Abstract

This is an intensive case study of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, a large‑scale urban festival, which is the most representative urban event of the City of Suwon. In this study the authors aim at delineating the various problems which may confront those who attempt to make, out of localities of varying scale, ‘urban local community’, which the residents concerned consider to be a part of their positive self‑identities, as well as feeling a sense of belonging to it. On that basis, we also aim at suggesting some practical measures to tackle those problems, which are relevant to the local social contexts. We pay attention to the co‑existence of the two distinct levels constituting the local identity of urbanites, which we respectively call ‘civic identity’ and ‘dongne identity’. We then discuss the implications of such differentiation for the diverging attitudes of urban residents vis‑à‑vis specific urban events. It may well arouse negative responses on the part of those who happen to reside and lead everyday life in the locality constituting the main performance space of the urban event in question. Especially we emphasize that, given the predominance of the urban centre as the main performance space for those urban events which discursively claim to be matters for the entire city, there may occur social tension and conflict when some residents of the city centre area feel that they have been unjustly treated by the city authorities taking only the negative side‑effects of large scale urban events (e.g. traffic, noise, and garbage problems) without countervailing benefits or compensation. Based upon this analytical framework, we first overview the historical development of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival. We then analyze the various problems related to its planning and implementation specifically focusing on the event contents of the 49th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, which took place in the autumn of 2012. We classify those problems into two aspects, which are space design and residents’ participation respectively, and then explicate how the details of the two problem aspects have come about in the specific historical and social contexts of the City of Suwon. Next, we suggest a few practical measures needed in order to make the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival bring positive effects to all the agents involved, i.e. residents of Haenggung Dong (the main performance venue), residents of other Suwon localities as well as Suwon’s administrative authorities. We lay special emphasis upon the reformation of spatial structure of the Haenggung Dong area in a way that will render the performance space of the festival more efficient. We also emphasize the need to find out the ways whereby both the local residents and outside visitors can participate in the festival more actively and spontaneously. Finally, we suggest the setting up of a regular system of discussion and cooperation between the organizers and active participants of various ‘village community creation’ movements, on the one hand, and the administrative personnel in charge of the planning and implementation of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, on the other hand.