A Case Study of Garibong-Dong, South Korea
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Regeneration Practices in Diverse Neighbourhoods: A Case Study of Garibong-Dong, South Korea Hyunji Cho University College London, the Bartlett School of Planning Thesis submitted for the award of a PhD in Planning Research April 2019 ABSTRACT This thesis aims at examining the construction of local communities in the Korean planning system and the resulting marginalisation of immigrant groups. This study has a particular focus on mechanisms that were used to involve communities in planning to investigate how local social groups were included or excluded. The case study explores a neighbourhood, which had a significant Korean Chinese population, who shared ethnicity with the Korean community but were located in disadvantaged positions as low-income immigrant groups. It investigates the complex dimensions of the unequal social status of the groups and its influence on their participation. To explore the processes of participation, this thesis investigated how social capital is formed in neighbourhoods and how it operated in participatory planning. This thesis is based on mixed methods research, including document analysis, social network analysis, non-participant observation and in-depth interviews, in the Garibong-dong community-led regeneration project in Seoul, South Korea during the period 2015- 2017. Particularly, the thesis integrates the concept of recognition within an analytical framework of social capital to investigate how wider social perception toward immigrant groups influences their formation of social capital. The thesis demonstrates that the formation of social capital in participatory planning is highly influenced by the social positions of participants. The social position of Korean Chinese groups as low-income workers appeared persistently in urban policies and contributed to multiple experiences of marginalisation over time. In this context, the uneven formation of social capital rather than strengthening community bonds reinforced social divisions through the practice of participation. Social capital provides a lens to help analyse the formation of networks and explore their mobilisation within planning. However, the study reveals that there are limitations and suggests a fuller engagement with pre-existing inequalities between groups is necessary otherwise participation can result in embedding negative social perceptions toward marginalised groups. IMPACT STATEMENT This thesis has demonstrated the processes of community participation within the construction of local communities in the Korean planning system and the resulting marginalisation of immigrant groups. This research has made visible the processes of decision-making in a diverse neighbourhood to cope with a regeneration project and provided implications regarding inclusive decision-making processes for academics and policymakers. By providing an example, the research of the Garibong-dong Urban Regeneration committee could enhance an understanding of the diversity and lead to significant changes in how a policy understands the participation of immigrant groups in Korea and abroad. The research contributes to building an understanding of the limitation of immigrant groups surrounding their participation in planning procedures. It can lead to considerations on devising an institutional arrangement for fairer decision-making processes in planning policies. Moreover, by shedding light on the multi-dimensional inequality which the immigrant groups have experienced in a specific geographical area, the study has illustrated the aspects which planning policies need to take into account to enhance the quality of life of marginalised immigrant groups. The research was introduced in a symposium ‘Global Garibong-dong Sang Sang Symposium’ in Korea on 26th October 2016 by the invitation of the Garibong-dong local committee (Lim, 2016). In the presentation, not only academics but also public officers, local residents and the media attended. In the discussion session, the public officers and planners agreed that showing a clear intention to include Korean Chinese groups in order to overcome their previous experiences of being excluded in planning policies could be important to involve them. Afterwards, a more active approach such as writing ‘we welcome Korean Chinese [to participate in Urban Regeneration education programmes]’ on a banner for recruiting participation was observed. The enhancement of social involvement of immigrant groups and the resulting improvement of their quality of lives can be possible when there are attempts to understand their existing problems and their contexts in more depth. Furthermore, the study which investigated a Korean case would help to extend the knowledge in planning literature. It challenged the generalised participatory planning theory mainly built through the cases from the global North by providing an East Asian case. It showed many assumptions about the participatory mechanism, the inter-ethnic relations and the processes of building social capital were strongly contextual. In several presentations at international conferences, the discussions with other academics were focused on the importance of the understanding of these contextual differences which induce possibly different outcomes. By focusing on the Korean Chinese case in Korean society, which showed differing contexts with previous cases in planning, sharing the same ancestors but being located in differing social and economic positions, the case study elucidates that the social hierarchy between groups can be a significant factor in building relations and further participation of groups in decision-making processes. It could be an important implication for future research on community participation, inter-ethnic relationships and the formation of social capital. Declaration I, Hyunji Cho, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Word count 82518 Statement of use of the third party for editorial help I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Angela Cooper. Note for the Romanisation of Korean This thesis follows the McCune-Reischauer system when transliteration from the Korean alphabet was necessary. However, in some cases where there are common ways of Romanisation which had been used in official documents, for example, the name of places such as Seoul, Guro and Garibong-dong, the thesis follows them. Acknowledgements I would firstly like to thank my supervisors Dr Yasminah Beebeejaun and Professor Mike Raco. I am extremely grateful for their insight and guidance. This thesis and my PhD journey could not have been completed without the support of my family and especially my partner Matteo who always encouraged me. I also would like to thank my colleagues at the Bartlett for inspiring me. It was lucky that I was able to do my PhD with friends who were always willing to help each other and to share their thoughts whenever we have chances. I am grateful to my colleagues Dongho, Jueun, Jihyun, Yuqi, Matthew, Yao, Lisa, Joe, Chris and Ilwon. Especially, this research would not have been possible without participants who shared their experiences. I could not name them due to their guaranteed anonymity, but every single interview and observation was truly valuable. They did not only help my research but also transform my perspective. I hope that this thesis contributes to resonate with their voices. Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Emergence of ‘Community’ in Seoul Neighbourhood Planning .................. 5 1.3 Social Capital for Differences? ............................................................................ 7 1.4 Objectives of the Research ................................................................................... 8 1.5 Outline of the Thesis .......................................................................................... 11 1.6 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 13 Immigrant Groups in Participatory Planning: A Critical Review of Social Capital Theory ............................................................................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 14 2.2 What is Social Capital? ...................................................................................... 15 2.3 Social Capital and Diverse Communities .......................................................... 18 2.3.1 The Uneven Formation of Social Capital ................................................... 19 2.3.2 ‘Tolerance’ and Social Capital .................................................................... 22 2.3.3 Social Capital in Asian Cases and Diverse Communities .......................... 31 2.4 Contextualising Social Capital and Diverse Communities in Participatory Planning ................................................................................................................... 34 2.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 40 The Concept of Recognition and Immigrant