Government Policies to Control the Growth and Decentralization of Large Urban Areas: International Experience and Implications for Korea

Abstract

This paper investigates the rationale for and international experience in government policies to control the growth and decentralization of large areas, and suggests implications for Korea. Most claims that large metropolitan areas are too large or excessively suburbanized are variants of concerns about congestion and environmental pollution. But these problems are best solved by policies that solve the problems directly, not by controls on the growth of large metropolitan areas. Environmental problems should be solved by environmental policies, and congestion problems should be solved by transportation policies. On the other hand, much evidence indicates that business productivity is greater in large than in small metropolitan areas. There is also considerable evidence on excess housing costs caused by direct controls. Therefore, direct controls on urban growth simply reduce the benefits of large urban areas without solving any problems. The implications of the analysis for Korean government policies are...