Transforming Houses

[Anchor Lead]

Empty or abandoned houses can become a problem in large cities. There are projects underway to transform these homes into useful spaces. Let’s take a look.

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This is the semi-underground floor of a three-story multi-family house.

[Soundbite] "I'm home."

Some ten women in their 20s and 30s live together here, sharing five rooms. The house was effectively deserted as recently as 2 years ago, but it has been transformed into a youth residence facility with financial investment from the Seoul city government. Rental fees amount to just 80 percent of the local average. This house, which was empty five years ago, has been converted into a cafe. The neighborhood has regained vitality with empty houses being reborn as cafes or wood mills thanks to the initiative of social enterprises.

[Soundbite] Bae Jeong-hak(Head of Social Enterprise) : "There were 14 empty houses in the neighborhood. All of them have been turned into residential spaces."

Expectations are running high for the economic effects generated by the reuse of empty houses, which were neglected as unsightly ruins in downtown areas.

[Soundbite] Prof. Nam Ki-beom(Dept. of Urban Sociology, University of Seoul) : "They transform into regions filled with vitality. Purchasing power is generated, and activities by artists or young people boost the local economy."

There are 1.06 million empty houses nationwide. A drop in population leads to an increase in the number of abandoned old houses, which is why bright ideas are needed to transform the ugly structures into newly discovered urban gems.