Urban Planning and Urban Sprawl in Korea

Abstract

This research focuses on the issues of urban sprawl in Korea. The urban sprawl phenomenon began around the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) at the beginning of the 1990 s. The research reviews the situation in other cities around the country, and analyzes the causes of urban sprawl, such as population concentrations around the SMA, the failure of planning systems, land conversion and land prices. In particular, this article attempts to explain the increase in land price by using empirical data on the areas under investigation. The article also attempts to present planning alternatives to prevent further urban sprawl.