Walk through Seoul on a weekend and you notice an unusual number of people in running gear. From those jogging along the Han River early in the morning to those knocking out a casual 5 kilometers with friends, running has quietly become part of the city's everyday landscape. Cooler weather makes autumn the season when marathons large and small cluster together. The Seoul Marathon held each March alone draws more than 30,000 participants, a sign that running has grown beyond a simple hobby into an event that moves the entire city.
Now look at that scene through an economic lens. Participants do not scatter the moment they finish. Those who travel from other parts of the country or from abroad to take part stop by nearby restaurants and cafes before and after the race, and stay a night or two in the city, spending on accommodation. The New York and Boston marathons stir up downtown commercial districts during race week on the same principle. Plazas, streets, the Han River and parks turn into a single stage for a few days, and foot traffic reaches alleyway shops that people would otherwise walk past.
This dynamic is not unique to marathons. Exhibitions, concerts, festivals and sporting events — anything that brings people in person — generates spending and longer stays across the city each time. The ripple effects are not much different from those of the MICE industry, which courts international conferences and trade fairs. The way spending surges at once into nearby restaurants, convenience stores and lodgings during an event is frequently cited as evidence in policies aimed at revitalizing local commercial districts. The figures may not be as dazzling as those from landing a single large corporation, but the repetition of this small-scale spending is what actually sustains neighborhood businesses. People do not gather for the sake of spending alone, yet each of those movements ultimately translates into numbers for the local economy.
Seoul is well positioned to generate this kind of flow. Workplaces and residential areas are not far apart, and public transit connects the city center densely. The Han River, parks, performance venues and commercial facilities all coexist within daily life. Few major cities come as close as Seoul to meeting the conditions of what is often called the "15-minute city." That means holding a business meeting in Gwanghwamun, walking along the Han River after work and enjoying a downtown event on the weekend are all possible within a single living area, without any separate trip.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has also been steadily expanding efforts to link these spaces with civic activity. Programs that connect walking, local festivals and traditional markets are a prime example. More recently, the city began broadening the use of its "Wrist Doctor 9988" health program by tying it to district events and everyday spaces. A structure is taking hold in which a single walk for one's health intersects with a local event and, ultimately, with neighborhood businesses. As these connections accumulate, the changes residents feel become a little more distinct.
Investors read this vitality in a different way. They know well that a city cannot be judged on financial statements or location alone. Scenes such as runners filling the Han River banks on a weekend, or downtown streets where the energy does not fade until evening, leave a more lasting impression than any statistical table. It works much the same way when a foreign investor staying in Seoul for a few days on business happens upon such a scene and comes to remember the city differently. Just as a single running event becomes a defining image of a city, moments of vitality large and small accumulate into trust in that city.
A city's economy is not made inside buildings alone. The economy also moves in the moments when people run through the streets, gather in plazas, drop into shops and meet to talk with one another. That is why watching people run in Seoul prompts a rethinking of the city's competitiveness.
