Community - Cultural Difference

The Western concept of "community" has long confused Korean planners and designers who have believed that it was right thing to incorporate that notion into their works. But they have never been easy in doing that and sometimes confronted some level of confusion. The cultural difference in this social and spatial unit may hold the key to developing the notion of community in Korean urban planning. The way people feel, act and respond to community and community issues may be the one that embeded in the tradition of the way of life in different cultures. In Seattle, people of Wallingford neighborhood volunteered to help the move of their neibhorhood hardware shop where they have bought all kind of hardwares for their yard work, gardening, house decoration and repairs, and other domestic works. Noting that Amerians value so much on their do-it-your-self spirit(they usually do even house renovation themselves and very much enjoy the work), the sense of community seems to arise naturally from the very way of life of people.

Photo: Gathering of volunteers at the old shop (above) and people lending their hands to carry items to new store acorss the street(below)

Korean Cases
o Sungmisan neighborhood