Original Article Shaping suburbia: A comparison of state-led and market- led suburbs in Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea Hyungkyoo Kima and Seung-Nam Kimb,* aDepartment of Urban Design and Planning, Hongik University, 94 Wausan-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 121-791, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected] bArchitecture and Urban Research Institute, B-301 Acrotower Office, 230 Simin-daero, Dongan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 431-908, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author. Abstract The Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), South Korea, is a region where two distinct types of suburbs exist today, new towns developed by the public sector and suburban communities by the private. This article comparatively analyzes Bundang, a state-led new town, and Suji, a market-led community, in the SMA in terms of two key foci. The first is urban form characteristics, which include land use pattern, street pattern and circula- tion, public open space, built form pattern, and control. The other is residents’ livability and satisfaction, which include public transit service and use and neighborhood satisfaction. Findings suggest that Bundang outperforms Suji in all aspects, demonstrating the benefits and effectiveness of planning in shaping suburbia, while Suji shows many negative signs of sprawl. URBAN DESIGN International advance online publication, 28 October 2015; doi:10.1057/udi.2015.19 Keywords: new town; suburb; Seoul Metropolitan Area; urban form; livability; neighborhood satisfaction Introduction increase in the late twentieth century, migration to suburbs for more affordable housing options and Suburbanization is an international phenomenon healthier living environments was another conse- (Forsyth, 2014). Since the first modern suburbs quence along with the densification and compac- were born at the urban fringes in the United tion of cities (Phelps and Wu, 2011). Kingdom (UK), they have prospered in many parts In the process of shaping suburbia, a clear of the world and have even become the dominant distinction exists in the involvement of the public landscape in countries like the United States (US) and private sectors. In the UK, it was the public (Jackson, 1985; Fishman, 1987; Hayden, 2004; sector that played the leading role. The 1940 Bruegmann, 2005). A major driving force behind Barlow Report, drafted as a Royal Commission, this growth was the desire for a more livable and the 1944 Greater London Plan by Sir Patrick environment away from the ills of overcrowded Abercrombie supported planned decentralization cities. In the UK, John Nash designed Park Village, and development of new towns to mitigate the side and Ebenezer Howard envisioned the garden city. effects of London’s soaring population and hous- In the US, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert ing shortage (Gibberd et al, 1980; Hall, 2002). The Vaux argued for healthy suburban living as in 1945 New Town Committee and the 1946 New Riverside, and Clarence Stein and Henry Wright Towns Act provided the basis for the construction designed Radburn. Asian cities were not exempt of 21 new towns, including 8 in the London from experiencing extensive suburbanization. Metropolitan Area, under the supervision of the Especially in countries that went through rapid New Town development corporations (Oxford economic growth, urbanization and population Brookes University, 2006). © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International 1–20 www.palgrave-journals.com/udi/ Kim and Kim In the US, the role of the public sector has among urbanists around the world that ideas and been relatively indirect (Bruegmann, 2005). The views of suburban growth should be shared inter- development of Greenbelt cities (Greenbelt, Green- nationally (Forsyth, 2014), this study attempts to dale and Greenhills) led by Rexford Tugwell dur- expand the knowledge on suburbs and provide ing the New Deal era was the only case of direct alternatives to overcome the ill consequences of federal intervention in the country’s suburban suburban sprawl that many cities and regions development history. Rather, it was the private around the world face today. sector that played a bigger role in shaping the American suburbs, including milestones that range from Riverside, streetcar suburbs, Rad- Suburbanization in the SMA burn and Levittown to edge cities (Garreau, 1991), boomburbs (Lang and LeFurgy, 2007) and metro- South Korea and its suburbanization have been burbs (Knox, 2008). Notable planned communities relatively little introduced to international plan- such as Reston, Irvine, Columbia and Woodlands ners and designers. After the Korean War in the as well as new urbanist projects that provided 1950s and before becoming a member of the an alternative model to suburban sprawl (Heid, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 2004; Forsyth, 2005) were also led by private Development (OECD) in 1996, the country went developers. State and local governments generally through one of the most rapid