Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the history and meaning of school district formation in Korea based on the case of Eunhaeng crossroads in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu. The beginning of the concept of a school district comes from the 1968 middle school non-examination, and the initial school district setting was in eliminating the middle school entrance examination and dispersing the population. In the 1970s, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to relocate Gangnam concentrated prestigious schools, transforming the meaning of school districts into a major factor in middle-class housing; from then on, school districts became a key factor influencing real estate prices, coining the words school district sickness and school district premium. As the entrance examination system and the educational environment change every year, the influence of the school district has decreased compared to the past, but the symbolic and metaphorical meaning of the school district still works effectively. As an example, the Junggye-dong Bank Intersection originated from the development of the Junggye 2 district housing site in 1993, and caused the movement of groups with similar income levels. In addition, due to the development of a limited commercial district called the Bank Crossroad, the private education market has grown densely and has been developed into a prestigious school district called Daechi-dong of Gangbuk with the active support of Nowon-gu Office. As an urban construct, the school district does not simply mean the concentration of educational institutions, but is the result of a combination of the history of the entrance examination system and demographic changes caused by urban development plans.