Rise and Fall of the Microdistrict in Pyongyang, North Korea

Abstract

Recent residential developments in Pyongyang (P’yŏngyang) show a pattern distinguished from previous eras in the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il periods. Since Kim Jong Un’s rise to power, major developments, such as the Mirae Scientist Street and Ryomyong Street developments, resemble real estate developments in other capitalist cities. Instead of repeating the same designs, they provide unique designs in each building, and dedicate more to commercial spaces and residential units, while reducing supporting amenities such as daycares, schools and civic amenities that are not profitable in the market. With signs of the transformation of Pyongyang, this paper addresses how residential developments have been occurring since the reconstruction of the city in relationship to socialist microdistricts, and how recent developments challenge the idea of the socialist microdistrict.