GK:2.2.3 Changes in rural settlements
Geography of Korea: II. Population and Living Space > 2. Villages and Rural Communities > 3) Changes in rural settlements
목차
3) Changes in rural settlements
With Korea’s rapid industrialization starting from the 1960s many resident began leaving the village for the city. With the ever-growing rural exodus and the increasing population concentration in cities not only did an urban-rural economic gap open up, but gaps in other areas as well, such culture and education. Though this has obviously meant tremendous changes in village life, these changes have differed for villages situated in the environs of urban centers and those situated far away.
(1) Rural settlements near urban centers: becoming more like a city
Urbanization and industrialization had a tremendous influence on those “suburban villages” located in the environs of urban centers. Examining the greatest changes in these suburban villages located within metropolitan areas, one has been the construction in these villages of urban facilities such as factories and warehouses, as well as housing for the city’s residents. The population of these villages has seen an increase with the establishment of stores, financial institutions, and other such service-related businesses. In particular, concentrated along the main roads linking suburban village to city has developed retail industries such as large department and other stores as well as service industries like restaurants.
Thus does the urbanization of suburban village land come about. Farmers end up selling off their agricultural lands in order to build rentable housing units, and then abandon farming altogether to commute to the urban center for work or else become only part-time farmers, and the homes and lifestyles of the village end by differing very little from those of the nearby city.
Meanwhile, to provide the nearby urban residents, the suburban village farmers began the intensive cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. To this end, greenhouses and hothouses are erected on agricultural land near the city to provide a variety of products to the city residents throughout the year.
(2) Rural settlements far from cities: change in function or gradual decline
In villages located far from city center one typically finds residents with strong mutual bonds, the result of living communally through the generations. Residents here traditionally collaborated to carry out any number of village activities, from farming to the weddings and funerals of its residents. However, with urbanization many of these villagers left for the city, resulting in great changes in village life. The attrition of the young adult population in particular has meant the serious aging of such village populations. With depopulation it becomes extremely difficult for the villagers to maintain their standard of living and village production drops of significantly.
The further from city a village is the more serious becomes its depopulation and abandonment and more is use of arable land decreases. What’s more, schools see their student numbers plummet or close altogether, hospitals, retails shops, and cultural facilities can close down or relocate, and with the cancellation of bus service living conditions in the village become even worse. If the symptoms are serious enough the result can be the devastation of the entire village.
A number of measures have been presented to deal with these problems. Plans have been introduced towards resolving the income gap between urban and rural areas and to attract and distribute public facilities and resources related to education, culture, and medical services to the provinces. Most recently, the rising consumer trend towards environmentally friendly agricultural products has spurred the development of organic farming, and even a tourism market has developed in these rural areas catering to city-dwellers with no experience with nature or who wish to experience life in a traditional rural village. Many villages are now boosting their incomes by an engagement with this tourist market, though the development of things like inns or tourist farms. With the rise in farmer incomes, we are even seeing a rise in reverse migration from the city back to rural settlements.
