"Even today alone, I almost collided with a car twice. Gangnam or Yeonnam-dong isn't even like this. I don't know why there are so many cars."
Around 12 p.m. on the 14th on Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong District, Seoul, a person surnamed Kim (27) kept scanning the surroundings, showing anxiety. Despite it being a weekday afternoon, hundreds of tourists, cars and storefront fixtures were tangled on the narrow two-lane road, creating near chaos. With every step pedestrians took, motorcycles, taxis and large trucks squeezed precariously through.
The Seongsu-dong area, which has recently emerged as a "hot place" among Millennials and Gen Z and overseas tourists, is suffering from severe traffic congestion. Concerns are growing over pedestrian safety due to a road layout with a blurry line between sidewalk and roadway, but the authorities have not produced a clear fix, citing potential inconvenience to residents.
◇ Yeonmujang-gil with no distinction between sidewalk and roadway
Yeonmujang-gil, the main street of Seongsu-dong visited that day, drew crowds despite the wind chill dipping below minus 10 degrees. Dozens lined up in front of a cafe and pop-up store famous for the "Dubai jjondeuk cookie," and pedestrians walked directly on the road where there was no distinction between sidewalk and roadway. Taxis and trucks came in about one every 10 seconds, but with people packed in front and back of the cars, vehicles kept stopping and starting. Car speeds were slower than walking pace.
The risk of accidents remained on other days as well. On the 2nd, there were several instances of tourists who were looking at their smartphones or chatting nearly colliding with cars. Especially at intersections, pedestrians trying to cross and vehicles converged at once, with cars squeezing through people or pedestrians slipping between cars. A tourist surnamed Lee (30) said, "There are so many people, and cars keep coming in, so I feel uneasy the whole time I'm walking."
The reason Seongsu-dong has become crowded is largely the surge in floating population over the past few years. In addition to office workers drawn by the successive openings of headquarters for corporations such as Musinsa and SOCAR, tourists flock to cafes and pop-up stores.
According to the Seoul city government, the Seongsu-dong cafe street ranked second in sales among 1,090 alley commercial districts in Seoul in the third quarter of last year (July–September). During the same period, the floating population was about 76,000 per hectare (10,000 square meters), an increase of more than 6,500 from a year earlier. In surrounding commercial districts such as Seongsu Station, Gyeongsu Elementary School and Seongsu Elementary School, the floating population per hectare over three months rose by at least hundreds to as many as 7,500.
◇ Fences on sidewalks, curbside parking on roads … narrowing the roadway
There are other factors that worsen the pedestrian environment. Temporary fences installed in front of stores with long queues narrow passageways by about 2–3 meters, forcing pedestrians onto the roadway. On top of that, goods set out by shops or makeshift structures often obstruct strollers and wheelchairs.
The 156 curbside parking spaces set up along the roads also add to congestion. In some alleys, the roadway is less than 6 meters wide excluding parked cars, creating perilous scenes where cars and people brush past each other. Nearby, illegal parking and stopping by large trucks entering and exiting construction sites for major corporations' headquarters such as Musinsa further heighten the risk of safety accidents.
◇ "Expand car-free streets" vs. "concerns about residents' opposition" on parallel tracks
Currently, Seongdong District has restricted car traffic only on weekend afternoons since September last year. But on the ground, some argue for adopting the "Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway" model, which restricts traffic even during weekday lunch hours.
A Seongdong District official showed caution, saying, "On weekdays, residents and merchants frequently drive, so expanding restrictions could raise concerns about opposition from nearby residents."
Experts say that rather than completely blocking vehicles, the street environment should be improved so pedestrians and vehicles can coexist. There are overseas examples. On Exhibition Road in London, the boundary between sidewalk and roadway was removed, and diagonal patterns opposite to the direction of travel were painted on the road to cue drivers to slow down. Accidents fell and tourists increased. Barcelona in Spain introduced "superblocks," designating some areas as pedestrian-only streets and diverting vehicle flows to the periphery.
Kim Jin-yu, a professor in the Department of Urban Transportation at Kyonggi University, said, "The structure of Seongsu-dong's Yeonmujang-gil makes it difficult to expand the road or fully pedestrianize it," and added, "We can improve safety by instilling in drivers the perception that it is a 'pedestrian-first' space, such as by changing the asphalt surface to a pedestrian-friendly material."