Polycentricity and the role of government-led development: Employment decentralization and concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area, 2000

《Polycentricity and the role of government-led development: Employment decentralization and concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area, 2000–2015》

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关键字: Polycentricity;Employment center;Employment decentralization;Government-led development;Seoul metropolitan area

作者单位: Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, 5 Gukchaegyeonguwon-ro, Sejong 30147, Republic of Korea;Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, 5 Gukchaegyeonguwon-ro, Sejong 30147, Republic of Korea

摘要: This study explored whether and how government-led developments influence the formation of employment centers and polycentrification by examining the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA). Using 2000–2015 employment data at the census block level, we longitudinally analyzed the changing forms and functions of employment centers in the SMA and examined whether employment (sub)centers influenced employment distribution. We found that state and local government-led development and planning played a crucial role in this transformation and, as a result, that the SMA has been transformed into a polycentric urban structure. We suggest that strong inter-jurisdictional competition and the interplay between market forces and government-led development can be considered the key to understand the formation and growth of employment centers in the SMA. These results contribute new empirical evidence to the debate on the relationship between polycentricity and government-led development and provide policy implications for creating a polycentric spatial structure.