Districts of Daejeon

From InsideDaejeon

Daejeon is formed into four parts: the old city, the new city center around city hall and the government complex and the research district known as the Yeongu-danji 연구단지, or Daedeok Innopolis and the Yuseoung Hot Springs District. There are other regions to the South and West, and of course surrounding towns worth noting as well.

The old city is in a state of rapid transition. Some of the old houses from the colonial period can be glimpsed from the steet, but many have been demolished in the process of modernization and none are well maintained. Some parts of the old city are in the midst of a radical makeover these days. But there are quaint stores and galleries,and plenty of treasures to be uncovered here.

The new city center has sprung up over the last 15 years to the north of the old city. Here we have the elegant city hall, the four solid towers of the government complex, which houses many important sections of the central government, including the patent office, and the expansive arboredom around the Daeejeon ARt Museum and Performing Arts Center. Here the streets are broad and most people live in apartment buildings. There are few mom and pop stores, but the scale is majestic.

The north side of the Gapcheon River is the Yuseong-District, filled with research institutes, universities and corporate research centers. The scale is large and the setting quite imposing. Some of the research institutes and corporate research centers are most awesome, set apart on their own wooded lots of land. The level of education is the highest of just about anywhere in Korea, such high schools as Daedeok High School and Daejeon Science High School are world class. The general term used in formal correspondence for this science park is Daedeok Innopolis.

Finally, there is the Yuseong Hot Springs, natural hot springs that are famous in Korea. Take a moment to check out one of the public baths and saunas here. Daejeon has several outstanding public saunas (Jinjjil bang 진찔방).

On the far north side we find Daedeok Techno Valley, a brand new development built around venture companies, light manufacturing and other commerialization efforts relating to the research cluster. Here we find some of the important venture companies pushing the envelop in ICT, biotechnology, nanotechnology and environmental technology.

Daejeon is incorporated as a metropolitan city [(gwangyeok-si 광역시 廣域市) meaning that its political structure is equal to that of a province and it is not considered to be part of a province. Previously, Daejeon was the capital of Chungnam Province. The city is divided into Districts (gu 구 區) and sub-disricts (dong 동 洞).

Finding your way around can be a bit of a challenge. Most people identify a building by its proximity to a major intersection or to another famous building. Therefore you may be told to go to Samseong Negeori (Samseong District 4-way intersection. This intersection happens to be located at the intersection of Samseong Blvd. and Uam Road, but many people do not know the names of the streets. In fact, each building has two different addresses. One is the street address, which is sometimes displayed on the outside of the building, and one is the district address, consisting of the block within the subdistrict where the building is located. The main units are "gu" (구 區) which refer to the districts (there are four for Daejeon) and "dong" {동 洞) which refer to the smaller subdistricts within each gu.

大田生活