Skip to content
Busan news
Breeze in Busan

Busan City Accelerates the Creation of Specialized Urban Youth Entrepreneurial Hubs

Busan city has launched a new initiative to support a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, focusing on creating urban centers for youth entrepreneurship and living. These centers are aimed at offering young entrepreneurs a conducive environment to develop their businesses and live, thereby positively impacting the local economy and community engagement. The most recent addition to this initiative is the transformation of the former Sena Kindergarten in Bansong-dong, Haeundae-gu, into the fifth su

By Maru Kim
Apr 1, 2024
Updated: Feb 7, 2025
2 min read
Share Story
Busan City Accelerates the Creation of Specialized Urban Youth Entrepreneurial Hubs

Busan city has launched a new initiative to support a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, focusing on creating urban centers for youth entrepreneurship and living. These centers are aimed at offering young entrepreneurs a conducive environment to develop their businesses and live, thereby positively impacting the local economy and community engagement.

The most recent addition to this initiative is the transformation of the former Sena Kindergarten in Bansong-dong, Haeundae-gu, into the fifth such entrepreneurial and living complex. This move follows the successful launch of similar facilities at Dongseo University in Sasang-gu and Busan Kyungsang College in Yeonje-gu last year, with ongoing projects at the Public Plan in Dong-gu and Dong-eui University in Busanjin-gu.

The Sena Kindergarten, authorized in 1996 and closed due to a decline in school-aged population, is set to be renovated by December, turning it into a dream space for young entrepreneurs. This 340 square meter facility, capable of hosting up to 40 individuals, represents a significant step forward in the city's commitment to nurturing a new generation of business leaders.

The concept behind these complexes is deeply intertwined with the idea of the 15-minute city, where essential services and amenities are within a 15-minute reach for residents, thereby creating a more sustainable and community-oriented urban environment. Each hub is tailored to the specific entrepreneurial strengths of its area, ranging from manufacturing and webtoon creation to culture and tourism, information technology, and artificial intelligence.

In addition to physical spaces for startups, these hubs offer a "Local Workcation" program, expanding the benefits of remote working from vacation locations to include local businesses, thus increasing the appeal to the city's residents. The initiative aims to revitalize underused urban spaces by drawing young people and increasing foot traffic, thereby contributing to the overall vibrancy of Busan's urban centers.

Mayor Park expressed his commitment to this initiative, recognizing the need for more entrepreneurial spaces in Busan compared to the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The city plans to continue its efforts in creating these complex spaces, aiming to attract more young entrepreneurs to Busan and ensuring their stable growth within the region.

Related Topics

Share This Story

Knowledge is most valuable when shared with the community.

Editorial Context

"Independent journalism relies on radical transparency. View our full log of editorial notes, corrections, and project dispatches in the Newsroom Transparency Log."

Reader Pulse

The report's impact signal

0 SIGNALS

Be the first to provide a reading pulse. These collective signals help our newsroom understand the impact of our reporting.

Join the deep discussion
Loading this week's participation brief

Join the discussion

Article Discussion

A more thoughtful conversation, anchored to the story

Atlantic-style discussion for this article. One-level replies, editor prompts, and moderation-first participation are now powered directly by Prisma.

Discussion Status

Open

Please sign in to join the discussion.

Loading discussion...

The Weekly Breeze

Independent reporting and analysis on Busan,
Korea, and the broader regional economy.

Independent journalism, directly to your inbox.

Related Coverage

Continue with related reporting

Follow adjacent reporting from the same newsroom file, with linked coverage that extends the current story's desk and context.

What Busan’s tourism rebound does not fix
NewsApr 23, 2026

What Busan’s tourism rebound does not fix

Visitors are back, but the sectors that give the city economic depth remain under pressure — leaving Busan busier on the surface and more exposed underneath.

Continue this story

More on this issue

Stay with the same issue through adjacent reporting that carries the argument, context, or consequences forward.

Can Smart Monitoring Change an Aging Industrial Complex in Busan?
NewsApr 16, 2026

Can Smart Monitoring Change an Aging Industrial Complex in Busan?

At Seobusan Smart Valley, Busan is trying to use an integrated control system to manage the risks of an older industrial complex. Whether that becomes a working public-safety tool or a technology showcase will depend on results the city has yet to prove.

Busan’s Two Futures
NewsApr 13, 2026

Busan’s Two Futures

Busan is aging, losing younger residents, and struggling to sustain confidence in North Port, its flagship waterfront project. With World Design Capital 2028, the city is trying to show that visible ambition can still produce real urban renewal.

More from the author

Continue with Breeze in Busan

Stay with the same line of reporting through more work from this byline.