The System of Korean Cities Based on the Analysis of Internal Migration

Abstract

The study of city system is to examine the whole relationship through the socio-economic activities among cities. It is fundamentally important to analyse the interrelations among cities using the study of a city's system. However, studies have not been sufficiently undertaken till now because of difficulties in data collection. This study attempts to clarify the system of cities based on the analysis of internal migration in Korea, and to compare it with that of Japan based on the analysis of internal migration (Morikawa, 1985).
Data used are The Korean National Migration Surveys published by the National Bureau of Statistics of Economic Planning Board and Korea Institute for Population and Health in 1985. The number of city was 50 in 1983 and the number of analysed cities was 45.
Analysis methods are as follows. (1) The types of cities were analysed by the number of out-migrants and in-migrants, and each type was analysed by population size. (2) The spatial patterns of migration among cities were analysed by the nodal flows of the largest and secondary flow of the migration rates (out-migration rates plus in-migration rates). And hierarchical structure of cities was analysed by semi-logarithm graph; vertical axis (logarithm graph) represented the city population size and horizontal axis (arithmetic graph) represented the direct distance of each city from Seoul, and each city was linked by nodal flows.
The results are as follows:
1. The city growth based on the migration appeared conspicuously in middle rank cities, and small rank cities declined. These phenomena are very similar to Japan. In case of Korea, the development of manufacture is a factor of city growth.
2. The spatial patterns of migration among cities appeared in the migration field of national level, and all cities are directly or indirectly linked with Seoul. But in the case of Japan, the migration fields are centered in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. The differences between the two countries are caused strongly by the attraction of population force of capital city and the weak development of local cities in Korea.
3. The city's rank of population size consists of 6 ranks, and the Korean city's system shows a typical hierarchical structure as seen in Christaller's model. These phenomena are caused by such factors as agglomeration of functions in capital city and centralization of administrative power system and the lack of interchange between Honam and Yeongnam cities by geomorphological hindrance (Fig. 1). The Japanese city system shows a typical hierarchical structure as seen in Christaller's model, but the capital city gradually encroached the system of the neighborhood local cities made by prefectural center cities of middle rank. Accordingly, the existing hierarchical structure is destroyed, and the direct connection to capital city appeared.
4. Centralization of administrative power system and primacy impedes the development of regional center cities in Korea. But, practice of local self-government system caused the development of regional center cities in Japan.
5. Level of employments and incomes of high rank cities are the highest in terms of the economic characteristics of each hierarchical rank, and middle rank cities appeared higher. But regional center cities appeared lower than middle rank cities in level of employments and incomes. These phenomena became an important obstacle factor of the development in regional center cities.
As mentioned above, system of cities in Korea does not consist of well developed hierarchy of metropolitan city—regional center city—prefectural city—local city as Japan. Especially, because regional center cities are undeveloped, and provincial center cities are not dominant in the province cities, it is necessary to promote a more regular hierarchical system.