phase.
Highlights
A number of commercial gentrification phenomena have occurred in residential areas of Seoul City in Korea, which have replaced neighborhood commercial facilities with cafes and restaurants with unique atmospheres, and in some instances, with large-scale commercialized shops
This study aims to divide the progress of commercial gentrification in Korea into stages based on data obtained across five years from January 2015 to January 2019 in areas where commercial gentrification occurred or was expected to occur in Seoul
Unlike the fact that preceding research has examined commercial gentrification locally and that physical variables have been considered rather than commercial characteristics when trying to verify stages, this study shows the most volatile commercial characteristics of the city of Seoul quantitatively
Summary
A number of commercial gentrification phenomena have occurred in residential areas of Seoul City in Korea, which have replaced neighborhood commercial facilities with cafes and restaurants with unique atmospheres, and in some instances, with large-scale commercialized shops. This is because residential areas have gained attention in terms of the human scale—meaning urban design that is optimized for human use—and have been identified as new areas of opportunity as consumer culture has shifted beyond the simple purchasing of goods to consumption of locations formed in proximity to streets [1,2]. This type of analysis stands to provide step-by-step policy implications of commercial gentrification and explores the potential of the data to diagnose future commercial gentrification
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