Gyeonggi-do Struggling with "Overlapping Regulations"... Created a Regulation Map

Gyeonggi Province produced the ‘2023 Gyeonggi Province Regulation Map’ on the 26th, allowing a comprehensive view of the regulatory status across 31 cities and counties within the province, and made it available on the provincial website.

The regulation map visually presents 20 detailed statuses, including the overall regulatory situation of the province, overlapping regulations, and regulations by city and county. It also includes the regulatory status that Gyeonggi Province is subject to for addressing ‘national issues’ such as the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, military facility protection zones, development restriction zones, special countermeasure areas, water source protection zones, waterfront zones, factory establishment restriction areas, and emission facility installation restriction areas related to balanced national development, military, and water environment regulations.

According to the newly released regulation map, Gyeonggi Province is subject to regulations including the Capital Region regulations (10,199 km²), Paldang Special Countermeasure Area (2,096 km²), Development Restriction Zone (1,131 km²), Water Source Protection Zone (190 km²), Waterfront Zone (143 km²), and Military Facility Protection Zone (2,251 km²).

Current Status of Overlapping Regulations in Gyeonggi-do

In particular, the entire area of Gyeonggi Province is regulated under the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, which prohibits the establishment or expansion of four-year universities and restricts the installation of training facilities.

Next, the military facility protection zone covers 2,251 km², accounting for 22% of the total area of Gyeonggi Province. In this area, the construction of new buildings, extensions, and changes to land topography are fundamentally prohibited.

In the eastern region of Gyeonggi, including Gwangju, Yangpyeong, Gapyeong, Yeoju, Icheon, and Namyangju, various regulations such as natural conservation zones, special countermeasure areas, water source protection zones, waterfront zones, factory establishment restriction areas, and emission facility installation restriction areas are applied in overlapping manners.

Namyangju City is subject to eight overlapping regulations, Gwangju City and Yangpyeong County each have six, Yeoju City has five, and Icheon City has three overlapping regulations, according to the investigation.

As a result, industrial facility areas and locations in these regions are restricted, causing side effects such as 99% of factories in the eastern region being developed as small-scale development sites rather than industrial complexes, leading to unregulated development.

Not only the eastern region but also the northern region of Gyeonggi is experiencing difficulties due to various regulations, including overlapping regulations, which restrict industrial infrastructure development, infringe on property rights, reduce job creation, and hinder investment attraction.

Gyeonggi Province explained that it created the regulation map to support the strong regulatory improvement policies of Governor Kim Dong-yeon in the 8th local government term, aimed at enhancing national competitiveness, alleviating residents’ inconveniences, and resolving difficulties in corporate activities by understanding the regulatory status by region.

The regulation map visually presents 20 detailed statuses, including the overall regulatory status of the province, overlapping regulation status, and regulations by city and county.

Additionally, it allows easy confirmation of the regulatory status that Gyeonggi Province is subject to for addressing ‘national issues’ such as the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, military facility protection zones, development restriction zones, special countermeasure areas, water source protection zones, waterfront zones, factory establishment restriction areas, and emission facility installation restriction areas related to balanced national development, military, and water environment regulations.

Gyeonggi Province plans to distribute the produced regulation map to the central government, the provincial council, 31 cities and counties, research institutes, and media outlets to utilize it for improving unreasonable regulations.

Kim Pyeong-won, head of the Gyeonggi Province Regulatory Reform Division, said, "We produce the Gyeonggi Province regulation map annually to use it as data for promoting policies to improve overlapping regulations," adding, "In connection with the promotion of the establishment of the ‘Gyeonggi Northern Special Self-Governing Province’ for balanced national development, which is one of the core pledges of Governor Kim Dong-yeon in the 8th local government term, we will do our best to improve regulations."

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