Gangnam

1. Gangnam - From a peaceful farming village to one of the most busiest districts in Korea. 

Hello readers, as many of you have seen the music video by Psy, "Gangnam Style", don't you want to know more of what Gangnam is? Gangnam, as you might know, is the ideal place in Korea for nightlife, housing, and commerce. But, we, people of Gangnam, do not define it that way, but a place of beauty. In each area of Gangnam, you will find it interesting, each street and buildings have a history behind it. Lets learn about the story of Gangnam.
Gangnam means south of the river. "Nam" means south, and "Gang" represents river, which, in this case is the Han River.

The beginning

The area circled is Gangnam in the 1960s, viewed from Hannam Dong, located North of the Han river (Gangbuk). You can see that Gangnam was a flat, area of land, hardly inhabited by people. The population was only about 20,000. Gangnam not a part of the Seoul City. Gangnam was a farmland, and many of its lands were owned by farmers. Farmers who owned land in Gangnam became the super rich from labourers in just a few years.

Above: Map of Seoul of 1975 (Box is Gangnam)
Below: Map of Seoul today (Box is Gangnam) 

During the 1960s, Seoul became populated, and its economy began to improve. As economy improved, labor-intensive industries were growing, resulting as the farmers/laborers of Gangnam to Seoul. As the population increased each year, housing problems increased, with lots of unlicensed buildings filling the streets of Seoul.

Instead of developing another city, the representative of Seoul City planned to reduce the limits of transferring people into and out of Seoul. It was because the concentration of population of Seoul was also related to the protection of the capital.

During the Korean War, over 80% of Seoul's citizens traveled across the Han River to go South using the crossing bridges the army constructed. Even though the North and South Korea agreed a truce, the North may always attack. Seoul was also close to the 38th parallel. Finally, solutions appeared as Mayor Kim Hyon Ok was appointed.

Mayor Kim brought up two ideas to reduce the increasing population of Seoul. One was to move the capital, and the other is to develop the area South of the Han River.
Mayor Kim decided to develop the area South of the Han River.
The Government decided to add Yeouido and Yeongdeungpo-gu as a new part of Seoul.

But, at the same time, the construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway was being initiated. The expressway would connect with the 3rd Han River Bridge. The effects of the completion of the expressway shaped the location of present Gangnam. Gangnam was the perfect location, because of the cheap price of land (farming land) and the Gyeongbu Expressway connected directly to the Southern parts of Korea (countryside). The government decided to change plans, and started the development of the Gangnam Area.

Just a day after the groundbreaking of Gyongbu Expressway started, the development of Gangnam began, and was called "Yongdong Development Plan". 

The 3rd Han River Bridge was finished in 4 years. Then, the grounds were prepared for the Gangnam development. All of the farmlands were cleared up, allowing housings to fill. During that time, prices of Gangnam land rose from 200 won (Approximately 20 cents) to 3000 won (3 dollars) per 3.3 meters in 4 years.

Even though the housing sites of Gangnam were gigantic and cheap, no companies attempted to develop those sites. Since the private companies would not lead the housing site development, the Government had to.

In 1972, the government of Seoul built an apartment complex for the Government Employees. However, because of Gangnam's poor traffic and lack of markets, they weren't popular amongst the employees.

Seoul, unimpressed by the result of Gangnam, send out the North Seoul (Gangbuk) Deterrent Act. The act prevented the increase and establishment of manufacturing industries, department stores, wholesale markets, and entertainment spots in Gangbuk. On the other hand, the Government reduced the acquisition tax of entertainment businesses moving from Gangbuk to Gangnam.

However, as the act was announced, the increase of entertainment buisnesses in Gangnam did not raise the residential population. It had only increase temporary current population.

Just after the defeat of the Vietnamese in 1975, President Park Chung Hee instructed to move the people of Gangbuk to Gangnam. One of the best ideas to move the people of Gangbuk to Gangnam was the relocation of Korea's prestigious high schools. Starting from Kyunggi High School, other schools such as Seoul High School and Whimoon High School was moved to Gangnam. Most of those schools set their school grounds in Daechi Dong, which later became the 1st District of Education in Korea. Dogok Dong, famous for the super rich residences made by Samsung, Tower Palace, is located next to Daechi Dong, and shares its prestigious schools. Daechi and Dogok Dong has the record of one of the most expensive land prices per 3.3 meter in South Korea.

The Subway Line 2's route was changed so it passed through Gangnam. In 1976, the Express Bus Terminal was constructed to enable people from the countryside to go back and forth from the countryside to Seoul. Banpo Bridge was constructed which connected Gangnam to Gangbuk. Gangnam grew and grew to have the best traffic in all of Korea.

So readers, now you know how Gangnam was formed. You can say that Gangnam is divided into 3 districts, centre of Education (Daechi Dong), centre of Commerce/Economy (Yeuksam Dong), and the centre of Shopping/Luxuries (Apgujeong Dong)