Gender-sensitivity in land management: trajectory of housing, agriculture and land ownership in South Korea.

Abstract

Abstract Using three major initiatives in support of gender sensitivity in land management in Korea, the article suggests that gender mainstreaming in land management can be achieved in the following ways: (i) governance rearrangements in spatial decision making;(ii) smart infrastructure concepts aligned with female elements and preferences; (iii) private public partnership (PPP) on women empowerment; and (iv) openness and transparency of gender disaggregated data. However, several important limitations also need to be considered when trying to adopt (or adapt) the Korean experience elsewhere. First, on the surface, all the projects and programs for gender sensitivity in land management demand bottom up and community driven decision making, but there still exists some top down culture and state directed approach in practice for aligning implementation to legal procedures. Second, the central and local governments consider to make project performance a priority rather than making the programmes (quality) better. Lastly, the government brought gender awareness into the policies and budgets of all agencies (gender responsive budgeting), allocation and implementation pathways can be problematic. Korea is yet to reach full awareness on these gender matters because there is still a lack of gender awareness in many government departments.