territorial development
The issue of ensuring that the capital region and other areas could develop in a complementary manner to achieve balanced regional development has been a difficult one for many years. Various systems and policies set up in the past to solve the problem failed to bring about any noticeable success. The Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-2007) announced a plan to move the central government’s administrative functions from Seoul to a provincial location, triggering heated controversy. Although the plan to establish a new administrative capital was ruled unconstitutional, the administration went ahead with a modified plan for what was officially termed the Multifunctional Administrative City (popularly known as Sejong City), and began construction.
The government also pushed ahead with its Innovation Cities project, with the aim of achieving more equal distribution of the national wealth through the relocation of public institutions to the provinces. In June 2005, the government announced the plan by selecting which state institutions were to be relocated. In April 2006, the government unveiled a Basic Plan for the Development of Innovation Cities. In February 2007, it enacted the Special Act on the Construction of, and Provision of Support for, Innovation Cities and designated the areas. Work commenced in July 2007. The relocation of the state institutions to the provinces is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
In addition, the government launched the Enterprise City Project with the goal to help provinces gain financial self-sufficiency, promote domestic investment by means of urban development projects using private capital, and revive local economies. The plan was made in response to a proposal by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) in October 2003 to encourage increased corporate investments and create jobs. In December 2004, the Special Act on the Development of Enterprise Cities was promulgated.
The Capital Region Readjustment Plan proposed by the Roh Moo-hyun administration focused on growth management, unlike existing plans that imposed regulations on activities that caused population growth in the capital region. The government announced a principle of developing the provinces first, followed by the planned management of the capital region. A partial easing of regulations were implemented, including raising the limit on the total amount of land that could be set aside for factory sites and nature conservation zones in the capital region. This included granting approval for the construction of a factory by LG Phillips (now known as LG Display) in Paju (2003).
The Lee Myung-bak administration, which took office in 2008, noted that while the measures taken by the Roh administration were meant to curb the concentration of population and resources in the capital city, it achieved only partial success and failed to respond in a flexible manner to changes in conditions. The new government announced its intention to make adjustments to existing regulations affecting the capital region in order to make it aworld-class metropolis that would enhance national competitiveness, while linking it to the policy of developing mega-economic regions outside the capital.
The government in October 2008 set out its plans for the capital region with methods to promote the more efficient use of land to increase national competitiveness, while maintaining the principle of developing the provinces first to be followed by the planned management of the capital region. In the short term, it wants to remove excessive and unreasonable regulations within the existing policy framework, while creating jobs and increasing corporate investments. Over the medium to long term, it wants to achieve the capital region’s global competitiveness through a fundamental improvement in the regulation-based management system, while adopting systematic management of the region to improve the quality of life and use of urban space.
Source : SaKong, Il and Koh, Youngsun, 2010. The Korean Economy Six Decades of Growth and Development. Seoul: Korea Development Institute.
