Residents of Seongsu-dong worry about accidents as number of offices and visitors increase

People stand in a long line on a crosswalk to enter Exit 3 of Seongsu Station in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, at around 6:10 p.m. on July 9.

At 6:07 p.m. on July 9, the streets near Seongsu Station in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, were filled with people. The line of people gathered at Exit 3 of the station was so long that they even occupied the crosswalk on the roadway. A car that was turning right from Achasan-ro to Seongsui-ro honked its horn. However, the crowd made the line longer, and cars trying to turn right also lined up with tails.

Residents of Seongsu-dong where the floating population has surged are becoming increasingly anxious as the number of pop-up stores and knowledge industry centers where venture and startup companies take occupancy has increased. As the existing transportation facilities and safety infrastructure are struggling to cope with the increasing number of office workers and tourists, inconvenience and dissatisfaction are turning into anxiety. 'If it keeps going like this, something will happen,' they worried.

Seongsu-dong has grown rapidly since it was designated as a pilot urban regeneration project area by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2014. About 60 to 70 short-lived offline retail pop-up stores open every week. It is no wonder the area is nicknamed the “mecca of pop-up stores.” As people gather and it becomes ‘hot,” more and more companies are settling in Seongsu-dong. According to the data released by Seongdong-gu Office, the number of “knowledge industry centers,” where companies in manufacturing, knowledge industry, and information and communication industry are located, has more than doubled to 67 (5,915 tenant companies) as of May, compared to 2013 (32 centers, 1916 tenant companies).

The number of pedestrians has also increased steeply. According to the information on the number of people getting on and off subway trains in Seoul, some 240,000 passengers visited Seongsu Station at 6 p.m. in June. This is about 90,000 people more than in the same month nine years ago (157,000 people). This means that the number increased by an average of 3,000 per day compared to nine years ago.

Traffic conditions are not keeping up with the situation. Every day during rush hour, cars and pedestrians tangle in the road in front of Exit 3 of Seongsu Station. People are worried, "Isn't this too dangerous?" but they stand in a line that leads to the roadway. They have no choice but to stand in the line to enter the station. The station staff are also nervous. "Seongsu Station is a 'hot place’ with an average of 40,000 people getting on and 46,000 getting off every day, but the environment of the exits is not much different from when it first opened in the 1980s," said Kim Kang-jun, the stationmaster of Seongsu Station.

Yoon Hyo-jin, a professor of urban transportation engineering at Kyonggi University, said, "If a large crowd suddenly gathers in one space, the risk of accidents can increase due to traffic congestion.” and added that measures should be taken.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.