Rethinking Temporary Use Coordinators for the Regeneration of Underused Urban Spaces in Seoul

This paper looks into a new policy framework of the Seoul Metropolitan Government that aims to create a new urban governance and use a citizens’ participation as an urban regeneration tool. Particular attention is paid to the transformation process of new urban governance and its contribution to the regeneration process of underused urban spaces in the long term. Using a case study approach, a link was identified between the roles of coordinator groups and the long-term legacy of reuse of underused urban spaces. This trend is contextualised within the hierarchical fiscal mechanism in which new urban programmes are established and implemented. The findings emphasise the constant role of coordinator groups and the significance of the soft content curated by them in the regeneration process of the underused urban spaces in Seoul.