This study aims to identify the policy outcomes of the second new city development initiated in the mid-2000s in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) of South Korea. We focused on three out of six new cities in terms of their policy impacts and explored implications for the ongoing third new city development. The South Korean government has developed new cities: the first developments in the 1990s, and the second developments in the 2000s. They recently announced a third new city development plan. The objective of new city developments is to alleviate residential and transportation issues caused by overcrowded population in the SMA. For the third new cities to function effectively, it is crucial to understand the outcomes of previous projects, particularly the second new cities in which policy outcomes have not been evaluated. The data used in this study are regional statistics of SMA, with the temporal scope set from 1995, before the implementation of the new city policy, to 2022, considering the policy lag. The methodology employed to assess the policy outcomes of new city development is the synthetic control method. The analysis revealed heterogeneous effects on population increment in the three new city areas. These results were linked with the characteristics of each second new city to discover policy implications. This study confirms the population dispersion effects of the second new cities and provides meaningful insights for the third new city policy currently being pursued in South Korea.

Authors:
Jonghoon Park, Hanbat National University, South Korea
Dohyeong Choi, Seoul National University, South Korea

About the Presenter(s)
Professor JONGHOON PARK is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Hanbat National University in South Korea

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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