Intergenerational housing strategies and social closure in Gangnam

This study examines intergenerational wealth transfer and class reproduction strategies centered on Gangnam housing, drawing from in-depth interviews with senior residents and their adult children. The senior upper-middle class residents of Gangnam, who acquired residential properties early during the district’s development and accumulated significant wealth, engage in class reproduction by transferring assets—primarily Gangnam real estate—to their adult children. This practice emerges as a response to rising labor market insecurity and increasing housing market polarization, which make it difficult for their children to secure residency in Gangnam independently. This article makes three key arguments. First, it emphasizes that class reproduction strategies extend beyond young adulthood, continuing over the life course into middle age. Second, it highlights that intergenerational wealth transfer requires persistent collaboration and sustained efforts between generations. Third, it argues that family strategies aimed exclusively at sharing scarce urban resources, such as Gangnam’s high-priced real estate, exemplify class- and space-based social closure, thereby functioning as a mechanism that perpetuates social inequality.