Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village
Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village | |
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Neighborhood | |
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| Coordinates: 37°28′40″N 126°37′15″E / 37.4777°N 126.6208°E | |
| Country | South Korea |
| City | Incheon |
| District | Jung District |
| Dong | Songwol-dong |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 4,600 |
Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village (Korean: 송월동동화마을), or Songwol-dong Donghwa Village, is a themed area of Songwol-dong, Jung District, Incheon, South Korea.
History
[edit]Background
[edit]Songwol-dong was called Solgol or Songsan because there were many pine trees, but now it is called Songwol-dong because of the beauty of the moon seen through the pine forest. After the opening of Incheon Port in 1883, foreigners such as Germans began to live there, forming a wealthy village. However, as young people left to settle and work in other regions like Seoul while elderly people lived in the village for decades, the village lost its vitality since 1970 and became stagnant, and empty houses were neglected.[1][2]
Revitalization
[edit]In order to improve the poor residential environment, a flower road was made, and the walls were painted with the theme of world-famous fairy tales to transform it into a fairy tale village. The residential environment improvement project, which started in 2013, has completely transformed Songwol-dong into Donghwa Village over a period of about two years. A total of 11 themed roads were created, such as Dorothy Road, Little Red Riding Hood Road, and Traditional Fairy Tale Road.[1][2][3] The village has become a tourist attraction that is constantly visited by tourists.
Desciption
[edit]Most of the houses and buildings are decorated like a fairy tale village. For example, the gas meter of a house is the body of the Tin Woodman in "The Wizard of Oz" and the telephone pole is the beanstalk in "Jack and the Beanstalk". Unlike other mural villages, it is not flat but three-dimensional. Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village is decorated by recycling the facilities that local residents usually use as much as possible. "Trick Art Story" features 2D art that looks 3D.[3][1][2][4]
As of 2020, there are 4,600 residents, and most of them are in their 60s to 80s.[5] After the revitalization project, some residents enjoyed watching visitors because the village used to be a quiet place.[6] However, noise, garbage, and invasion of privacy caused by tourists became a problem.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c 멈춰 선 협궤열차, 계속되는 소래의 자연. VisitKorea.or.kr (in Korean). 1 February 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ a b c "Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village (송월동 동화마을)". VisitKorea.or.kr. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ a b 송월동 동화마을. Incheon Jung-gu (in Korean). Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ 동화 속으로 떠나는 환상 여행, 인천 송월동. VisitKorea.or.kr (in Korean). 25 July 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Park, Yeongjae (19 October 2022). 변화 준비하는 인천 중구 '송월동화마을'…두마리 토끼 잡는다. Kyeonggi News.
- ^ "달동네, 대규모 재개발이 정답일까?". YTN. 11 April 2015.
- ^ Cho, Minho (2020). "An Analysis of Conflicts of Local Residents in the Urban Regeneration Project: A Case Study of Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village in Incheon". Journal of Social Sciences. 13 (1): 33.