Guryong Village

Guryong or Guryong Village (Korean: 구룡마을) is an illegal encampment (commonly called 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.[1][2][3]

Guryong
slum
Guryong Village
Guryong
Coordinates: 37.4765°N 127.0643°E / 37.4765; 127.0643
Country	South Korea
Region	Sudogwon
Special City	Seoul
Population
• Estimate  (2012)	2,500

It was first created in 1988 by squatters 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.[1][3][4][5][6] 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.[1][4][7][8] Current government plans propose to demolish Guryong in 2015 and arrange subsidized housing for residents.[9] It has an estimated 2,500[1][6] to 4,000[3] inhabitants (all numbers are estimates as no demographic survey of that area has ever been conducted[3]), primarily impoverished elderly,[3][5] living in between 1,200[10] and 2,000 shacks and trailers[4] in a village area of about 286,929 square meters (about 70 acres).[4] Individual houses have the size of about 16 to 99 m² (170 to 1,070 sq ft).[3] The residents, who have established a postal service in their area, have received temporary residence cards in 2011.[11] 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.[3][11]

Due to unsafe construction, the village has been affected by a number of fire accidents.[12]

It has been called "the last slum in Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district"[9] and "the last shanty town in Gangnam"[1] and, broader, "the last remaining urban slum in Seoul".[12]

The Gangnam government is planning to redevelop the area with new apartment for 7,671 people by 2025.[13] As of 2019, 406 out of 1,107 households (36.7%) had been relocated.[14] Many of the remaining residents are seniors, some earning less than $10 a day.[15]