Abstract

It has been 10 years since the facility modernization projects of traditional markets was rigorously undertaken. Although more than 835 traditional Korean markets nationwide have already completed these projects, there does not exist a specific set of standards of installation, future maintenance, and management. As a result, the complaints made by civil stakeholders in accordance of the actual facility installation caused problems and delays of related projects. In addition, while some local governments secured and implemented their own differing standards, others have not yet established their own separate standards for maintenance and management. Specifically, 694 traditional markets nationwide were supported for the cost of installing arcades by 2010. For the short period of time after the arcade-supported projects were deployed, the number of the traditional markets had been rapidly growing as a prime example of the facility modernization projects. The arcade facilities are being planned and installed merely for screening the rain or the sun. Without fundamental data for the newly landscaped environments or information on the actual conditions of usage and assessment, there is a lack of comprehensive approaches that could possibly organize the public environments. Furthermore, the amount of support needed for repairs, maintenance, and management from the central and local governments is gradually increasing. Thus, it becomes both crucial and necessary to complement the current set of standards. The purpose of this study is to examine the actual conditions of usage, maintenance, and management among those traditional market facilities that were installed with the supports of the facility-modernization projects, especially for arcades. This will be carried out through investigating the local problems, issues, and considering international case studies. The results of this study will provide measures for effective and efficient installation and management of traditional market arcades. Improvements in the use of public resources could be directed towards transforming public business, as well as public enhancement and functional maintenance and reinforcement. Under this condition, the arcade is not a simple area to avoid rain or sunlight; it becomes a public space. It is highlighted that the arcade should establish its public business not only to activate markets but also to refine street environments and revitalize local communities. A more specific way to improve is introduced through systematic supplementation. This is needed to attract effective participation from local residents and is done so by conducting a fair procedure from the first stage of business and by providing guidelines for establishing arcades as public facilities. The study points out to the problem of merchants-centered plans and street use. It presents the need to expand to involve residents and customers. Given that the arcade is a public facility and merchants' ability to maintain it is limited, manuals and systems for its maintenance needs to be introduced through multi-party agreement of merchants, government, residents and customers.