Guryong Village

Guryong or Guryong Village (Korean: 구룡마을) is an illegal encampment (commonly called a slum or a shantytown) on private land in Seoul, South Korea, on the edge of the affluent southside district of Dogok-dong, Gangnam District from which it is separated by a six-lane motorway.

Contents

• The unsettling settlement guryong village
• Guryong village 2 4 shanty town in seoul south korea 2 4
• References

It was first created in 1988 by people evicted from houses in other low-income areas demolished during the city's rapid development prior to the 1988 Olympic Games, and who came to this area as their last refuge. Since at least 2011, there have been plans for re-purposing the area and relocating the residents, though little progress has been made due to disagreements between officials on the best plan of action. Current government plans propose to demolish Guryong in 2015 and arrange subsidized housing for residents. It has an estimated 2,500 to 4,000 inhabitants (all numbers are estimates as no demographic survey of that area has ever been conducted), primarily impoverished elderly, living in between 1,200 and 2,000 shacks and trailers in a village area of about 286,929 square meters (about 70 acres). Individual houses have the size of about 16 to 99 square meters. The residents, who have established a postal service in their area, have received temporary residence cards in 2011. The village has buildings like kindergarten and church, utilities like water, gas and electricity, for which payments are communal; and its own security, all organized through two village associations.

Due to unsafe construction, the village has been affected by a number of fire accidents.

It has been called "the last slum in Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district" and "the last shanty town in Gangnam" and, broader, "the last remaining urban slum in Seoul".