City Guide: Seoul

Nanshil Kwon, our Korean Curator, shares with us how to live a collaborative lifestyle in Seoul. From car sharing to knowledge sharing, there are number of ways to participate in the movement. Even the city government supports this sharing movement. Here, are some organisations and public services that promote collaboration and sharing in Seoul.

CLOTHES

You can now trade outgrown children’s clothing and borrow rarely-worn items.

• OPEN CLOSET: Lends donated formal suits to young people preparing for job interviews

• Kiple: Allows outgrown children’s clothes to be turned into cyber currency, and this currency is usable to purchase other shared children’s clothes

HUBS

Need space? These services make work, study, meeting and creative spaces accessible and available for people who are looking to rent affordable space temporarily. Added bonus: it’s a great way to meet new people!

• Seoul Reservation System: Public service provided by Seoul city government to reserve idle spaces in Seoul city

• Space Noah: Offers different rooms for media lab work, seminars and meetings

• D.CAMP: Hub for potential business founders, startups, investors, and small-business supporting organizations

• IDL.LOT:Connects open or idle spaces to people

STUFF

You can also experience sharing through borrowing and lending rarely-used things.

• billiji, BILLI: Lets users borrow and rent out unused items

• hello market, N market: Online flea market for individual secondhand trade

• Guk Min library Bookshelf : Rent a book and have it delivered to you

• TWR:Recycle and trade stage equipment and sets

CARS & PARKING SPACE

Cruise across Seoul with no worries for insurance, taxes, auto repair, or parking space! Car sharing and parking lot sharing services are widely available.

• green car, SOCAR: Customers can borrow parked cars across Seoul for the time needed

• wesharecar, KT car sharing: Sharing service for electric cars

• tikle: Connects people who want to find carpool partners

• Everybody’s Parking Lot , SellPARK: Services that provide Seoul city parking lot and idle space parking information

FOOD

Social cooking and dining is a way to share meals and meet new friends.

• ZIPBOB: Social dining platform that helps people instantly find new friends to have meals with

HOUSING

During this time of high cost of housing, house sharing can be an alternative to save money and meet new people.

• WOOZOO:. Youth co-op housing

• Sharing house for elders and students living together : Seoul city government project to solve ageing society and youth housing problems. Elders provide housing to university students.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Skills, experiences, and knowledge can also be shared with others

• wishket: Connects corporations with developers and designers who have appropriate skill sets

• Ready&Start : Professionals share their current work experiences with young job seekers as a way to support and mentor them

• JOINUSKOREA: Seeks to build knowledge exchange in the community using a multi-language approach. Shares knowledge using languages such as Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.

EDUCATION

Makes education accessible to everyone by providing free classes on the internet.

• Coding Everybody: Nonprofit project that teaches coding to average Joes and Janes

• Social Learning: Open market for educational content which provides free video lectures to elementary and middle school students

TRAVEL

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make a local Korean friend and experience authentic Korean culture? Try these lodge sharing and local guide travel services.

• BnB HERO, kozaza, LABO, hanintel, Homestay Korea: Rents out privately-owned accommodation to guests

• MY REAL TRIP, play planet: Local residents act as expert guides who tour guests around the city to find hidden landmarks and good restaurants

Want to know the latest in Korean collaborative economy news? Sharehub is the site to visit.

• Sharehub : Provides news about sharing in Korea such as a guide to participate in sharing, local and international collaborative economy cases and, Seoul city government sharing policies.

View other City Guides here.