Reasons for Proposal
According to Statistics Korea’s data on registered residents, the population of the Seoul Metropolitan Area (Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi) already surpassed that of the rest of the country in 2019. This demonstrates that the balanced development policies sought by the government since 2005 do not have practical results. As jobs and people become more concentrated in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, it leads to a vicious cycle where the population of regions outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area has decreased further and those regions have deteriorated.
Meanwhile, the effect of innovation cities established for balanced national development is becoming visible in local development, but population outflows into innovation cities from adjacent small and medium local cities have gotten worse, which intensifies the imbalance between regions outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area, contrary to what was intended by innovation cities, and inhibits balanced development on national land.
In this regard, by providing national-level special support to small and medium local cities, which are suffering a severe population decline, this Act aims to create decent jobs, improve residential conditions, encourage population inflows and growth, and seek truly balanced national development. While there is already the Special Act for Balanced National Development and its applicable laws and the Special Act on the Establishment and Development of Innovation Cities and its applicable laws, national balanced development policies conducted under these laws are limited to innovation cities. Therefore, special policy support is desperately needed to boost industry and the economy, nurture local talented individuals, improve residential conditions, and enhance the welfare of residents in local small or medium cities excluded from these policies.
Therefore, this Special Act is legislated to comprehensively support small and medium local cities with a population of 50,000 to 300,000 and more than 3% in their population decline in the past 5 years, promote balanced development between regions, tackle overcrowding in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and achieve inclusive and balanced growth across the country.
Details
A. Nurture small or medium cities in regions outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area with policies that help them develop in terms of industry, jobs, and residential conditions, practically resolve the imbalance between regions, equally improve people’s lives, and contribute to balanced regional development (Article 1).
B. This Act applies to areas designated as small but strong local cities, which are struggling to stand on their feet due to population decline, among other regions outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area (Article 2).
C. Require the central government to establish and implement comprehensive policies to promote small but strong local cities, support balanced development between regions, secure required budgets, and prepare financial support options (Article 3).
D. Require the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish and implement the Comprehensive Small but strong Local City Promotion and Development Plan every 5 years upon review by the National Balanced Development Committee to promote and develop small but strong local cities (Article 6).
E. Require the head of Si/Gun governing areas designated as small but strong local cities to establish and implement the Comprehensive Small but strong Local City Promotion and Development Plan every 5 years upon review by the Basic Promotion and Development Committee, submit it to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, install and operate the Small but strong Local City Promotion and Development Committee, and establish and run an advisory group to support applications for the designation of small but strong local cities (Articles 7 through 9).
F. Require public institutions relocating after January 1, 2022 to move to small but strong local cities and the head of public institutions or research schools relocated to small but strong local cities under this Act to hire local people in the region as prescribed by Presidential Decree (Articles 19 and 20).
G. Allow the head of Si/Gun governing small but strong local cities under the Industrial Development Act to designate and promote industries in service business closely related to manufacturing and strengthening the competitiveness of such manufacturing as specialized industries, designate general industrial complexes, reduce land rent to attract companies returning to Korea to small but strong local cities, and provide funds to install and operate facilities related to attracting companies and investments in healthcare facilities, education facilities, research facilities, and housing (Articles 31 through 33).
H. Require the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to designate leading Urban Regeneration areas if requested by the head of Si/Gun to improve residential conditions in small but strong local cities, unless there is no special reason, and fund road construction (Articles 37 and 38).
I. Allow the head of Si/Gun in small but strong local cities to request the City/Do Superintendent to designate autonomous schools and special purpose high schools to nurture talented individuals tailored to small but strong local cities and improve education conditions and allow schools in small but strong local cities to hire foreign teachers to establish good foreign language learning conditions (Articles 39 through 41).
J. Allow the establishment of small but strong local city special accounting to proceed with projects in a stable manner to promote and develop small but strong local cities (Article 46).
