Neighbourhoods are known for their social networks and identities embedded in particular places. Blaž will present on a seminar on Korean neighbourhoods beyond Korea, comparing three Korean neighbourhoods with strong social networks and distinct identities based on social class and/or ethnicity.

Of these neighbourhoods, only Haengdang-dong is located in Korea. It used to be one of the largest shantytowns in central Seoul. My Dinh, on the other hand, is a growing ethnic enclave of Korean expatriates in Hanoi, Vietnam. While Higashi Kujo is also an ethnic enclave of Zainichi Koreans in Kyoto, Japan, it has also experienced social and economic marginalisation similar to Haengdang-dong.

Blaž will focus on actors, forms of collective action and the production of shared meanings to better understand community capacity building and its impact on the resilience of marginalised communities in Seoul. Nataša Visočnik Gerželj will talk about community building and collaboration between marginalised communities of the urban poor and Koreans in Kyoto’s Higashi Kujo. KC Ho will examine two groups of sojourning Korean expatriates in My Dinh to show the importance of local entrepreneurship and collective consumption in maintaining Korean lifestyles in Hanoi.

Their comparison helps to understand Korean neighbourhoods not only as particular places with strong social networks and distinct identities, but also as sites of community building, social learning and innovation, local entrepreneurship, and collective consumption in each city. This highlights a further importance of neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood as a method can reveal larger social and urban transformations in Asian societies, as well as local strategies to address growing sustainability challenges in Asian cities.

The seminar Korean Neighbourhoods beyond Korea: Localities, Social Networks and Identities in Seoul, Kyoto and Hanoi will take place on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, from 16:00 to 17:30 at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore and online on Zoom. Registration is required.