• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.60-75
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• 2015

The Ruhr area in the Northwestern Germany grew rapidly from the 1850s based on coal mining and iron and steel industries, playing a key role as an engine of industrial growth. Since the 1950s, however, the area has been experiencing a serious economic crisis as the traditional industries declined. The crisis was comprised of increasing unemployment and abandoned industrial lands and facilities. Oberhausen and Gelsenkirhen are typical cities of the Ruhr, characterized by such economic crisis. Oberhausen attempted to solve the problems by developing a large leisure town, composed of a sopping mall, restaurants, and other arts and cultural activities, on a former steel mill site. Gelsenkirhen, on the other hand, went on to promote renewable energy industries, business incubators, and energy-saving housing complexes. This paper analyses the processes and outcomes of urban revitalization policies of the two cities, based on the path dependence theory, and draws theoretical and policy implications.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.252-261
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• 2015

Unlike traditional cultural assets, industrial assets are closely tied with contemporary life in numerous ways, and have acted as a bridge between the traditional architectural buildings and contemporary architectural buildings, reflecting the overall economical, social and cultural portraits of that time. Reinvestigating them in a new light, granting just and fair values, and preserving and transmitting these modern cultural heritages is a method of preserving the historical and cultural traditions in order to keep own identity and integrity. Nowadays, however, due to various sprawling developments and new development-oriented urban policies, only a select few industrial assets are being protected, the rest facing demolition and damages. In order to better cope with such situation, Korea has officially introduced the Registered Cultural Properties System since 2001, and began acknowledging the historical values of industrial buildings as modern cultural properties. By systematic analysis and deduction of characteristics from successfully recycled precedents such Oberhausen Gasometer in the state of Nordhein-Westfalen that have been preserved and recycled as cultural spaces, this paper aims to find and propose suggestions to rehabilitate and recycle the industrial cultural properties in Korea.