The Role of Urban System in National Development in Korea

Abstract

There does exist a diverse theoretical and empirical studies on functional and topical materials describing urban system and the related problems of urbanization in national development. A general theory would be necessary to facilitate an integrated, comprehensive understanding of the not only fragmented but also frequently partial information at hand. It is clearly observed by Jakobson and Prakash. The subject on the role of urban system in national development is not new at all. It was fermented throughout 1960s without necessary answer. Its renewed interest in an old issue would not be a great surprise at the moment by the end of the twentieth centuries over a half of the world's population will reside in urban areas, and the social, economic and political role of urban population will undoubtedly dominate the world outlook. As compared with 1960s, the urban prospectives are not a dim future but a reality to be faced with certain concreteness and as a cool fact.