Sharing City, project out to put soul back into Seoul
Government programme supports and encourages the collaborative economy in the South Korean capital and has its sights set on ameliorating a host of social ills. Words and pictures by Zigor Aldama.
Eun Ji-lee is nervous. It is the day before the 22-year-old faces the final hurdle to get into the MBA programme she desperately wants to be accepted for: the university interview.
She has made a list of dozens of possible questions and rehearsed the answers with her mother, but something is still missing: an outfit suitable for the occasion. In South Korea, appearance is a key to success - or reason for failure.
"What we must wear is clearly defined," says Eun. "For women it's a smart black skirt with a matching jacket and a white blouse." But her family can't afford such an outfit, which would cost, they estimate, about 415,000 won (HK$2,750). Her father is unemployed and their financial situation is dire.
So Eun has decided to pay a visit, with her mother, to a tiny shop in a flat in downtown Seoul. The Open Closet is a non-profit business that has been established for people like her; it rents outfits donated by people who no longer have use for them. Eun pays only 20,000 won for her interview outfit, chosen with the help of one of the employees.
"I learned about the organisation at a conference on the collaborative economy, and my older brother has already used it to get outfits for several job interviews," says Eun. "I think it's a great idea that allows everyone access to a key element at the beginning of their career."
The Open Closet is not, by any means, the only initiative of the sharing kind in the South Korean capital. In fact, this megalopolis of 10 million inhabitants has arguably become the centre of the global sharing economy, thanks to the vision of mayor Park Won-soon. Unlike officials elsewhere who are trying to restrain controversial companies such as Uber and Airbnb with legislation, Park believes that sharing does not pose a risk to the economy - in fact, he believes quite the opposite. And so, in September 2012, he launched a project as ambitious as it is exemplary: Seoul Sharing City, which, according to Park's presentation speech, is designed "to make better use of existing resources, both in the city and among its citizens, through sharing".