Seocho-gu Designates Cheonggyerowa District Near Cheonggyesan Entrance Station as Its 12th Alley Shopping Zone

Seoul's Seocho-gu designated the Cheonggyerowa commercial district near Cheonggyesan Entrance Station as its 12th official alley shopping zone on Thursday.

The alley shopping zone regime designates areas where 15 or more small-business stores are concentrated within a 2,000-square-meter area, regardless of business type, allowing them to receive support comparable to that given to traditional markets. Once designated, merchants can register for the Onnuri gift voucher program and receive assistance with joint promotions, marketing and applications for government grant projects.

The newly designated Cheonggyerowa district is centered on Cheonggyesan Entrance Station on the Sinbundang Line, with 120 stores spread across a 15,780-square-meter site. Located near Cheonggyesan, the area has established itself as a commercial hub where hikers and other visitors can dine and rest at restaurants and cafes before and after their mountain excursions.

The district has been branded "Cheonggyerowa" — a name evoking the idea of coming to Cheonggyesan to unwind — and the borough has pursued festivals and promotional projects linking trekking with the local commercial district. In June, banner-style lights featuring the Cheonggyerowa brand identity and the Seocho-gu logo were installed on streetlamps along Cheonggyesan-ro. From July, landscape lighting incorporating the national flag design was added and put into operation.

Night lighting reflecting the Cheonggyerowa brand identity has also been activated on decks and green spaces, further raising the district's profile and improving the streetscape.

With the alley shopping zone designation now in place, Cheonggyerowa merchants have a foundation to access a range of support — including Onnuri gift voucher registration, joint promotions and marketing, and participation in government grant programs. The move is expected to strengthen the district's self-sustaining vitality and draw more of Cheonggyesan's visitors into the local commercial area. A Cheonggyerowa Festival combining mountain trekking with a variety of cultural events is also scheduled for Oct. 31, adding further momentum to the district.

Seocho-gu has consistently worked to expand alley shopping zone designations to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts across the borough. Since 2021, it has held ongoing consultations with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to ease designation criteria. In July last year, it comprehensively revised its ordinance on the promotion and management of traditional markets and shopping zones, cutting the minimum store-density requirement for alley shopping zone designation from 30 stores to 15 within a 2,000-square-meter area and lowering the bar for more neighborhood commercial districts to qualify.

Alongside these policy efforts, the borough has worked closely with promising commercial areas — supporting merchants every step of the way, from forming merchant associations to preparing designation applications. As a result, starting with the No. 1 designation of Maljukgeori in 2022, Seocho-gu has this year successively designated Bangbae Cafe Alley, Salon in Yangjae Stream, Seorae Village, Yangjaeitgil and Bangbaecheon-gil, and now the 12th, Cheonggyerowa, breathing new life into neighborhood commercial districts.

"I hope this designation of the Cheonggyerowa district as an alley shopping zone will ease the financial burden on small-business owners and serve as a catalyst for reviving the local economy around Cheonggyesan," Seocho-gu District Mayor Jeon Seong-su said. "We will continue to discover distinctive neighborhood commercial districts and work alongside merchants to strengthen their competitiveness."