A systems thinking approach to the new administrative capital in Korea: balanced development or not?

Abstract

Political, economic, and social concentration into the Capital Region, and the resulting problems, have persisted for almost four decades in Korea. To check or reverse the existing trends, the construction of a new administrative capital is being actively discussed. Without due policy designs and application processes, however, the current discussions are not fully adequate in explaining why a new administrative capital is necessary and how it could benefit more balanced regional development. In an effort to address the issue, analytical logics for the proposed new administrative capital are developed using qualitative system dynamics models. To provide policy guidelines, urban dynamics caused by the construction are also analyzed, which include the expected growth and maturity of the new administrative capital city. The research findings indicate that policy intentionally geared towards more balanced regional development through the construction of the new administrative capital city depends on the government's supporting policies that can address and accommodate changes in the regional development system. It is concluded that the system approaches presented here could assist the government in developing robust and responsive policy initiatives given current uncertainties.