Joseon Seoul in the age of
Joseon was called
Hanyang (or by official name of its administrative division and governing authority
Hanseong-bu). As it was a
walled city, presence of the
Seoul City Wall made great influence on
imagined geographies of Seoul, like the
London Wall surrounding
Londinium. By the Seoul City Wall, Hanseong-bu was divided into two regions; an urban
downtown space named as
Seong-jung () or
Doseong-an () area inside the city wall, and peripheral areas named
Seongjeosimni () which was a ring-shaped region 10
ris (Korean mile) outside of the City Wall. Seoul was a
planned capital of the Joseon, as geographic embodiment of
Confucianism. The cityscape of Hanseong-bu's downtown area was also created by adaptive
cultural diffusion of Confucianism. According to Confucian classics, construction of
capital city () should follow several Confucian principles on city planning. For example,
Rites of Zhou instructs principle of '左祖右社 面朝後市' (), which means 'With the main palace at the center,
Confucian royal ancestral shrine (祖) goes to the left,
Altar of Soil and grain (社) to the right,
cabinet buildings (朝) to the front, and
marketplace (市) to the behind'. Following this Confucian instruction,
Jongmyo and
Sajikdan were placed on the left and the right of the main palace
Gyeongbokgung. Also,
Six Ministries, cabinet of the Joseon government was placed right in front of Gyeongbokgung's main gate
Gwanghwamun. Government buildings and official residences for the Six Ministries were built on both sides of the road just outside of the Gwanghwamun, and the road was called ( or ). However, Joseon could not place the official marketplace behind Gyeongbokgung, because the main palace Gyeongbokgung was built almost right in front of the mountain
Bugaksan. So Joseon had to detour instructions from
Rites of Zhou, by building the only licensed-official market in Seoul, the ''
, along the Unjongga'' (now
Jongno street), which was southeast side (front side) of the main palace. This adjusted city planning in early Joseon created continuous commercial area in form of east-west axis around the
Jonggak belfry, starting from southern end of the ''
to eastern end of the Unjongga'' (located near present-day
Wongaksa Pagoda). This traditional cityscape of Hanyang city's downtown area is still continued even in present-day Seoul, even through two major wars (
Japanese and
Qing invasion) in Joseon dynasty,
colonial governance of Japanese Empire, and the
Korean War after liberation.
Government Complex Seoul along the
Sejong-daero (former
Yookcho Street), and headquarters of largest companies around Jongno are clear examples of such time-honored history and tradition. These reforms led to strategic expansion of roads connecting Gyeongbokgung,
Deoksugung and the
Seoul Station, creating another important cityscape in downtown Seoul as form of north-south axis. However, as the Korean Empire lost substantial autonomy after signing
Treaty of 1905, Japanese colonial officials began to drive cityscape reconstruction. Spatial reorganization in this early colonial period was targeting subordination of Korean Empire's royal government and advancing authority of colonial government. Some of notable tough reforms during this period includes reconstructing royal palaces into public parks and zoo, and modernizing city roads. Yet it is remarkable that the colonial government's reconstruction of Keijō was not solely driven by interests of Japanese people living in Colonial Korea, because the colonial government sincerely wanted to assimilate entire Joseon's geographic culturescape under modern Japanese influence. While Japanese people in Keijō demanded reconstruction of the city to be centered in their main residential area alongside of the 'Honmachi' (now
Chungmu-ro), colonial government intentionally pursued absorbing iconic Korean spaces outside of Honmachi into modernized Japanese architecture. Clear example of what Chōsen's colonial government intended is found in construction of
Government-General of Chōsen Building, built right in front of Gyeongbokgung, which is northern part of Cheonggyecheon. This building, constructed during 1912 to 1926, was directly targeting reorganization of traditional integrated downtown space from main palace Gyeongbokgung to government buildings of
Six Ministries around Yookcho Street. Fortunately, though some of
dongs (Korean unit of neighborhood) suffered huge destruction, major areas of Downtown Seoul could evade bombardments during the Korean War. Eight neighborhoods (among approximately 400 neighborhoods) were redeveloped into modern grid patterned city blocks, due to heavy destruction during the war.
Myeong-dong is one of such neighborhood. Former head of South Korean delegation to Japan in 1950, Kim Yong-ju (金龍周) claims that he was the one who advised
General McArthur at the
SCAP, Japan, not to bomb major areas in Downtown Seoul. As Downtown Seoul survived harsh bombardments during the Korean War, its valuable historic sites such as Gyeongbokgung and
Jongmyo could be preserved as cultural heritages. However, it also meant that even severely outdated old towns outside of Japanese modernization survived to modern day South Korea. This excessive long history of Downtown Seoul's old town area discouraged
urban regeneration in the 1950s as there were too many stakeholders left, creating
tragedy of the anticommons.
'70s and '80s: Urban redevelopment and decentralization ,
Daewoo Group's headquarters building is a landmark symbolizing 1970s of
South Korea's rapid growth. It is now named as 'Seoul Square'. Urban regeneration occurred in the 1970s and '80s, when South Korea got developed enough to attract capital investments for such a program. The excited national atmosphere of preparing for the
Asian Games of 1986 and
Summer Olympics of 1988 provided chances for investors. Lots of landmark office and hotel buildings in the cityscape of Downtown Seoul were built around this period, such as the
Koreana Hotel (built in 1971 along
Taepyeong-ro), the headquarters building for
Daewoo Group (built in 1977 along Toegye-ro), and the headquarters building for
Kyobo Life Insurance Company (built in 1980 along
Sejong-ro). Under this policy, the entrance exam for high school was abolished, and a lottery system for entrance was introduced. Yet there were restrictions for chances to enter this lottery; middle school graduates could apply for admission to high schools only near their homes. These policies prompted enthusiastic Korean parents, who wanted their children to get admission to renowned high schools by municipal lottery, to move to the Gangnam region, thus decreasing demand for housing inside Downtown Seoul. Also, this project eventually supplied vacant space available for commercial development, which were left by relocated secondary schools. The total space created by this project was approximately 27 hectares, and most of the lots were filled by high-rise office building developments. For example, the empty site left by
Whimoon High School at
Jongno District was developed into the headquarters building for
Hyundai Group in 1986. Core regions in Downtown Seoul, such as Myeong-dong of Jung District and
Jongno-dong of Jongno District, are the uppermost central part of Seoul still today.
'90s and '00s: Renaissance of Seoul's old soul of
stream between Jongno District and Jung District, the
Cheonggyecheon is a soul of 21st-century Downtown Seoul. Downtown Seoul in the late 20th century experienced apparent change in its function, as planned by urban regeneration policies in the 1970s and '80s. Decentralization policy made in those days successfully suppressed high demand for living in downtown area, thus Downtown Seoul successfully turned from mixture of pre-modern residential and commercial area into a relatively homogeneous central business district. For instance, its settlement population continued to decline dramatically. Jongno District's number of residents was 265,342 in 1985. It dropped to 154,043 in 2005, recording approximately a 42% decline. The same thing happened to Jung District, as it declined from 208,085 in 1985 to 126,679 in 2005. ==Planning, boundary and denotation==