Masan City is a coastal town located in the southern part of Korea.  At the highest point of the town is the small village of Dangsan, with about 40 households only.  Walking into Dangsan Village is just like entering a fairyland.  The exterior walls of the houses in the village are painted with vivid childlike murals, the subject of each vary according to its surrounding and the features of each household.  For example, the outer wall of the restaurant near the entrance of the village is painted with two giant roosters crowing loudly as if welcoming guests from far away.  For a house with kids, the wall is sketched with colorful pencils, reminding people of the fun of study.  Old man smoking, little girl catching butterflies, huge vase stuffed with roses, cello and piano, altogether 27 different themes on the murals turn Dangsan Village into a massive piece of landscape painting.

Actually, this mural village was a pilot project of environmental improvement, sponsored by the Masan City Government.  The belief was that there were different ways of improving the living environment of disadvantaged areas other than demolishing and rebuilding.  The introduction of public art was what the local government chose for the village to get back its own values.

For the Dangsan Village mural project, the government spent over $14,000,000 Korean dollars, and it took teachers and students from the Practical Design Dept. of a nearby university about half a month to complete.  When done, the once shabby houses were turned into a colorful fairy-tale world.

The new appearance of the houses pleased the villagers, especially the children.  It caught the eyes of passing travelers and made them pause to look and take picture.  People from nearby areas heard about the murals and came to visit.  The Mural Village now has become a new tourist attraction.

In Korea, the Mural Village is just one of a series of public art projects that have sprung up around the country in recent years for environmental improvement.  Incorporating public art in public management has given low-income areas a better surrounding, a new model of public design, new attraction for the tourists, and more over, a new life.

Source：
http://travel.huanqiu.com/culture/2009-08/545300.html
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2909957