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A colonial city usually experiences spatial division induced by ethnic division. Busan, which held the highest proportion of the Japanese population among colonial Korean cities, was a city that represented the locality of colonized Joseon, i.e. coloniality. Yet, the city's geographical conditions and unique history wove a double-layered sense of locality, which cannot simply be attributed to coloniality. A long stretch of hillside zone surrounding the narrow flatland along the coastline served as a natural boundary between the two ethnic groups, forming a landscape unique to Busan. In addition, by hosting the Japanese diplomatic and trading headquarters, the city had a history of interaction with Japan going back several hundred years, which facilitated the settlement of the Japanese in Busan more rapidly than any other city in Korea. This article approaches the topic of hill villages, regarded still as a symbolic landscape and space of Busan, from a historical perspective, with a focus on spatial production and arrangement, and attempts to account for the socioeconomic relations of the colonial city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese settlement in Busan began with the designation of Choryang as a Japanese residential area in 1876. With the increase in Japanese entries into Busan, Japan expanded the settlement in various ways both legally and illegally. Japan built a grid network of streets centered around Mt. Yongdu and overhauled the district. It was around 1901 that urban Busan was taking shape as a modern city. In addition, Japanese people started to reclaim the coastal areas to secure more city space from that time on. After the establishment of the Japanese Residency-General in 1906, Japan organized an association of Japanese residents in Busan to take charge of the city administration and attempted to expand its urban space by annexing illegally purchased land to its settlement. As a result, the Japanese settlement that was once just a small fishing village developed into a city with a population of 20,000 people in 1910. The Japanese-led urbanization of Busan was much imbued with Japanese characteristics in terms of both urban space and culture. The Japanese quarters formed the central part of the city, while Koreans were driven to the outskirts. The ethnic division of living quarters in Busan contributed to ethnic discrimination within the urban culture of Busan, after the Japanese annexation of Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]