The Alley Became a Classroom... Jeju's Old Downtown Reimagined Through Children's Eyes

[Financial News Jeju = Reporter Jung Yong-bok] Jeju's old alleys, markets and cultural heritage sites have been transformed into an exploration ground and urban laboratory for children.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Communication and Cooperation Center on the 26th, the center and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Urban Regeneration Support Center ran the '2026 Easy Old Downtown-Summer Camp' on the 22nd in the old downtown area of Jeju City. The Jeju Old Downtown Revitalization Autonomous Commercial District Association also joined the program.
This year's camp expanded the usual two-hour program into a full-day schedule from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It was designed so that children could walk the streets and spaces of the old downtown themselves, rather than just experience them briefly, and discover the area's features and stories.
The program was divided into 'Old Downtown Detective Season 2: Kkokkomu Cipher Lab' and 'Rainbow Travel Agency: Children's City Makers.'
Children in Old Downtown Detective moved around the old downtown, including the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Communication and Cooperation Center and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Urban Regeneration Support Center, in search of hidden coded messages. By creating their own ciphers and solving those made by other participants, they naturally observed the features of the alleys, buildings and streets.
The Children's City Makers carried cameras and walked directly through Sanjicheon Stream, Jeju Dongmun Traditional Market, Gwandukjeong and Chilsungro Shopping Street. After recording the places and scenes that caught their attention, they used cardboard boxes to express the old downtown from their own perspective in three dimensions.

The works created by each team were finally connected into one. Although they walked the same old downtown, the places and stories each child discovered differently came together in one space, forming a new map of the city.
At the end of the camp, families and local residents joined in to look over the results together. The children from City Makers solved the ciphers created by Old Downtown Detective participants, while the detective participants toured the old downtown reconstructed by City Makers and shared their experiences with one another.
One participating child's family said, "The children spent a full day deeply enjoying the old downtown, and it became a special playground and place of adventure for them."
The works created at the camp will return to the old downtown. The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Urban Regeneration Support Center will hold the exhibition 'Children's City Makers: The Old Downtown We Built' at Olle Madang on the first floor of Sangsaeng Moru from the 26th to September 4. The exhibition will feature the children's urban creations and records of their activities.
Director Bu Jang-won said, "I hope this became an opportunity for children to walk, see and create the old downtown themselves during the final days of their summer break, and to grow familiar with the area," adding, "I also hope this camp leads not only the participating children but many more residents to take an interest in the old downtown."
The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Communication and Cooperation Center is operated by the Happy Sharing Jeju Community under commission from Jeju Province. It supports community innovation activities in which residents identify local problems directly and work with various stakeholders to find solutions.
[email protected] Jung Yong-bok Reporter