Studies of the Urban System in South Korea: a review

Abstract

This article reviews studies on the South Korean urban system since the 1970s when they began to dramatically increase associated with high economic growth in South Korea. Studies on the national urban system are divided into two main groups: those on nodes (cities) and those on linkages (interactions). Most of the studies reviewed here are written either in Korean or Japanese and those published in the West are excluded because, in many cases, they merely follow studies already published in South Korea.
The main themes of the studies on nodes are as follows: rank-size rule, classification of South Korean cities, growth-pole cities and regional development policy, and location of central managerial functions.
The rank-size rule and functional classification of South Korean cities are the main themes of the 1970s and 1980s. Studies on the rank-size rule point out that Seoul has been by far the largest city in Korea and has strengthened its primacy with the onset of high economic growth in South Korea. Studies on functional classification mainly make clear that there is a hierarchical structure in the national urban system of South Korea. These studies also demonstrate that there are marked differences in the urban system of South Korea between industrialized large cities and smaller provincial cities in decline.
Studies on growth-pole cities and regional development policy began to increase in the 1980s. The increased number of studies was stimulated by the change in the main goal of regional development policy by the national government from the pursuit of the benefits afforded by the concentration of industry in large cities towards the realization of economic equilibrium among regions. Most of these studies, however, point out that there is still a significant imbalance between areas with large industrial cities and those left behind from industrialization. Some studies even insist that development policy based on the centralized system itself should be changed.
Studies on the location of central managerial functions have significantly increased in the 1990s. This body of research, however, is still not as large in South Korea, compared with Japan. Another problem is that most of these studies simply confirm the primacy of Seoul, although a few studies point to the growth of regional central cities.
Since the 1980s, studies on linkages have increased, accompanied by the development of a quantitative approach and the availability of OD data between cities. The two main themes of these studies are patterns of linkages between cities and population movements. Like the studies on nodes, most of these studies identify the primacy of Seoul and the weak functions of local cities. Therefore, we can say that the increase in the number of studies on linkages has not necessarily contributed to variety in the study of the urban system of South Korea.
Some of these studies, however, indicate that regional central cities, such as Pusan, Taegu, Kwangju, and Taejon, have also grown up just behind Seoul. In addition, other studies also argue that it is no longer sufficient to analyze the urban system of Korea only via the presupposition that there is a large flow of population from provincial areas to large cities like Seoul. These analyses suggest that structural change is occurring in South Korea's urban system.
It can be said that this change has accelerated in the 1990s by the cessation of South Korea's high economic growth rate. This also means that the driving force of the urban system has changed from the manufacturing to the service sector.
There are also some studies of the local urban and daily urban system. It is especially worthy of note that most studies on the daily urban system adopt a quantitative approach and analyze the nodal structure of Seoul or the Seoul metropolitan area. These studies, however, are still relatively few in Korea.