Cultural districts, tourist booster and local mingle a focus on Seoul

The main focus of this paper is on understanding the metropolitan strategy in relation to culture and tourism and its effect on urban and architectural design. Cultural districts have been conceived as tools adopted by local governments to increase the city's economic development, using tourism as a major booster capable of transforming cities and territories. The attractiveness of cities has been an increasingly important topic on the agenda of urban policy planners since the impact of globalization has changed the city strategy in favour of the emergence of a knowledge-based economy. South Korea has increased massively its investments in the tourist sector elevating Korea to a leading nation of the culture, leisure and tourism industries. Seoul as the global capital city of South Korea has been increasing its investments in cultural projects since last decades in order to enhance its visibility at the national and international level.