[Op-Ed] Capital Region Regulations Block Individual Regions’ Survival and Growth Opportunities

It is only natural for the population to concentrate in Seoul and the surrounding capital region, where job-housing accessibility is high and infrastructure is well developed.

The United Kingdom and France are further advancing the metropolitan functions of their capital regions to strengthen international competitiveness.

Each region should be helped to stand tall on the basis of its own unique competitiveness in an autonomous environment.

Debate has intensified over the effectiveness of capital region regulations that have continued for decades. Despite government regulation, overcrowding in the capital region has grown even more severe. There are also complaints of reverse discrimination against the capital region.

Capital region regulation takes the form of laws or administrative measures. It typically involves blocking the establishment of large factories or population-concentrating facilities in the capital region, or imposing heavier acquisition taxes when they are established. However, such regulations only prevent individual regions from securing opportunities for survival and growth.

Compared with non-capital regions, it is natural for people to flock to Seoul and the surrounding capital region, where job-housing accessibility is higher and infrastructure is more developed. Even if this is restrained through regulation, it cannot block people’s desire to choose better places to live.

Even within the capital region, disparities exist among regions. A dichotomous standard that divides areas into capital and non-capital regions while overlooking the locational conditions and distinct characteristics of individual regions only creates another set of problems.

The United Kingdom and France concluded early on that capital region regulation was ineffective and abolished it. Instead, they are further developing the metropolitan functions of their capital regions to enhance international competitiveness. At the same time, they are promoting decentralized government functions in local areas so that those regions can strengthen their own competitiveness. It is frustrating that only Korea continues to maintain capital region regulations.

Development can be achieved not by debating whether an area is in the capital region or outside it, but by strengthening each region’s competitiveness. In other words, each region must establish a foundation for growth in an autonomous environment. Regions should be developed into brands by fostering regionally specialized industries or creating distinctive content. Local governments should build public-private cooperation systems to create an environment in which local businesses can grow continuously.

The main actors driving regional development are the residents who live in those regions. Therefore, the future of each region should be discussed from the perspective of putting residents first. It is necessary to create an environment in which residents can participate actively.

We must abandon the notion that balance among regions can be achieved through capital region regulation. Each region should be enabled to stand tall on the basis of its own unique competitiveness in an autonomous environment.

Jini Kim, Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [칼럼] 수도권 규제, 개별 지역 존립과 성장 기회 막는다

Author: Jin-i Kim

Date: 2025-03-18

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&idx=27410