TY - BOOK
T1 - Urban Dualities: Rethinking Growth and Shrinkage in Seoul
AU - Cho, Hyung Rae
AU - Hong, Nami
AU - Kim, Kon
AU - Yonto, Daniel
AU - Brossa, Marc
N1 - Hyung Rae Cho
Dr Hyung Rae Cho is an assistant professor in urban planning and design at Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, where he also serves as Director of the Cre8Place Lab, a research platform bringing together seven urban design academics. He holds a PhD from the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University and earned both his master's and bachelor's degrees with distinction in urban planning and design from the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London. His professional experience includes work at the Office of the President of South Korea, alongside sustained engagement in research, education, and design practice with a strong emphasis on international collaboration. He has led several global initiatives, including the International Planning Symposium, Interdisciplinary Design Workshops, and the Smart City Living Lab, and has contributed to academia as a research fellow and guest lecturer at Seoul National University. His research focuses on urban morphology, urban shrinkage, urban regeneration, and urban psychology, with particular attention to how urban form , social change, and human experience intersect in contemporary cities.
Nami Hong
Dr. Nami Hong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Seoul and the Principal Investigator of the Urban Studies and Design Lab (USDL). She holds a PhD in Urban Design and Planning from Seoul National University, where her research focused on urbanization processes and contemporary spatial restructuring in Asian cities. Her scholarship spans urban design, planning, and urban studies, with particular expertise in metropolitan growth and the socio-spatial dynamics of Southeast Asian cities. Her research is grounded in comparative urban analysis and interdisciplinary methods combining qualitative inquiry, spatial mapping, and empirical fieldwork. She has published in peer-reviewed international journals on land expansion in transitional cities, urbanization beyond conventional models, and the transformation of collective housing forms in Hanoi, contributing to critical debates on urbanization, housing, and urban sustainability. Alongside her research, Dr. Hong’s design and planning practice emphasizes people-centered, climate-responsive public spaces and street environments. She is actively engaged in international cooperation projects across Asia, contributing to context-sensitive spatial strategies and capacity-building initiatives, and seeks to bridge research, policy, and practice
Kon Kim
Dr Kon Kim is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Programme Director of the MSc Urban Planning at Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University. He holds a PhD in Urban Planning and Design from the University of Westminster, an MSc in Urban Regeneration from the Bartlett School of Planning at University of Westminster, an MSc in Urban Regeneration from the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London, and a BA in Architecture from the Korea National University of Arts. University College London, and a BA in Architecture from the Korea National University of Arts. Trained across architecture, urban design, and planning, his work bridges design inquiry, critical urban studies, and policy-informed spatial practice. His research focuses on community-informed spatial practice. His research focuses on community-based urban regeneration, critical smart urbanism, and youth-led entrepreneurship in East Asia, with particular attention to urban–rural transition contexts. A distinctive feature of his work is the rural transition contexts. A distinctive feature of his work is the integration of practice-based and visual research, including design studios, spatial mapping, and documentary filmmaking, as a means of advancing urban knowledge and public engagement.
Daniel Yonto
Dr. Daniel Anthony Yonto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU) in China. He received his PhD in Geography and Urban Regional Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the United States. Prior to joining XJTLU, Dr. Yonto held lecturer appointments in Geography at Georgia Southern University and the University of Alabama. He joined XJTLU as an Assistant Professor in 2022 and, in 2023, was awarded his first major external research grant, focusing on urban development dynamics in Southeast Asia. His research interests include human geography, urban studies, neighborhood change, and the role of transportation in shaping urban development, with particular attention to Asian urban contexts and climate change education. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Yonto is a certified Climate Fresk facilitator and actively engages diverse audiences in participatory learning on climate science and urban sustainability.
Marc Brossa
Dr. Marc Brossa is an architect and urbanist whose research examines mass housing and standardized urban forms as socio-political instruments shaping everyday life and urban transformation. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Seoul and a licensed architect in Spain, bridging architectural research, pedagogy, and critical design practice. Brossa holds degrees in architecture, urbanism, and a doctoral degree (cum laude) from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and a Master of Science in Urban Design from Columbia University. His research has been featured in the Golden Lion-winning Korean Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale and published in international academic venues. He is a recipient of the 'La Caixa' Fellowship (2001) and the William Kinne Fellows Prize (2003). He has held teaching appointments at Seoul National University, Korea University, Columbia University, and the Sam Fox School of Design and gained professional experience at leading practices, including Jornet Llop Pastor, StoSS Landscape Urbanism, and Field Operations. His design work has been recognized with first prizes at Europan Norway (2006, with Julio Salcedo) and the Layer 2.0 Competition in Tel Aviv (2022).
PY - 2026/1/26
Y1 - 2026/1/26
N2 - This book explores urban change through the intertwined processes of growth and shrinkage. It challenges the familiar idea that cities move in a single direction, towards progress or decline. Instead, it shows how growth and shrinkage often emerge together, shaped by the same policies, investments, and planning choices. Seoul serves as the central case. Known globally for its intensity and transformation, the city also contains shrinking neighbourhoods, fragmented urban fabrics, and communities living with persistent uncertainty. Based on literature reviews, on-site fieldwork, interviews, spatial analysis, and design research developed through an international urban design workshop, the book examines three areas: Yongsan, Dapsimni, and Seongsu. These sites reveal how development and neglect coexist and how their effects are unevenly distributed across space and time. Regeneration is not treated as a guaranteed improvement. It is approached as a process whose consequences depend on pace, arrangement, and responsibility. Rather than asking whether cities should grow or shrink, the book fundamentally approaches how change is organised, who benefits from it, and who must adapt. Growth and shrinkage are understood as connected realities of contemporary urban life. This book invites readers to rethink urban planning, urban design, and architecture not as tools for managing outcomes, but as practices responsible for shaping the conditions of everyday urban experience.
AB - This book explores urban change through the intertwined processes of growth and shrinkage. It challenges the familiar idea that cities move in a single direction, towards progress or decline. Instead, it shows how growth and shrinkage often emerge together, shaped by the same policies, investments, and planning choices. Seoul serves as the central case. Known globally for its intensity and transformation, the city also contains shrinking neighbourhoods, fragmented urban fabrics, and communities living with persistent uncertainty. Based on literature reviews, on-site fieldwork, interviews, spatial analysis, and design research developed through an international urban design workshop, the book examines three areas: Yongsan, Dapsimni, and Seongsu. These sites reveal how development and neglect coexist and how their effects are unevenly distributed across space and time. Regeneration is not treated as a guaranteed improvement. It is approached as a process whose consequences depend on pace, arrangement, and responsibility. Rather than asking whether cities should grow or shrink, the book fundamentally approaches how change is organised, who benefits from it, and who must adapt. Growth and shrinkage are understood as connected realities of contemporary urban life. This book invites readers to rethink urban planning, urban design, and architecture not as tools for managing outcomes, but as practices responsible for shaping the conditions of everyday urban experience.
KW - Urban Growth and Shrinkage; Growth Shrinkage Duality
KW - Spatial Inequality
KW - Urban Regeneration
KW - Urban Morphology
M3 - Book
SN - 979-11-58083-44-5 (93540)
BT - Urban Dualities: Rethinking Growth and Shrinkage in Seoul
PB - Hana Design Publishing
CY - Seoul, South Korea
ER -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities