ISSUES & TRENDS 01
Direction and Tasks of National Urban Policy
Taehwan Kim
Senior Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
1. Why We Need National Urban Policy
N
ational urban policy proposes the direction of urban policy shared between the state, local governments and civil society for future urban development. The UN-Habitat recommends the establishment and implementation of national urban policy for accomplishing sustainable urbanization of developing countries. Specifically, it suggests that national urban policy ➊ sets up priorities among agendas for urban development, ➋ induces mediation and consultation between urban development entities, ➌ provides a guideline for the direction of urban development, and ➍ performs the role of inducing coordinated investment.Figure 1. Roles of National Urban Policy by UN-Habitat
In Korea, amid changing social and economic conditions such as globalization, population aging and climate change, there has been an increasing need for new vision and responsive direction for urban development on the level of national strategy. This is because the implementation of urban policies in the country has been focused on resolving social issues related to urban development and management in the near term without sufficient discussion of policy direction for the long term urban development. New measures are required to promote new urban policies that correspond to the opening of a post-industrial and post-development era, following an era of rapid growth and development. In particular, current urban policies focused on policies and systems of the development era should be reestablished into future oriented policies and suggested as guidelines for the urban development of local governments.
disseminate research achievements and international activities of KRIHS and other Korean institutes.
KRIHS (Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements) was established in 1978 with a mission of creating a beautiful and pleasant living environment. To achieve the mission, KRIHS has been committed to enhancing the quality of life and well-being of the people in the nation with its spatial planning studies and policy suggestions.
Since its foundation, KRIHS has carried out a variety of studies on the efficient use, development, and conservation of territorial resources. Its research areas range from sustainable and balanced territorial development and conservation of the territory to the provision of housing and infrastructure.
ISSUES & TRENDS Direction and Tasks of National Urban Policy
01
IN-DEPTH LOOK
Innovative City in the Era of Creative Economy
05
Cooperative Urban Development in Response to Metropolitization 10
Vibrant Urban Development in the Era of Population Decline 15
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP NEWS
19
Gazette
SPACE &
ENVIRONMENT
In this aspect, the need for national urban policy in Korea can be organized into three categories.
First, as Korea faces new urban issues of different nature after entering the maturity stage of urbanization, there is an increasing need for new policy measures. In other words, there is a constant need for the cost minimization of urban management by establishing an urban management system for responding to metropolitization of cities. Constant disputes are also occurring due to the polarization of urban spatial structure, widening population gap between growing cities and declining cities, social polarization and the process of urban development and management.
Second, the central government needs to play a mediating function as decentralization triggered intensifying competition and collaboration between cities. While the transfer of urban planning authority to local governments continues such as the establishment and approval of urban plan, its competency is low for establishing and implementing independent spatial plan due to insufficient budget and professionality of local governments. Also, with the progress of decentralization, there are no national guidelines or policy means for such issues although the competition between local governments is intensifying. In other words, by considering the actual condition in which the gap of competency for establishing urban policy exists between local governments, the national level response is needed to provide the direction of urban policy that can be shared between the central and local governments.
Third, there is no urban policy to deal with changes in future conditions. This is because national and supranational agendas are emerging that cannot be dealt with on the individual city level such as population decline, aging society, intensifying social and cultural diversification, increased roles of cities as growth engines, climate change and social polarization.
Figure 2. Need for National Urban Policy
‘Lack of direction of comprehensive urban policy’ set by government
2. Urbanization and Urban Policy Experience in Korea
The urban policy in Korea has evolved by effectively responding to the urban issues in each era. In the 1960-1970s, when establishing the basis for economic growth was the task of the time, the state itself played a role of creating an institutional basis and establishing an industrial foundation. In the 1980-1990s, due to the
Intensification and ➊ complication of urban issues
Lack of urban policy to deal ➌ with changes in future conditions
National level urban development policy required Increased competition and ➋
cooperative elements between cities from decentralization
National level urban development policy required Rise of population decline and
aging society
Social and cultural diversification (tolerance, conflict)
Pursuing quality of life Increased roles of city as growth
engines
Intensifying gap between cities (continuous growth of metropolitan area vs. declining small and midsize cities) Mediation function of central
government required Establishment of (distributed,
decentralized) urban plan and transfer of urban plan authority to local government such as approval
Low competency to establish and implement the independent spatial plan due to insufficient budget and professionality Setting directions of urban
policy required Regional urban management
system and increased urban management costs Polarization of urban space Intensifying population gap between
regions
Intensifying social polarization and conflicts
outpouring demand for quality of life, it played a role as a supplier of the basic living infrastructures such as housing and roads. After the 2000s, due to the emerging issues of low growth and declining population, a lot of efforts were taken to respond to new urban policy tasks.
Cities in Korea accomplished urban living standards of good quality in a relatively short period of time by smoothly overcoming the chronic urban poverty and slumization that appear in underdeveloped countries. Although the concern for overurbanization was brought up in which the maintenance of urban infrastructure cannot keep up with the speed of urbanization due to the overly rapid initial urbanization, the quality of life has been improved through the expansion of infrastructure. In this process, the state played a role as a key entity of urban policy by establishing plans, creating systems, procuring finances and executing projects.
However, the policies and experience in urban policy during the economic development era are insufficient to deal with the current tasks newly proposed such as post-industrialization, low growth and aging society. Since 2000, the roles of the state have waned in the traditional urban policy due to the accelerated decentralization of urban policy, and the existing approach to new agendas is showing its limitation in urban regeneration and social integration.
Table 1. Progress of Urban Policy in Korea for Each Period
3. Roles and Tasks of the State to Promote National Urban Policy
First, the direction for comprehensive urban policy needs to be set on the national level. Currently, in Korea, the future direction of city is insufficient as well as a guideline for other urban policies accordingly. Hence, it is necessary to suggest the basis of policy on the national level and the urban development strategy that will respond to the changing conditions.
1960s~1970s 1980s~1990s After 2000s
Urbanization
level 20%~50% 50%~80% Over 80%
Urban policy tasks
Provide basis for economic growth & Secure social overhead capital
Improve quality of life by securing basic living infrastructure such as houses and roads
Create new values such as social integration and cultural prosperity
Roles of the state
Create industrial basis (Establish physical, institutional basis)
Provide basic living infrastructure (Improve level of infrastructure)
- Lead policy - Mediate conflict (Deal with new conditions)
Major urban policies
Establish institutional basis Develop industrial city Development restriction zone system
Create new cities Regenerate existing downtowns Solve difficult development Establish urban environmental management system
Green and smart growth Create basis for balanced development Promote national urban regeneration policy
Second, the role of the state should be redefined to promote the national urban policy. It is necessary to specify the direction and task of urban policy promoted on the national level and share roles between the central and local governments. In particular, the state should play a bigger role in drawing policy tasks that can be directly implemented by the central government and creating sustainable cities. It is required to set the minimum level of public services such as urban infrastructure and to support the local governments that fall short of the level.
Third, it is necessary to establish the cooperative governance for the promotion of urban policy. To deal with new tasks arising from changing conditions, it is vital to share roles between the central and local governments. Currently, there is no framework for the role sharing between the central and local governments in urban policy. The administrative and financial decentralization will continue driven by the growth of civil society, the revitalization of social and economic organizations, the revitalization of private-public partnership and the demand for decentralization by local governments, and it will be of greater significance to seek the cooperative relation between the central and local governments. Also, it is predicted that a new public service sector will be created by bolstering the civil network and institutional framework for the cooperative governance in which cooperative systems are built between the central and local governments and between local governments.
Fourth, it is required to overhaul the national land and urban planning framework amid changing conditions for the reorganization of planning system that is able to include the framework of policy changes such as the setting of urban policy direction on the level of macroscopic environmental change, the urban management and the focus on the quality of residential life from focusing on quantitative development and urban growth. The purpose of urban planning and establishment guidelines also need to be rectified to meet changing conditions. The purpose of urban planning needs to be reviewed to focus on urban growth management rather than urban growth planning. Planned management and maintenance of old towns should be put before the development of new towns. In addition, with a growing need for interconnected cooperation between cities as a result of expansion of living space, it is necessary to strengthen the function and role of metropolitan city planning. Also, it is essential to form a base urban area through inter-city connection in a bid to boost regional competitiveness.
Fifth, it is required to beef up the monitoring and evaluation system for the national land policy. It is necessary to reestablish the direction of national urban policy by diagnosing the structural, environmental changes and trends surrounding the cities and understanding the special components of the cities. It can be utilized to seek new means for the accomplishment of goal by comparing the direction of national urban policy and the current actual condition of cities.
Taehwan Kim thkim@krihs.re.kr
Innovative City in the Era of Creative Economy
Wooseong Jeong
Associate Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
1. Background and Significance
Creative Knowledge and Cultural Industrialization are the Keys of Urban Competitiveness in the Era of Globalization
A
s Korea is the country in an innovation-driven stage of development1, innovation is highlighted as the key element of urban competitiveness.However, among 37 leading countries of innovation, Korea stands at 23rd place in terms of urban competitiveness, falling behind other Asian countries such as Singapore (2nd), Japan (6th), Hong Kong (7th) and Taiwan (14th). Hence, when considering the status quo of Korea, its future of urban competitiveness depends on the reinforcement of the creative knowledge industry by building up innovative competency.
Importance of Cities as Space for Holding Creative Manpower and Creative Economy
The paradigm of the global economy has been transforming into the era of creative economy. Accordingly, new types of industries are predicted to settle as a growth engine of a city based on creativity, such as the convergence of science and telecommunication technology, the convergence between industries and the convergence of industry and culture.
Innovation-reliant industries, such as culture, research and software development, at the forefront of the creative industry, are forecast to form a new type of creative industry ecology in a dense city with human resources, markets and information activities. In particular, city regions are expected to play a role as a hub space for the creative industry including cultural creation, production, distribution and consumption. Therefore, an urban policy is urgently needed for cultivating creative manpower and expanding creative space.
2. Urban Issues from Industrial Structure Shift
Slow Fulfillment of Knowledge-Based Industry and Weak Foundation of New Urban Industry
With steady growth in the knowledge industry in Korea, the size of the knowledge service market grew by 2.3 times from 126 trillion KRW in 2000 to 296 trillion KRW in 2010, taking up 51% of the entire industry’s revenues and 55% of the service industry’s revenues. However, while the number of businesses in the knowledge-
IN DEPTH-LOOK 01
As of 2015, Korea, among 144 countries, is in the innovation-driven stage of development along with major advanced countries such as US, UK and France (WEF, 『The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015』) 1
based service industry in 2012 increased by 3.3 times compared to 1994 and the employment rate of the industry grew by an annual average of 3.6%, the growth of the knowledge-based manufacturing industry was slow with only an increase of 2.7 times in the number of businesses over the same period and 1.5% employment growth rate. Moreover, when looking at the number of businesses and employment rate of the knowledge-based industry by city and province, the knowledge-based service industry was concentrated on large cities including Seoul and those in Gyeonggi province, and the knowledge-based manufacturing industry made slow progress especially in existing large industrial cities.
Figure 1-1. Employment Rate in Knowledge-Based Industry by Metropolitan City and Province (2012, %)
Widening Economic Gap between Regions of Non-metropolitan Areas in the Trend of Low Growth in Metropolitan Cities
Cities in Korea saw robust growth (5.6 times increase of urban population vs 1.9 times increase of nationwide population as of 2010 compared to 1960) in the era of development. However, recently, the trend of low growth has been prominent in metropolitan cities, with the gap in growth being wide among cities. Looking at economic growth rates by region, the annual average economic growth rate in 2006-2013 in cities and provinces nationwide was approximately 3.6%. However, metropolitan cities such as Seoul (2.5%), Busan (2.2%), Daegu (2.8%), Incheon (3.3%), Gwangju (3.3%), Daejeon (2.7%), and Ulsan (2.2%) recorded growth rates
Knowledge-Based Service Ind. Knowledge-Based Manufacturing Ind.
Nationwide10.35 4.28 Seoul17.58 0.8 9.54 1.88Busan 2.17Daegu Incheon Gwangju Daejeon Ulsan 12.42Sejeong 9.92 8.52Gyeonggi 7.21 1.24Kangwon 6.2 8.87Chungbuk 5.18 9.53Chungnam 6.64 1.72Jeonbuk 6.42 1.36Jeonnam 5.1 8.54Kyungbuk 5.78 3.87Kyungnam Jeju8.83 0.16
7.67 5.79 8.34 2.45 2.9112.17 6.82 2.45 4.59
7.73
Source http://www.redis.go.kr
Source http://www.redis.go.kr
Figure 1-2. No. of Businesses in Knowledge -Based Industry by Metropolitan City and Province (2010)
Figure 1-3. Change of Employment Rate in Knowledge-Based Ind (1994-2012, %)
1994 1995 1996 1997
15
10
5
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Knowledge-Based Service Ind.
Knowledge-Based Manufacturing Ind.
Knowledge-Based Service Ind.
Knowledge-Based Manufacturing Ind.
Seoul
50,000 100,000
0
Busan Daegu Incheon Gwangju Daejeon Ulsan Gyeonggi Kangwon Chungbuk Chungnam Jeonbuk Jeonnam Kyungbuk Kyungnam Jeju
below the nationwide average.
Figure 2-1. GDP Growth Rate by City (%)
Figure 2-2. GDP Growth Rate (%)
The competitiveness gap between small and midsize cities is also significant.
Based on cities in nine provinces except metropolitan cities, there were gaps of approximately 20%p in economic participation rate and 2%p in employment rate, and 3%p in unemployment rate between top 20 cities and bottom 20 cities in terms of economic activity in 2008-2010.
Figure 3-1. Economic Activity Participation Figure 3-2. Unemployment Rate (%) Rate (%)
Insufficient Strategy to Cultivate Creative Manpower, Cultural and Historical Assets, and Inclination toward Large Cities
Although cities in Korea have creative industries and creative classes valid for improving income level and employment level2, they are mainly focused on metropolitan areas including Seoul3. Also the urban cultural and historical resources are mainly managed as individual assets and property to be preserved, which results in a lack of efficient interconnecting operation of historical and cultural assets in a level of city or region.
Note
Based on real GDP growth
Source
e-national index (http://www.index.
go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.
do?idx_cd=1008) 4.9
5.5
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
2007
2006
Nationwide Seoul+Incheon+Gyeonggi
5.5
1.9
0
6.6
2.7 1.9 2.6
6.6
2.4
0.7
7.8
3.5 2.3 2.8
2008 72.8
54.0
72.2 54.0
2009
72.0 53.9
2010 Top 20 cities
Bottom 20 cities
Top 20 cities Bottom 20 cities
2008 2009 2010
0.6
3.4 3.5 3.8
0.5 0.7
Source
Regional Employment Survey by the National Statistical Office
(http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?o rgId=101&tblId=DT_1ES1A01&conn_
path=I3)
As of 2012, the creative industry in Korea is 3.5% of the total number of businesses (increased by 3.1% from 2008 at 125,000. And the creative class is 13.2% of the total number of employees (increased by 12.7% from 2008 at 3,180,000). (Eunran Kim, et. al. 2014)
In 2010, metropolitan areas (Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon) reach 72%
compared to nationwide in terms of employees.)
2
3 4.9
3.732
2009
2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013
Seoul Busan Daegu Incheon Gwangju Daejeon Ulsan
1.7 0.80.9
4.53.1 32 1.81.9
-3.6
5.4 7.1
10.7 9.4
4.3
7.7 6.6 6.5
54.7
2.1 1.1 -1.2-1.9 3.92.9
2.52.2 1.31.2 0.9 5.4
2.3 3.7
1.60.7 0.7
0.5 1
-1.9 4.64
3.42.9 2.7 0.7
-2.8
3.8
Note
Based on real GDP growth
Source
e-national index (http://www.index.
go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.
do?idx_cd=1008)
3. Policy Response and Limitations
Industrial Complex Policy for Industrial Complex Sophistication and New Industry Cultivation
As of 2014, Korea has set out policies including urban high tech industrial complexes, regeneration projects for aging urban industrial complexes, and the introduction of compound site within industrial complex, with a goal of reshaping the industrial structure and fostering new industries. New industries including environment, energy and bio, as well as the knowledge-based industry including ICT related fusion industry and culture industry are gaining ground, but urban industrial complexes are not enough to meet their demand.
As of the 4th quarter of 2014, there are only 14 urban high tech industrial complexes that are insufficient to deal with the demand from urban-type new industries based on R&D and ICT with the characteristic of urban location.
Need for Policy of Culture and Tourism City Formation to Enhance City Brand and Cultural Competitiveness
Central government promotes a policy of region base culture city, which selects and supports a specific city as a cultural base and expands its effect to the surrounding regions, while local governments seek to create a culture city based on the city marketing strategy that commercializes tangible and intangible cultural assets.
However, with the indiscriminate competition of onetime event oriented various festivals and the local characterization without specialty, local governments have gone through trials and errors. Furthermore, the regional inequality of the cultural industry has reached a serious level.4 The infrastructure and cluster of the cultural industry are so weak in regions outside of the capital area, especially in local small and midsize cities.
Figure 4. Culture Industry Employment by City (persons)
4. Roles and Tasks of National Urban Policies for Innovative Cities
Improvement of Competitiveness in Urban-Type New Industries through Reinforced Knowledge Base of Industries
Industrial specialization by city region and the creation of knowledge base space should be placed high on the government’s agenda. The government needs to distribute resources based on“selection and concentration”considering regional characteristics. In addition, it is urgent to provide support to create the
Source 2014 Content Industry Statistical Survey (As of 2013) Source Cultural Statistics Center (https://stat.mcst.go.kr/
mcst/resource/static/topic/statistics02.html) The proportion of Seoul region exceeds 51%, and the proportion of metropolitan areas including Incheon and Gyeonggi is 74.4%.
Major cities reach 67.2% when including Seoul and metropolitan cities.
4
Seoul
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000
Busan Daegu Incheon Gwangju Daejeon Ulsan Gyeonggi Kangwon Chungbuk Chungnam Jeonbuk Jeonnam Kyungbuk Kyungnam Jeju
infrastructure of corporate assistance services such as science & technology service, planning, legality, accounting and marketing that prop up the commercialization of technology from the outcome of R&D in order to achieve a virtuous cycle with the manufacturing sector and independent competitiveness. Also, it is necessary to enhance the industrial complexes for cultivating the knowledge-based industry, expand the intelligent industrial complexes within cities, and utilize them as a base for the network of urban-type new industries.
The government’s deregulation and support are the prerequisites to the cultivation of new industries and the convergence of industries. As new industries and convergence industries are faced with a slew of entry barriers and regulations, it is urgent to come up with the pan-governmental regulatory reform program.
Reinforcement of Creative, Innovative Competency by Attracting and Fostering Creative Manpower
In order to foster and reinforce jobs generating creative workforce, there is an urgent need for the cultivation of creative manpower and reinforced systematic management through the establishment of infrastructure and the creation of the environment for facilitating convergence research in humanities, culture, art, science and industry, and start-up assistance and entrepreneurship cultivation program. In addition, it is important to revitalize idle urban space to attract creative talents in connection with urban regeneration. It is necessary to consider recycling the idle urban space or deteriorating facilities into creative cultural space, art experimenting space and creative talents exchange space rather than developing new space for drawing the creative industry or creative class.
Reinforced Cultural Identity and Competency of City through Conservation and Utilization of Regional Historical and Cultural Assets
It is necessary to step up the conservation of old cities and modern architectures to enhance the value and accessibility of historical and cultural facilities as part of the policy to prop up the strategy to commercialize historical and cultural assets. Also, there is a need to ramp up community-oriented life cultural facilities and create the residency and cultural complex to cultivate and lure those that specialize in producing arts and culture.
Moreover, it is urgent to reinvigorate urban tourism and urban brand marketing by using regional resources. The diversification of demand from tourists has heightened the possibility of linkage with other industries, resulting in an increase in demand for convergence tourism. Hence, it is urgent to discover the story and provide support for converging industries such as health care, education, aesthetic, food, oriental medicine and clothing and branding historical and cultural resources in each city and region.
Wooseong Jeong wsjeong@krihs.re.kr
Cooperative Urban Development in Response to Metropolitization
Jiyoung Lim
Researcher, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
1. Rise of Metropolitan Areas in Global Competition Era
G
lobally, the competitiveness of metropolitan areas significantly influences national competitiveness. Advanced countries such as the US and UK are strategically cultivating metropolitan areas in a drive to bolster national and regional competitiveness. Angel Gurria, the Secretary-General of OECD, said in the interview with Chicago Tribune in 2012, “Regional economic growth can be spurred when reasonable efforts are made through the joint project of nearby cities.”Korea is also endeavoring to reinforce global competitiveness, and needs to step up collaboration with mega-city regions (MCR) of surrounding nations, such as Tokyo and Osaka regions in Japan and Beijing and Shanghai regions in China. Such cooperation will contribute to improve not only urban competitiveness but also national competitiveness.
During the past industrialization era of rapid growth, individual cities and bases were the center of economic growth. Recently, however, with the development of high speed transportation network and the broadening of living and economic activities, city regions comprising a city and neighboring areas are emerging as key regions.
Figure 1. Percentage Urban and Urban Agglomerations by Size Class (2014)
IN-DEPTH LOOK 02
Source UN website(http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/),
29 December 2015
Percentage urban 80-100%
60-80%
40-60%
20-40%
0-20%
No data
Data source: World urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision
The boundaries and name shown and the designations used on this map do not imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan.
The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.
Final boundary between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has not yet been determined.
10 million or more 5 million to 10 million 1 million to 5 million City population
Table 1. Global Competitiveness Rankings
With the progress of communalism initiated in 1995, the role of municipal governments is becoming more important, and it is vital for them to cooperate regarding area-wide regional issues such as area-wide transport, industrial functions and metropolitan planning facilities (health care, education and welfare, etc). The amendment plan for the 4th comprehensive national territory plan (2011-2020) is aimed to build up bases for global opening to advance to the base country of logistics, finance and exchange in the era of Eurasia-Pacific.
Figure 2. Change of Population Density in Seoul Metropolitan Area
2. Policy Response and Limitations
Since 1994, Korea implemented the wide-regional zone policy that designates and promotes 10 nationwide regions, including metropolitan cities and surrounding areas, industrial complexes and surrounding areas, as wide-regional zones. Since 1997, it established and enforced the area-wide transport plan in five local city regions in a bid to ramp up area-wide infrastructure such as area-wide highways and railways. Since 2000, it formulated and managed the metropolitan city plan in 11 city regions nationwide, with a goal of promoting the adjustment of development restriction area of large cities and the planned development of land use,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
National competitive
ness
Switzerland Singapore US Finland Germany Japan Hong Kong Netherland UK Sweden Norway UAE Denmark Taiwan Canada Qatar New Zealand Belgium Luxembourg Malaysia Austria Australia France Saudi Arabia Ireland Korea Israel
Urban competitive
ness
London New York Paris Tokyo Singapore Seoul Amsterdam Berlin Hong Kong Vienna Frankfurt Zurich Sydney Beijing Shanghai Stockholm Toronto Copenhagen Madrid LA Istanbul Vancouver Brussels Washington Milano Osaka Barcelona
Source
World Economy Forum. 2015. 2015 national competitiveness evaluation;
Mori urban strategy research center, 2015, 2014 urban competitiveness
Source
Yongwu Lee et al.. 2014. Long Term Prospect and Practical Strategy Research on Future National Land Development, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
National Industrial Complex Industrial Complex National Highways 50 persons/km2 max 50-500 persons/km2 max 500-1000 persons/km2 max 1000-5000 persons/km2 max 5000 persons/km2 or Higher
National Industrial Complex Industrial Complex National Highways 50 persons/km2 max 50-500 persons/km2 max 500-1000 persons/km2 max 1000-5000 persons/km2 max 5000 persons/km2 or Higher
Population Density(1980)
Seoul Metropolitan City
Population Density(2010) Population Distribution
Population (0,000 persons) 1,000 300 100 50 20
transportation and residential area. Since 2010, Korea pressed ahead with the inter- regional interconnected cooperation project as part of the three dimensional regional development policy -- basic living sphere, area-wide economic region and supra- economic region. The Park Geun-hye administration is seeking to strengthen regional competitiveness through interconnected cooperation between cities, between cities and rural areas and between rural areas. However, despite a slew of policies designed to promote inter-regional interconnected cooperation, the government has no satisfactory policies specialized for city regions, with the incentive for supporting the policies being insufficient.
For the Seoul metropolitan area, although it is a mega city region with global competitiveness, the government has stuck with growth management policies focused on regulations to prevent a continuing concentration of population and businesses. These policies resulted in a confrontational structure between the Seoul metropolitan area and elsewhere. Also, local large cities have pushed for spatial expansion and development to alleviate downtown housing shortage and traffic congestion. However, this is causing the deterioration of downtown in local large cities and denting competitiveness.
With the current regulation-heavy policy approach, it is difficult to address internal problems of the Seoul metropolitan area with global competitiveness. Also, as the size and scope of planned regions in local city regions differ depending on regime changes, this hinders the promotion of systematic and continuous plan and the cooperation between local authorities.
3. Roles and Tasks of National Urban Policy for City Regions and Inter-City Cooperation
Korea has a planning system called the metropolitan plan that can manage metropolitan areas, but it is not working properly. As the plan is in effective due to the lack of administrative power to manage metropolitan issues, a management organization is needed to mediate the role sharing based on urban functions and smoothly connect large cities, small and mid-size cities and rural areas. Also, to establish the metropolitan plan, it is urgent to prepare a plan system to manage city regions efficiently, which is compatible with local governments’ urban master plan.
Not only the current urban growth management that is focused on the capital area, but also the urban growth management for metropolitan cities should be taken into account, and it is necessary to prepare the management system for the urban growth of local cities. It is required to set city regions by considering the living sphere of each city and its economic connectivity and propose specific, continuous measures to support and revitalize them. Currently, although the interconnected cooperation program is in place for mutual development of cities, it is necessary to supplement the program in terms of effectiveness.
Figure 3. Network of Commuting Trips in Busan Metropolitan Area
During the expansion of planning authority of local governments, the country should facilitate cooperation where interconnected cooperation with surrounding regions is needed beyond the region, and perform the roles of planning area-wide facilities for balanced development of the level of service and quality of life in each region. To this end, first, the central government should diagnose the status of urban expansion, such as commuting to work/school and industrial connection, and devise policy measures, while redefining the contents and scope of the metropolitan plan to reinforce the level of execution so it can bridge between national land comprehensive plan and urban basic plan. Second, the central government should supplement the system to adjust the urban policies and individual projects of local governments and secure resources and reinforce the roles of mediator in order to induce cooperation between cities by reestablishing the sharing principle of resources required for construction and operation of area-wide facilities between local governments, as well as between the state and local governments.
Figure 4. Prospects of National Territory with City Regions
Source
Dongju Kim et al.. 2012. A Study on Measures to Create Global City Regions(III), Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Hapcheon-gun
Sancheong-gun
Jinju
Sacheon
Tongyeong
Geoje
2 or less 2 – 5 or less 5 – 10 or less 10 – 20 or less 20 or more Goseong-gun
Namhae-gun
Uiryeong-gun
Hadong-gun
Haman-gun
Changwon Gimhae
Busan Metropolitan City Yangsan
Changnyeong-gun Miryang
Ulsan Metropolitan City
No. of commuters (‘000 persons)
Source
Yongwu Lee et al.. 2014. A Study on Long Term Prospect of Future National Land Development and Practical Strategies, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Large city Midsize city City/province boundary Large city region Depopulated area
Classification by short term avg population
Classification by short term avg population Large city Midsize city Small and mid city/
Depopulated area -500,000~250,000 -250,000~0 0~250,000 250,000~500,000 500,000~750,000
The continent of Asia, in which Korea belongs, is a concentrated area of mega cities distributed with 7 of the top 10 mega cities in the world and 14 of the top 20 mega cities, and thus its importance is being further recognized. Hence, the cooperative development of metropolitan areas in Korea will help raise regional competitiveness and national competitiveness.
Jiyoung Lim jylim@krihs.re.kr
Reference
Dongju Kim et al.. 2012. A Study on Measures to Create Global City Regions (III), Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Mori Urban Strategy Research Center. 2015. 2014 Urban Competitiveness World Economy Forum. 2015. 2015 National Competitiveness Evaluation Yongwu Lee et al.. 2014. A Study on Long Term Prospect of Future National
Land Development and Practical Strategies, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement UN website(http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/)
Vibrant Urban Development in the Era of Population Decline
Soyoung Park
Associate Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
1. Urban Issues from Population Decline
S
ince 1960s, Korea had witnessed stellar economic growth, transforming itself from a recipient country of economic aid into a donor country based on rapid urbanization and population growth. However, from the mid 1990s, as it entered into a maturity phase after the rapid growth, the population growth has stagnated and the economic growth has been slowing down. The population growth rate in 2010-2015 was 0.5%, which fell below half of the global average.Following this trend, the population in Korea is predicted to decrease after peaking in 2030.1
Figure 1-1. Population Trend
Figure 1-2. Population Growth Rate
10
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Korean population World population
World (Unit: %)
Korea
60-65 70-75 80-85 90-95 00-05 10-15 20-25
1.1
0.5
0.7
-0.1
30-35 40-45 50-55
-1.0 -0.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Source
National Statistics Office. Status and prospect of population in the world and Korea. 8 July, 2015. Press Release Statistics Korea. Report on 8 July, 2015 1
Source
National Statistics Office. Status and prospect of population in the world and Korea. 8 July, 2015. Press Release
IN DEPTH-LOOK 03
(ten thousand persons) (hundred
million persons)
This phenomenon of population decline appears differently depending on the size, location and industries of the city. Most of the small and midsize cities other than industrial cities focused on manufacturing are suffering falling population due to the collapse of industrial base, population aging and population movement to large cities. These cities are losing vigor amid declines in labor productivity, investment and consumption. This is leading to hollowing-out of physical environments such as empty houses, empty stores and closing of schools, as well as decreased local tax revenues and difficulty in maintaining urban services. The population of large cities in Korea is still increasing although not as rapid as in the 1970s.
The population decline in some large cities results from urban expansion rather than from an absolute decrease in population. In order to respond to rapid urbanization and population growth in the past 30 years, Korea has constructed new towns on a massive scale at the outskirts of large cities. During the period of expansionary population growth, the new towns served the function of promptly supplying homes, but as the country entered into a phase of stable growth, they became the major cause of zero-sum phenomenon where functions, population and capital of old city centers flee to new towns. As a result, old city centers are grappling with sharp population decline, shrinking sales and increasing empty stores, with their infrastructure and residential environment gap with new towns widening. Recently, the gap is escalating into a multiple deprivation along with the gap in quality of life, such as level of income, crimes, health care and level of education.
Figure 2. Empty Stores and Deteriorated Houses in Old City Centers
2. Policy Response and Limitations
In Korea, the development policy for lagging regions is the representative policy that supports cities with population decline. The policy for lagging regions in the country has been promoted since 1980s within the policy framework to deal with the gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and elsewhere. Under the policy, the government has developed industrial complexes or tourism sites, overhauled infrastructure such as highways, water and sewage, as well as living environment.
(Pilseong Byeon, 2013).
Despite the structural limitation between the Seoul metropolitan area and elsewhere, and between large cities and small to midsize cities, the policy for lagging regions has assumed population inflows from outside, taking a temporary short term approach to revitalize specific sites. As a result, the effect of the policy has been insufficient compared to the investment. Also, as projects have been implemented according to the characteristics of individual government ministries, there has been a
limit to execution of policies that fit regional conditions.
Korea has conducted the urban overhaul project to improve deteriorated areas. The project served the proper function of supplying new houses and infrastructure to old city centers while minimizing the public burden by utilizing privately-owned land and knowhow. However, as the project involved the demolition of the entire districts led by large construction companies, it caused a myriad of social and economic issues such as threatening residential stability of residents, intensifying conflict between residents, increasing house prices and rent, and elimination of regional characteristics. Recently, following the financial crisis and depressed real estate market, the project is being suspended or delayed in most regions except some areas with business feasibility, such as the capital area and areas with proximity to the subway, in a sign of accelerating decline.
3. Roles and Tasks of National Urban Policy for Vibrant Urban Development
Dwindling population and lack of tax revenues in local small and midsize cities with inadequate industrial basis are long term and structural issues rather than temporary and short term issues. To respond to these issues, local small and midsize cities need a drastic policy shift to the urban structural approach and the strategic public investment beyond the existing regional development policy on a community level.
In other words, it is urgent to concentrate a range of urban functions expanded to the suburb, such as education, administration, culture and health care, to core areas and introduce and implement the “shrinking-smart” urban strategy to improve the accessibility to surrounding cities through public transportation.
Figure 3. Concept Diagram of Metropolitan Connection Type Compact City
Second, given new development is closely linked to urban regeneration in an underdeveloped city, the policy focus should be on the regeneration of old city centers rather than on suburbanization. In particular, public finances should mostly be allocated to the regeneration of old city centers for the purpose of inducing population inflows into old city centers. In this respect, increasing idle facilities in the city need to be actively utilized as space to satisfy the new demand related to creating jobs, securing livelihood base and responding to population aging in the midst of dwindling population and low growth.
Source http://www.mlit.go.jp/
Urban function induction area
Support for facilities (ex. vocational schools) Support for facilities (ex. Nurseryschools) Urban function
induction area City A Town B
Housing induction area Housing induction
area
Function share and public use of facility
Finally, to respond to the multiple deprivation of old city centers, a paradigm shift should be preceded toward the new approach of urban regeneration that is taken in gradual steps by establishing a cooperative system among residents, civil society and administration and linking with required resources, away from the existing approach of demolition and redevelopment. For such change, the ‘special act on reinvigoration and support of urban regeneration’ was enacted in 2013, and policies for urban regeneration including the promotion of pioneering projects have been fully developed since 2014. To press ahead with such urban regeneration policies successfully, the government should play a role of connecting and mediating diverse entities, policies and resources to fulfill the plan tailored to fit regional characteristics, turning away from ‘top-down’ projects and unilateral assistance.
Soyoung Park sypark@krihs.re.kr
Reference
Taehwan Kim et al.. 2015. National Urban Policy. Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Pilseong Byeon et al.. 2013. Status of Implementing Development Projects in Lagging Regions and Measures to Improve Effectiveness. Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Korea-Costa Rica, Knowledge Exchange in Urban, Energy and Environment 2016
Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) successfully hosted a workshop for mutual cooperation between Korea and Costa Rica in Real Intercontinental Hotel in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica on February 16, 2016. During the opening ceremony, Dongju Kim, president of KRIHS, delivered an opening address underscoring the significance of sharing development experiences and anticipating the event will act as a cornerstone for revitalizing continued exchange and collaboration between the two countries.
The workshop consisted of a total of three sessions — energy, environment and urban —, in which Korea Energy Economics Institute, Korea Rural Economic Institute, KRIHS from Korea and the ministry of Energy & Environment, CATIE, the ministry of Housing & Human Settlements, PEN (Programa Estado de la Nacion) from Costa Rica gave presentations and discussed in each session, with active questions and answers.
With participants totaling an estimated 60 including the minister of Housing &
Human Settlements in Costa Rica, the vice-minister of the ministry of Energy &
Environment, the ambassador of the Korean Embassy in Costa Rica and relevant institutions in Costa Rica, the workshop paved the way for building a network for new relationship. It is expected that the event will become a bridgehead for continuously developing and maintaining relationship between the two countries.
KRIHS and CSIS of the Univ. of Tokyo Sign MOU and Hold International Seminar
The Geospatial Information Research Division at Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) sealed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Center for Spatial Information Science (CSIS) at the University of Tokyo in the conference room on the third floor at KRIHS on February 1, 2016, and subsequently held an international seminar, with a theme of “Geospatial big data for regional problem-solving.”
Ryosuke Shibasaki, professor at the University of Tokyo delivered a keynote speech titled “Geospatial Big Data for Helping Solve Social Problems.”His speech was followed by the presentation titled “Detection and Evaluation of Regional Problems using Micro Geo Data”by Yuki Akiyama, research officer at MLIT and the presentation titled “Future Estimation of Convenience Living Facilities Withdrawal due to Population Decline all over Japan from 2010 to 2040 – Focus on Supermarkets, Convenience Stores and Drugstores”by Yuka Nishimoto from the
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP NEWS
University of Tokyo.
Then, Dongok Lee, senior manager at SK Telecom and Kibyoung Kim, director of the Data &Statistics Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government each touched upon cases of supporting regional policies by utilizing geospatial big data in the private sector and municipalities. Eunsuk Im, research fellow at KRIHS, presented on the projection of vulnerable areas in terms of living conditions braced for the era of dwindling population.
During the following discussions, Myungjun Kim from the Presidential Committee on Regional Development, Changhoon Ha from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport discussed the use of data in Korea and Japan in supporting regional policies, as well as the role of a nation and private businesses. Participants in the seminar also included Junwhan Ko, professor at University of Seoul and Byungkuk Kim, professor of Inha University.
KRIHS and Thammasat University Hold Workshop on Urban Environmental Design and Planning
The Global Development Partnership Center (GDPC) of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) held a workshop on March 22, 2016 attended by 33 professors and students from the Faculty of Architecture and Planning of Thammasat University in Thailand. This workshop was intended to step up cooperation and academic exchange between the KRIHS and Thammasat University and was focused on knowledge for efficient urban management including Korea’s national territorial planning, experience in urban environmental design and planning and transportation policy. Among the participants were professor Pawinee Iamtrakul from Thammasat University, Isson Raungratanaamporn, a researcher and students doing a bachelor, master and PhD degree. Ilho Chung, director of the GDPC, delivered a lecture on the urban system framework and changes in response to Korea’s economic development while Sungho Oh, head of the Smart Infrastructure Research Center spoke about Korea’s transportation system and Beomhyun Lee, associate research fellow gave a lecture about Korea’s development experience in urban environmental design and planning. The workshop had an in-depth discussion of the introduction and maintenance of an efficient transportation system, the movement of existing residents with the development of new towns, investment methods depending on the types of urban development, Korea’s urban problems and solutions, and secrets behind Korea’s phenomenal growth in a short period of time.
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