농촌 공동시설의 유휴화 실태와 활용 증대 방안

Abstract

정부 주도하에 농촌정책이 본격적으로 추진되면서 지난 수십 년간 우리 농촌에는 농업생산, 주민생활, 소득증대 등과 관련된 다양한 공동시설이 공급되어 왔다. 그러나 이들 시설은 공급 당시 우리 농촌의 사회·경제적 필요를 반영한 것이어서 지난 세월의 변화 속에서 더 이상 필요하지 않은 시설이 되었거나, 필요하더라도 시설 유지·관리의 어려움, 새로운 서비스 공급에 대한 수요 등으로 저활용되거나 유휴화된 경우가 적지 않다. 이러한 저활용 및 유휴 공동시설은 자원의 낭비, 유지·관리를 위한 비용 지출, 농촌 공간관리의 어려움 등으로 농촌 지자체는 물론 지역사회와 농촌 주민들에게 부담으로 작용하고 있다.

이러 상황하에서 본 연구는 농촌에 분포하는 공동시설의 활용을 증대하고 이미 유휴화된 공동시설의 재활용을 촉진할 수 있는 방안의 제시를 목적으로 하고 있다. 이러한 연구 목적을 달성하기 위해 설문조사, 현장조사, 전문가 의견 청취, 통계분석 등 다양한 연구방법을 활용하여 다차원적인 분석을 실시하였다.

연구 결과 농촌 공동시설 이용 활성화 및 유휴시설 활용을 위한 정책의 기본 방향으로 농촌 공동시설 활용에 대한 지자체 권한 강화, 농촌 공동시설 활용에 대한 지역사회 참여 강화, 지속가능한 농촌 공동시설 이용 방안 마련, 중앙정부 차원의 제도 정비가 필요함을 제시하였다. 또 이를 실현하기 위한 정책 과제로 공동시설 이용 촉진 및 유휴시설 활용 계획 수립 의무화, 지자체별 농촌 공동시설 관리 위원회 운영, 농촌 공동시설 관리·운영 예치금제도 도입, 농촌 공동시설 운영 주체로서 제3섹터 조직 활용, 농촌 커뮤니티버스 운영제도 도입, 농촌 공동시설 관리 및 활용에 대한 표준 매뉴얼 개발 및 보급 등을 제안하였다.

Background of Research A lot of public facilities related to agricultural production and daily life have been established in rural areas since the government launched rural policies. Most of these facilities were provided by the government during past decades. However, hese public facilities have not been fully and functionally utilized according to demographic and socio-economic changes. These idle facilities have caused such problems as waste of resources, rising maintenance and management costs, and increased burden of rural spatial management. These become burdens to the central and local governments and rural communities. The purpose of this study is to depict alternatives for utilizing existing public facilities and reusing idle facilities.

Method of Research We applied two research methods to analyze the following aspects of public facilities in rural areas: distribution status, degree of utilization and idleness, the problems hindering utilization, and policy tasks. First of all, we used the regional survey data of the Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to analyze the distribution of these facilities. For the analysis of the problems in the utilization and the policy tasks for improved utilization, we conducted a survey of 321 rural residents who live in eups and myons. In addition, 94 village leaders of four chosen myons were surveyed. Also we conducted field surveys and interviewed experts. Literature reviews were conducted in order to examine foreign countries' cases

Research Results and Implications The highly utilized rural public facilities are meeting facilities such as village centers and the town halls for elders, public healthcare facilities, cultural and leisure facilities in more populated areas, childcare and educational facilities for children, agricultural processing facilities and so on. The underutilized facilities, on the other hand, are children's playgrounds, parks, sports facilities, cultural and leisure facilities in less populated areas, educational facilities for adults, warehouses, and so on. The major reasons for idle facilities or low utilization are shortage of maintenance and management funds, remote location and uncomfortable transportation, and lack of experts and managers providing the related services. The policy tasks for invigorating the use of rural public facilities are integration and provision of multiple functions, procurement of maintenance and management funds, expansion of affiliated facilities and equipment, provision of transportation, remodeling of old facilities, and so on. The public facilities that are in great need of remodeling or reconstruction are in large part community facilities. Since the need for spatial distribution of public facilities varies among different types of the facilities, we can suggest a spatial distribution plan centering around only essential facilities for each level of administrative districts. Also, in relation to the functional integration of the facilities, we developed two strategies: one that combines the functions of three or more facilities and the other that combines the functions of two facilities. Four basic policy directions are set up for reinvigorated use of rural public facilities: first, empowerment of local governments; second, reinforcement of community participation; third, formulation of a plan for sustainable public facility utilization; and fourth, rearrangement of laws and institutions. We suggest several policy tasks in tandem with the basic policy directions: mandatory planning for public facility utilization; operation of public facility management board in all local governments: introduction of a deposit system for management of public facilities; the third sector's participation as the management entity; introduction of rural community buses; and development and provision of a standard manual for utilizing public facilities. Researchers: Kwang-Sun Kim, Gyu-Cheon Lee Research Period: 2012. 1～2012. 12 E-mail address: yeskskim@krei.re.kr