Urban residents lead a variety of lives. They influence and get influenced by their living in a city. The idea that a city is a living organism is not a recent one, but one can find such urban organic vitality only recently in Korea. The physical grow...
Urban residents lead a variety of lives. They influence and get influenced by their living in a city. The idea that a city is a living organism is not a recent one, but one can find such urban organic vitality only recently in Korea. The physical growth of Korean cities is taken as a natural consequence of industrial and economic development.. Cities have metamorphosed in the way that they consume a lot of resources. As a result, limited resources and space in cities have almost been exhausted. Cities can no longer grow further, that is. They are suffering. Captial and manpower flowing into the existing cities are moving to new urban centers. In this respect, the physical and social activities engaged to treat the illnesses of the exisiting cities may be categorized into urban regeneration. Urban renew can be viewed as a positive activity to recover the health of a city. However, the activities that have been engaged so far in Korea do not seem to be positive at all. Though some citizen groups or religious organizations in the civil sector are staging movements to recover urban community and build better neighborhoods, their scale and history are not so impressive. On the other hand, the form of urban renew that is commonly understood as equal to redevelopment or rebuilding is a constant source of tension and conflict. Urban regeneration can be drastically different, depending on the standpoint.
This study springs from the recognition of these polarities in understanding urban regeneration. Urban regeneration is supposed to enrich the lives of residents and enhance their quality of living, but it in fact is causing them conflict. A new approach to urban regeneration is in need. The existing viewpoints on urban regeneration never aspire to be more than business or economic. As long as urban regeneration is taken as a means of speculation, no solution will emerge. This study is an attempt to lay the foundation to establish a new outlook.
I started with defining the elements of urban regeneration. They were divided into subjective and objective elements. In particular, the category of residents, the most important subject in urban regeneration, is not restricted to legal residents but also includes temporary and marginal residents. This study intends to find a comprehensive solution for conflicts due to urban regeneration, as legal conflicts among residents in relation to urban regeneration may be resolved easily while the other types of conflict are not so.
For the central theme of this study, resident-leading regeneration, four parameters are derived for analysis. The possibility of resident leading can be determined on the factors of residents, decision making, financial burden, and profit sharing. The four-factor analysis was used to analyze several cases. For local, the New Town Project of Seoul and the basic urban planning of Cheoju City were examined; for overseas, Majitskuri of Japan, HAT of England and Bid of the USA were reviewed. All these cases, known to be successful examples of urban regeneration, were subjected to the four-factor analysis. The overseas cases suggest that they were based on a consideration of national peculiarities, put emphasis of the active roles of residents in urban regeneration, and were supported by characteristic regeneration methods.
To conclude, the conversion from resident-participating to resident-leading regeneration should meet the following prerequisites.
First, the range of residents should be inclusive in urban regeneration.
Second, the information transmission system of urban regeneration should be varied.
Third, more weight should be placed on the opinions of the residents than on committees or experts.
Fourth, there needs to be an organization to arbitrate a conflict that may arise in the process of urban regeneration.
Things to do for resident-leading urban regeneration include (1) analysis of subjective elements, (2) enhancement of the quality of resident participation, (3) strengthening of residents' financial roles, (4) establishment of ultimate goals of regeneration.