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| ▲ This photo provided by the Asan Mediterranean Town shows the landscape of the town from above. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
ASAN, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Asan, a city located in South Chungcheong Province of Korea, is most well known for the industrial complex created by Samsung Display, one of the largest screen manufacturers worldwide.
After entering the city and passing through industrial and large apartment complexes nearby, a foreign landscape unfolds and the Asan Mediterranean Town is found.
◇ Residents near the industrial complex work together to build a village
Located in Myeongam-ri, Tangjeong-myeon, Asan of South Chungcheong Province, the Asan Mediterranean Town is inseparable from Samsung Display.
Most residents of the Tangjeong-myeon area earned a living through farming until the 1990s. At the start of the 2000s, as an industrial complex was established in the area, residents moved their land right next to it in order to form a new village.
If the Namnhae German Village was led by the local government and Petite France was privately led, the Asan Mediterranean Town is a place cooperatively created by residents.
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| ▲ This photo shows the streets of the Asan Mediterranean Town. (Yonhap) |
Lee Sang-man, chairman of the Asan Mediterranean Town management, said, "In order to create a village cooperatively, some people have physically toured around various parts of Europe and found benchmark cases," adding, "We wanted to create a complex village that combines culture and art with tourism."
The 64-building village was built based on Greek islands bordering the Mediterranean Sea and architectural styles from Southern France. The village is divided into Santorini, Parthenon, and Provence according to the shape of the buildings.
The second and third floors of the buildings are usually where residents live or rented as office spaces, while restaurants, cafes, and flower shops are located on the first floor to decorate the streets.
◇ The popularity of Asan's Europe-themed town undergoes downfall due to lack of content
In 2013, when the Asan Mediterranean Town was first established, it was able to attract tourists through word-of-mouth on social media.
The exotic sentiment can be felt anywhere within the town, which is why it has become a tourist spot where many visitors--especially Chinese tourist groups--visit frequently. The place was also often used a filming site for dramas.
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| ▲ The exotic sentiment of the streets can be felt whilst walking around the streets of the Asan Mediterranean Town. (Yonhap) |
However, while the number of tourists has slowly declined over the years, the situation deteriorated rapidly since the outbreak of the novel corona virus.
A merchant who has been running a store in the Asan Mediterranean Town since the beginning, said, "At first, many people came to our town because it was rumored to have a pretty landscape. However, once people came, I received feedback that there was little to see and enjoy except the stores."
While there were various experience programs and ateliers for artists in the earlier days of the village, those cultural spaces were soon taken over by regular shops and franchise restaurants.
There are still cafes, flower shops, and workshops with unique interior designs, however the responses from visitors and residents are not as enthusiastic as before.
To make matters worse, as more stores couldn't afford monthly rent due to the corona virus, there were many vacancies all over the buildings.
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| ▲ This photo shows fliers for rental inquiries put up on empty buildings within the town. (Yonhap) |
"The number of visitors have increased for some European villages during the pandemic, but it is not the case at all for our town," another merchant said. "The burden to keep our town running is still high and there are many merchants who can't stand it."
The main reason behind the downfall of the Asan Mediterranean Town is the lack of tourism content.
Although residents of the town say that the buildings are European-style, there weren't any unique content related to the Mediterranean or southern France to be found.
"The town itself is basically a residential area and not a tourist destination designated by the local government, so it is harder to develop any distinctive content," an official at the Mediterranean Town shopping center said. "There are limits to that extent."
◇ Construction takes place in efforts to rescue the town
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| ▲ This photo shows an example of a street crammed with different vehicles within the town. (Yonhap) |
Another inconvenience the Mediterranean town has to deal with is basic parking spaces and other amenities.
Unlike ordinary tourist attractions, there are no public parking lots. Vehicles are observed to be parked in front of buildings or on the street damage the beauty of the street. Some of the store businesses are interrupted due to the illegally parked vehicles outside the store.
Asan city has come up with measures to build about 200 parking towers by 2022 on a nearby site that is currently used as a temporary parking lot to resolve the parking shortage.
However, people in the village say that more active support from local governments is needed for the construction of parking lots to actually happen.
An official from the village said, "The parking lot would be operated through a consignment method, so private companies invest money to build it and collect money from parking fees. Illegal parking could continue unless the investors provide parking discounts to visitors."
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| ▲ This photo shows the Asan Mediterranean Town's construction notice near the public parking tower. (Yonhap) |
Still, the officials managing the town are working hard to come up with self-rescue measures that could help revitalize the stores.
The main focus of the self-Sucre measures is to develop contents that are specialized to Asan or places in Greece.
Before the outbreak of the corona virus, the "Owl Festival" was held as the town's Halloween festival and drew such good responses and is considered one of the most successful case out of all the local festivals.
The festival was special because it was planned by villagers, local merchants, and youth planning groups altogether.
Chairman Lee Sang-man also mentioned, "Although villagers and merchants are experiencing unprecedented difficulties due to COVID-19, we will continue to work together and make a second leap forward."
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