Impact of Entrepreneurship in the Public Sector: Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project in the Seoul Metropolitan City

This article explores the impact of public entrepreneurship on the Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project (CSRP) as an urban renewal project. The article presents the four elements of entrepreneurship: innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, and network governance. Innovativeness was an important motive to start the CSRP. The risk-taking and proactive leadership of the mayor had a positive effect on boosting internal cohesion among public employees and implementing the CSRP. Network governance helped manage conflicts among the related stakeholders and attract support to the CSRP. The article suggests that it was the effort to share the spirit and practice of public (or social) entrepreneurship with the people - including the general citizens, public servants, experts, and interest groups - that eventually led to the success of the restoration project.