Population Ceiling System to Be Introduced to Curb Metropolitan Area Growth

A population ceiling system will be introduced that allocates and manages target populations by city and county to prevent the expansion of the capital region's population.

To this end, the government is considering expanding the congestion burden fee system, currently applied only to Seoul, to the entire congestion control zone including Suwon, Seongnam, and Bucheon, while partially relaxing the factory volume control system by allowing industrial complexes developed for consolidating individual factories to supply an additional 30% of their volume.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced that on the 30th, the Capital Region Coordination Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook at the Sejongno Government Complex, submitted and deliberated the Third Master Plan for Capital Region Development (2006-2020) based on these proposals and passed a resolution.

The ministry stated that following cabinet approval early next month and presidential ratification, it will proceed with follow-up measures including amendment of the Capital Region Development Act and establishment of management plans by province by year-end once the plan is finalized.

According to the plan, the regulation-focused capital region management system will be converted to a growth management system, pursuing "qualitative development" based on population stabilization and enhancing international competitiveness.

The capital region's population target for 2020 is set at 23.75 million, an increase of 750,000 from 23.05 million in 2004, and population indicators by province taking infrastructure capacity into account are set at 9.8 million for Seoul, 3.1 million for Incheon, and 14.5 million for Gyeonggi Province.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will consult with cities and counties within the scope of 14.5 million and allocate maximum populations by city and county, and cities and counties must formulate management plans including infrastructure and land-use plans matching the population in order to receive government support for infrastructure installation.

Through this, the government plans to transform the capital region's spatial structure from Seoul-centric to a multi-core linked structure centered on approximately 10 self-sufficient metropolitan areas, and will induce the formation of five industrial belts taking into account regional characteristics.

To curb population-inducing growth, the government will pursue expanding the congestion burden fee system, which charges 5-10% of standard construction costs as a burden fee when constructing or expanding large buildings, to the congestion control zone, and strengthening substantive deliberation for the capital region within the congestion control zone and growth management zone.

Instead, large-scale development at 50-100km distances will be encouraged for development such as housing sites near Seoul, and partial deregulation will be implemented allowing industrial complexes developed by consolidating individual factories to supply additional capacity within 30% of the supply volume.

Public institution legacy sites and aged industrial areas will be designated as redevelopment zones with selective regulatory relief including restrictions on various activities and higher acquisition and registration taxes.

To improve quality of life, the government plans to pursue ▲achieving 115% housing supply rate (currently 94%) ▲expanding regional facilities such as railways and roads ▲improving air quality in the capital region and water quality of the Paldang water source.

However, the plan omits the authorization of large-scale leisure facilities in natural conservation areas proposed in research projects and excludes underdeveloped areas from redevelopment zones, representing a step back from the original proposal, and opposition from the capital region is expected.

Lee Jae-young, director of the Balanced National Development Bureau at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, stated, "We will create planned management measures with cities and provinces by next year, and once relevant laws and institutions are revised accordingly, the Third Master Plan for the Capital Region will be suspended and the capital region will be managed according to the planned management measures."