How Alleys Shape Cities and Everyday Life A Visit to the Locale Conference in Daejeon

Hello! This is JIRO 🙂

On the 15th, we visited the Locale Conference: “The Alley Where I Live,” held at the Social Economy Innovation Town in Daejeon.

Arriving in Daejeon

We took the train and got off at Seodaejeon Station, then headed toward the Social Economy Innovation Town.

Lunch: Jajangmyeon

After that little detour, it was finally time to dive into the conference.

Locale Conference: “The Alley Where I Live”

This conference focused on how we might rethink, experiment with, and transform the everyday alleys that shape our daily lives.

Rather than simply sharing case studies or trends, the sessions felt like a collective space for thinking together about how communities can be activated at the neighborhood level—and how those efforts can be sustained over time. That made the experience especially refreshing.

Session 1: The “15-Minute City”

The first presentation was given by designer Han Seung-hoon, who introduced the concept of the 15-minute city, with examples centered on Paris.

The idea explores how easily people can access essential urban functions and relationships within a 15-minute walking radius. What stood out wasn’t the number itself, but the approach: reading the city through the rhythm of everyday life.

One especially memorable aspect of the 15-minute city was its experimental process—

temporary installations, testing, and continuous revision.

By designing spaces that can always be changed, cities evolve through small-scale actions and resident feedback. Rather than living inside a fully planned city, it felt like residents were actively making the city together. That sense of warmth stayed with us.

Session 2: Post Living Lab and Accumulation

Next, Sung Ji-eun, Senior Research Fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, introduced the concept of the Post Living Lab.

While past living labs often focused on rapidly repeating success and failure, she argued that it’s now time to shift toward accumulating the power created by experiments within neighborhoods.

So many experiments have already taken place—what matters now is where and how their outcomes are stored and sustained.

In this context, neighborhoods were presented as the most realistic unit of accumulation:

places we encounter repeatedly in daily life, where relationships, spaces, and resources overlap and can be drawn upon when needed.

As a concrete proposal, she introduced the idea of an “Alley Campus.”

Based on Daejeon’s unique mix of low-rise residential areas and universities, this model suggests connecting universities with neighborhoods to embed experimental outcomes directly into everyday spaces.

Most impressive was the core philosophy of living labs themselves: shifting innovation away from being expert-led and toward citizens as the main actors.

Session 3: Revitalizing Low-Rise Neighborhoods Through Social Housing

The third session was led by Lee Hansol, Chairman of the Korea Social Housing Association, who shared ways to revitalize neglected low-rise residential areas through social housing.

One particularly striking point was that dark alleys are perceived as unsafe not simply because they are old, but because spaces and functions that invite people to stay have disappeared.

Low-rise neighborhoods without shops, alleys without public spaces, and development models focused solely on rising real estate prices—all of these factors overlap to create current challenges.

As an alternative, social housing was introduced not just as a way to supply homes, but as a model that designs housing, community, and everyday services together.

Crucially, he emphasized that this process requires more than spatial design—it depends on collaboration with community operators and financial institutions.

What This Conference Left Us With

The key themes running through the conference were experiment, accumulation, connection, and neighborhood.

Alleys can sometimes feel small and slow.

But the relationships and experiences built within them linger in our hearts far longer.

When time and effort accumulate, they hold the potential to reshape not only urban policy, but also the way we work and live. This conference showed us that possibility.

Perhaps the alleys we live in aren’t just backgrounds to our lives—but stages where we can freely begin new experiments.

Exploring Daejeon After the Conference

After the conference, we explored Daejeon a bit more.

We stopped by a used bookstore, listening to the owner share stories about the neighborhood.

We walked through the Oriental Medicine Street, then wandered around Jungang Market, where we each bought a bag of tangerines.

For dinner, we visited a market snack shop that had once been featured by the YouTuber Tzuyang.

The tteokbokki had a surprisingly unique flavor 🙂

And finally, we wrapped up our Daejeon trip with bread from Seongsimdang—which, once again, reminded us why it’s so beloved.

So, how was the Locale Conference and our walk through Daejeon?

For us at JIRO, it was a time to rediscover the importance of the communities that form our alleys—and to reaffirm one simple truth:

Seongsimdang’s bread is, indeed, really delicious.

Curious to learn more about Jiro?

JIRO Website: www.en.localnow.kr

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JIRO YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@localnow_kr