Abstract

Purpose - This paper attempts to identify the problems and limitations of a market maintenance project conducted according to the 「Special Act for the Development of Traditional Markets and Shopping Street」 and to present a revised direction for the special law and lay the groundwork for market maintenance projects to be promoted smoothly. Research design, data, and methodology - The revised direction for the legislation and the proposal were written based on an investigation of the problems and the legal system, and proposed measures for market maintenance operation and system improvements to derive the improvements needed for market maintenance projects. Results - A market maintenance project has been conducted as a means to reinvigorate traditional markets that are economically depressed, and to revive the local economy. It was largely conducted in the form of reconstruction and redevelopment and represents the interests of landowners and merchants. Thus, it is most likely to contribute to the gradual disappearance of traditional markets. First, as part of a market maintenance project, many companies are building multipurpose buildings or high-rise residential buildings to increase profits. In these high-rise buildings, they can raise rents, which may not be affordable for some existing small businesses. To solve such problems, the large-scale store registration requirement needs to be relaxed or abolished once the market maintenance project is completed. If the large-scale store registration requirement is to be abolished, the term 'large retail store' should be changed in the 「Special Act for the Development of Traditional Markets and Shopping Street」. After registration, the Small and Medium Business Administration should train merchants, offer consultations, and support events, to the extent that the existing traditional market management modernization project permits, and further continue to manage and support its ongoing activities. However, unless large-scale store registration is abolished, adding an exception clause in the special law to relax large-scale store registration criteria, and permitting changes to building use is another option. At the end of a market maintenance project, empty stores should be purchased by the Small and Medium Business Administration, and local government, etc., at the actual construction cost, to utilize them as public rental shopping areas, which in turn may be re-utilized as a temporary market for another market maintenance project. The second problem in market maintenance projects is merchant-protection. Currently, the special law prescribes that a temporary market be created for merchants to conduct business during the rental period of a market maintenance project. Conclusions - In reality, a market maintenance project is conducted usually in big metropolitan cities with 500,000 residents or more. The main building type created under these projects is a multipurpose building. For this reason, it is very difficult to secure a location for a temporary market in the surrounding area of such a project. To solve this problem, this study suggests 'public rental shopping areas' as mentioned above.