한국 농어촌 마을의 변화 실태와 중장기 발전 방향(4/5차년도)

Abstract

우리 연구원은 한국 농어촌 마을의 변화 실태를 심층적으로 살펴보고 중장기적인 발전 방향을 제시하고자 2015년부터 5년의 연구기간을 설정하여 농어촌 마을 조사 연구를 수행해 오고 있다. 1차 연도 연구에서는 농어촌 마을의 거시적인 여건 변화를 조망하고 전체 연구 틀을 설정하였다. 2차 연도 연구에서는 농어촌 마을의 물리적·사회적 변화를, 3차 연도에서는 경제적 변화 실태를 미시적으로 고찰하였다.

4차 연도에 해당하는 이번 연구에서는 농어촌 마을과 읍·면 중심지로 구성되는 농어촌 생활권의 변화에 대해 다루었다. 다양한 농어촌 지역 유형을 대표하는 사례 마을들을 대상으로 현장조사를 진행하였고, 과거부터 현재에 이르는 마을의 통시적인 변화 모습을 고찰하기 위해 1980~1990년대에 수행된 연구 사례까지 포함하여 분석하였다. 그리고 농어촌 마을의 과소화·공동화에 대한 대응 방안을 모색하기 위해, 마을의 장래 위상 변화를 전망하고 향후 정책 과제를 제시하였다.

본 연구는 전문성을 지닌 대학 및 연구기관과 협업하여 통계자료 분석과 현장조사, 마을 주민 대상 설문조사 등 다방면에 걸친 조사 내용을 담았다.

Background of Research With the modernization of South Korean society, the role of rural villages as traditional communities has weakened or ceased. In the process, as the scope of residents' activities has expanded outwards from their villages, their living zones have changed in socio-spatial aspects. Recently rural villages have shown various aspects due to depopulation and an increase in urban-to-rural migration at the same time. In most villages, the population is decreasing continually. However, there are also cases that social and economic activities are revitalized in villages or a community is reorganized in a way different from the past. In this process, some community activities are reorganized on a larger socio-spatial scale, beyond a village scale. Also, revitalizing rural lower-level centers, which stagnated in the depopulation process in hinterland villages, is an important policy area. For this, it is needed to examine the current status, function, and role of rural living zones comprised of interdependent relationships between rural lower-level centers and villages. This study is the fourth-year project in the five-year research which forecasts the direction of changes in farming and fishing villages and presents policy directions through empirical research considering changes in Korean rural villages. The purpose of this study is to examine changes in rural living zones and factors in the changes, and draw policy implications for rural villages from these changes and factors.

Method of Research The methods of this study include literature review, surveys for heads and residents of villages, in-depth case studies, and statistical data analysis. Among these, the literature review was used to present the analysis framework of this study by reviewing trends in research on changes in rural living zones and discussions on recent spatial policies. The survey for village heads aimed to identify factors in changes in the function of villages and at the level of a myeon-unit living zone. Also, by utilizing the survey for residents, their characteristics and patterns of their activities were analyzed. To examine long-term time series changes in rural living zones, we conducted an additional in-depth analysis of the case areas of rural villages and myeon-unit living zones examined in the previous study. This study was carried out as cooperative research among industries, universities, and research institutes in which diverse experts in research on rural villages and living zones from research institutions and universities participated.

Research Results and Implications This study focused on examining rural living zones in terms of rights to use basic living services and rights to economic activities, and on analyzing social, economic, spatial factors in changes in rural living zones. The following are the characteristics of the living zones drawn from the four case areas. First, Seojong-myeon in Yangpyeong-gun, a suburban rural area, is the hub of economic and social activities in the region, and its function of the seat of a myeon (township) office is strengthening. Chochon-myeon in Buyeo-gun, a general rural area, tends to use some living services outside its living zone, due to its location near Nonsan-si. Most basic living services and non-agricultural economic activities of Hyucheon-myeon in Hamyang-gun, a remote rural area, depend on the seat of the county office. On the other hand, Mitan-myeon in Pyeongchang-gun shows that the seat of the myeon office has been formed again as the center of the basic living zone in terms of social, cultural, and economic activities, although the township is classified as a remote rural area. In islands and fishing villages, since bridges were built and islands were connected with inland areas through traffic routes, the living zones of residents of the islands have expanded, and outside residents' migration has increased. This study examined factors in changes in rural living zones in the following three aspects: 1) changes in the function of the center; 2) changes in the composition of residents; and 3) changes in regional economic conditions. Implications derived from the analysis results are as follows. First, although rural centers' function of basic living services has been reduced continually, the range of rural residents' daily lives is generally within a myeon area. Second, although a rise in the population migrating from cities has recently diversified the demographic composition of rural residents and increased personal mobility, this trend does not necessarily weaken the function of lower-level centers. Third, to enhance the self-sufficiency of rural living zones, although a strategy to strengthen the function of the center for service use is needed, a strategy for promoting economic circulation in a region is also effective. In conclusion, despite the changes in the trends such as increases in residents’ mobility and in spatial integrity, the outward dispersion of rural living zones will be limited. The functions of living services and the hub of economic activities, which a higher-level center such as a big city provides to the entire region, will be limited to the role of providing certain higher-level services. Only some myeon areas that are difficult to develop into the center of basic living services, including Hyucheon-myeon in Hamyang-gun and Chochon-myeon in Buyeo-gun, will be included in such a sphere of influence. Therefore, it is judged to be continually effective to foster rural living zones focusing on the center of basic living services such as the seat of a myeon office in the future too.

Researchers: Seong Joo-in, Park Si-hyun, Jung Moon-soo, and Min Kyung-chan Research period: 2018. 1. ~ 2018. 12. E-mail address: jiseong@krei.re.kr