Abstract

Purpose - This paper attempts to identify the problems and limitationsof a market maintenance project conducted according to the「Special Act for the Development of Traditional Markets andShopping Street」 and to present a revised direction for the speciallaw and lay the groundwork for market maintenance projects to bepromoted smoothly. Research design, data, and methodology - The revised direction forthe legislation and the proposal were written based on an investigationof the problems and the legal system, and proposed measuresfor market maintenance operation and system improvements to derivethe improvements needed for market maintenance projects. Results - A market maintenance project has been conducted as ameans to reinvigorate traditional markets that are economically depressed,and to revive the local economy. It was largely conducted inthe form of reconstruction and redevelopment and represents the interestsof landowners and merchants. Thus, it is most likely to contributeto the gradual disappearance of traditional markets. First, as partof a market maintenance project, many companies are building multipurposebuildings or high-rise residential buildings to increase profits. In these high-rise buildings, they can raise rents, which may not beaffordable for some existing small businesses. To solve such problems,the large-scale store registration requirement needs to be relaxedor abolished once the market maintenance project is completed. If thelarge-scale store registration requirement is to be abolished, the term‘large retail store’ should be changed in the「Special Act for theDevelopment of Traditional Markets and Shopping Street」. After registration,the Small and Medium Business Administration should trainmerchants, offer consultations, and support events, to the extent thatthe existing traditional market management modernization project permits,and further continue to manage and support its ongoingactivities. However, unless large-scale store registration is abolished,adding an exception clause in the special law to relax large-scalestore registration criteria, and permitting changes to building use isanother option. At the end of a market maintenance project, emptystores should be purchased by the Small and Medium BusinessAdministration, and local government, etc., at the actual constructioncost, to utilize them as public rental shopping areas, which in turnmay be re-utilized as a temporary market for another market maintenanceproject. The second problem in market maintenance projectsis merchant-protection. Currently, the special law prescribes that atemporary market be created for merchants to conduct business duringthe rental period of a market maintenance project. Conclusions - In reality, a market maintenance project is conductedusually in big metropolitan cities with 500,000 residents or more. Themain building type created under these projects is a multipurposebuilding. For this reason, it is very difficult to secure a location fora temporary market in the surrounding area of such a project. Tosolve this problem, this study suggests ‘public rental shopping areas’as mentioned above.