[News Terms] The 'Gimpo Seoul Incorporation' That Launched the 'Mega City' Debate

The debate over the ‘Mega City’ concept, which began with the ‘Gimpo City Seoul Incorporation Theory,’ is spreading day by day. Despite criticism that it is a policy aimed at next year’s general election, expectations for rising housing prices and resolving traffic issues are growing, causing excitement not only in Gimpo but also across the metropolitan area including Guri, Gwangmyeong, Hanam, Gwacheon, and even nationwide in places like Busan and Gwangju.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The criteria for a mega city, which means a huge city, vary slightly depending on the era. In the 1980s, the United Nations defined a mega city as a city with a population of over 8 million, and since the 1990s, the standard has been a population of over 10 million. Recently, the term has been used not only for simple administrative districts based on population but also in the sense of ‘metropolitanization,’ where there is integrated linkage between core cities and surrounding cities. This is why mega cities are being discussed as a way to promote city alliances in regions with declining growth momentum.

Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells also defined a mega city as a huge city with a population of over 10 million that performs the function of a global economic network. This means a city that significantly influences not only the country but also the global economy through the global economic network. Terms such as metropolis, metropolitan area, and megalopolis are also used with similar meanings to mega city.

Seoul currently has 9.4 million residents across 25 autonomous districts and 426 administrative neighborhoods. Seoul’s population, which exceeded 10.28 million in 1998 and peaked at 10.93 million in 1992, has steadily declined, falling below 10 million in 2016. With Seoul’s population continuing to decrease, attention is focused on whether the Seoul incorporation theory for Gimpo could lead to a significant expansion of Seoul’s boundaries.

The failed Bu-Ul-Gyeong mega city strategy, due to the Gimpo Seoul incorporation theory, is also gaining renewed attention. This strategy aimed to unite Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam into a second metropolitan area and was agreed upon by Bu-Ul-Gyeong leaders affiliated with the Democratic Party during the previous administration. However, after the recent local elections, when the leaders changed to those affiliated with the current ruling party, Gyeongnam and Ulsan shifted to opposing positions, effectively losing momentum for the initiative. Since then, Busan and Gyeongnam have been considering administrative district integration, but there has been little progress.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.