Rise and Fall of the Microdistrict in Pyongyang, North Korea

Abstract

Recent residential developments in Pyongyang (P’yŏngyang) show a pattern distinguished from previous eras in the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il periods. Since Kim Jong Un’s rise to power, major developments, such as the Mirae Scientist Street and Ryomyong Street developments, resemble real estate developments in other capitalist cities. Instead of repeating the same designs, they provide unique designs in each building, and dedicate more to commercial spaces and residential units, while reducing supporting amenities such as daycares, schools and civic amenities that are not profitable in the market. With signs of the transformation of Pyongyang, this paper addresses how residential developments have been occurring since the reconstruction of the city in relationship to socialist microdistricts, and how recent developments challenge the idea of the socialist microdistrict.

Urban development of Pyongiang under the influence of Juche idea

“…The basic unit of the microraion is a housing unit of collective housing with a school, medical institutions, shops. A green belt has been provided between the microraion in order to create a space for recreation (Yim, 2019).…”

“…Instead of repeating the same design of residential buildings, buildings of unique design are being built and more space is dedicated to commercial facilities, while at the same time the number of schools and parks in microraion is decreasing. Urban changes followed the separation of the privileged class with a large amount of capital (Yim, 2019).…”

“…Основна јединица микрорејона је стамбена јединица колективног становања са школом, медицинским установама, трговинама. Између микрорејона обезбеђен је зелени појас како би се створио простор за рекреацију (Yim, 2019).…”

“…Уместо понављања истог дизајна стамбених зграда, граде се зграде јединственог дизајна и више простора се посвећује комерцијалним садржајима, док се истовремено смањује број школа и паркова у микрорејонима. Урбане промене уследиле су након издвајања привилеговане класе са великом количином капитала (Yim, 2019).…”