| dc.description.abstract | Background of Research
Our country is experiencing population drain, hollowing out and aging due to continuous decrease in population. However, recently the number of people returning to a rural region is increasing and the number of people who are leaving a rural region is decreasing, and therefore the trend of decrease in population is rather stagnated or is slowing down. However, settlement space in rural areas is rapidly changing together with such changes, and pertinent policies need to be changed as well.
Method of Research
In this regard, the definition of settlement space was given through literature review while examining the analysis on the factors that affect such changes. And based on the statistics, the statuses of socio-economic settlement conditions were compared, and surveys on the attitude toward settlement and changes in settlement space were conducted. Lastly, changes in settlement space pursuant to the changes in rural areas of advanced countries and subsequent government policies were described, and implications to domestic policies were derived.
Research Results and Implications
Major results of the analysis on the changes in the settlement space of rural areas are as follows. First, populations of the villages in the center were increasing and the houses of people who returned to a rural area were forming a complex at a place distant from existing villages or were individually located, thus the houses were forming an another village separated from existing villages.
Second, economic activities in which people in rural region are engaged were generally concentrated in the domestic market. The result of the comparison of inward and outward commutation volumes revealed that the range of increase in outward commutation in Yangpyeong was bigger compared to the inward, and inward commutation of 3 counties except Yangpyeong was getting bigger than outward commutation.
Third, the result of a survey conducted on the changes in the frequency of central area visits by rural villagers to make use of basic services revealed that the functions of Eup and Myeon as centers of the basic services seemed to be maintained in general.
Fourth, in relation to community activities in the rural region, activities such as general meeting, joint condolence or congratulation event or fellowship meeting seemed to be actively carried out, but the activities such as joint agricultural work or road and waterway management were not active. And some villages that are trying to find a way out through urban-rural exchanges have a positive perception on the future of their communities.
Through this analysis, this research can draw the following conclusions. First, population drain is diffused in a considerable number of rural villages, and according to such phenomenon community activities which are performed at the village level became vulnerable in many regions. Second, some villages are seeking a new way out through urban-rural exchanges, but it is fundamentally difficult for the population-draining villages with many aged people to participate in such activities. Third, even in the case of village level activities, farm tour activities based on individual interest were activated but the activities which were carried out by traditional village community are anticipated to be continuously weakened.
Researchers: Ju-In Seong, Si-Hyun Park, Yong-Ryul Kim, Byeong-Seok Yoon, and Ki-Cheon Nam
E-mail address: jiseong@krei.re.kr | - |