economic develop- relied on implementing policies such as growth ments in the world. The active role of the public management programs and subdivision layout sector seen in the UK, Denmark, Germany, the standards to guide the private sector to reach a Netherlands and Japan (Alterman, 2001) has also ’ more desirable state of regional development been evident in South Korea. The country s land (Southworth and Parthasarathy, 1996; Hayden, use policy is characterized by the dominance of a 2004; Chapin, 2012). strong top-down governance whereby the state The Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) is the long- establishes major planning policies and frequently time center of economy, politics and culture of the intervenes in urban and regional issues (Bae and Korean peninsula. Composed of Seoul Special Sellers, 2007; Lee and Shin, 2012). ’ City, Incheon Metropolitan City and Gyeonggi One consequence of South Korea s rapid eco- Province, it accommodates 22.5 million residents nomic development was a sharp increase in popu- and is the largest metropolitan area by population lation which was mostly absorbed by the capital in the country and the fifth largest in the world city, Seoul (Meier, 1970; Hill and Kim, 2000). after the Tokyo, Jakarta, Delhi and Manila metro- Between 1960 and 1980, the population of Seoul, politan areas (Demographia, 2015). In addition, the which covers only 0.6 per cent of the land area of SMA is a region where extensive suburbanization the country, rose by 242 per cent, while that of the occurred in the last several decades but also where nation increased by 52 per cent (Figure 1). The both public and private sectors played a vital role, soaring population resulted in serious congestion, leaving two distinctive types of suburban develop- housing shortages and an extreme surge in hous- ment patterns behind. The state-led suburbs, ing and land prices in Seoul (Kim and Han, 2012). usually in the form of large-scale master-planned new towns, were developed by the public sector as 30% a national policy measure since the 1970s with Seoul Incheon and Gyeonggi Combined the goal of supplying affordable, quality housing. The market-led suburbs, developed by the private 20% sector especially since the 1990s, are usually in the form of small- to mid-sized communities. Whether the public or private sector should take 10% more control in shaping suburbia, or even in urban development in general, remains a challenging question. However, a comparative analysis of the 0% 1960 1966 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 SMA’s state-led new town and market-led com- munity in this study, with respect to their urban Figure 1: Population shares of Seoul and Incheon and ’ Gyeonggi combined, 1960–2010. form characteristics and the residents livability Note: 1965 Population Census was postponed to 1966 due to and satisfaction, may provide guidance for plan- national budget deficit. ners and designers. As consensus is growing Source: Korea Statistical Information Service (http://kosis.kr). 2 © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International 1–20 Shaping Suburbia Figure 2: Locations of major state-led new towns in the SMA. The state’s reaction was to intervene by supplying the Two Million-Home Construction Plan to miti- a large number of quality, affordable housing gate chronic housing shortage and soaring housing in the SMA, especially outside Seoul in Incheon prices. Under this plan, the state-run public devel- and Gyeonggi in the form of large-scale new opers master-planned and constructed five new towns (Lee and Oh, 2012). Around 1970, the Korea towns, the SMA’s so-called first-generation new National Housing Corporation and the Korea towns – Bundang, Ilsan, Pyeongchon, Sanbon and Land Corporation were established by the state as Joongdong – each accommodating up to about public developers to undertake planning and con- 390 000 new residents (Figure 2). They were able struction of the new towns.1 Local governments to tame the overcrowding of Seoul and accelerated and regional public corporations and agencies population growth in Incheon and Gyeonggi since participated in the process. the 1990s (Figure 1). In the 2000s, to promote In the 1970s, the first state-led new towns in the further stability of the region’s housing market, SMA emerged when Ansan, an industrial city, and the state additionally built 10 second-generation Gwacheon, an administrative city, were built south new towns – Pangyo, Dongtan I and II, Gwang- of Seoul. In 1980, the state enacted the Housing Site gyo, Godeok, Hangang, Geomdan, Unjeong, Development Promotion Act that provided a legal Yangju and Wirye – each accommodating up to framework for the public sector to acquire, develop about 286 000 residents.2 and manage land for constructing large-scale new However in the mid-1990s, the deregulated, towns. Circa 1990, development of state-led new marketized political economy and voices critical towns reached its zenith when the state adopted of large-scale state-led projects gave room for © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.