Implementation Direction for an Urban Regeneration Policy Package

Kwon Kyusang, Associate Research Fellow
Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements

Summary
1. (Concept definition) An urban regeneration policy package intends to reduce redundancy between projects and related participants and increase synergy effects by implementing an urban renewal project in connection with economic, welfare, and cultural policies and projects in an area in need of regeneration.
2. (Necessity) The fundamental reasons behind a failure of the implementation of urban regeneration policies include a lack of inter-ministerial cooperation at the central level, ill-equipped intermediaries at the local level such as a dedicated organization and a support center, and a project owner’s organizational limitations such as low levels of administrative and financial autonomy.
3. (Overseas case study) In the case of Japan, the Cabinet Office has established a channel for inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination to overcome the problem of compartmentalization and establish an institutional framework for comprehensive budget management in its pursuit of urban regeneration and regional promotion.
4. (Basic principles) Urban regeneration should be understood in the context of aligning different policies to restore urban vitality. Policies should be managed in an integrated way with a focus on an urban regeneration plan, with the roles between central and local governments being divided to ensure efficiency.

Policy implications
1) The central government’s role should be defined as a channel to coordinate and resolve differences among diverse stakeholders that may take place in pursuit of urban regeneration.
2) It should be mandatory to create and actively operate an administrative consultation body, which serves as a consultation channel to align and integrate local-centric urban regeneration policies.
3) A cooperative project needs to be launched on a pilot basis to enable cross-ministerial cooperation. If successful, the pilot project should be made permanent to separately function as a cross-ministerial project.
4) The government’s performance evaluation system should be improved in a way that creates synergy effects through a joint input of information, resources, project ownership, and administrative capability. Performance sharing should be encouraged over performance competition.
5) It is essential to enhance the independence and capability of a support center that serves as a front-line organization to handle the alignment of projects from different ministries and at the same time to cultivate socioeconomic organizations and devise plans to interconnect various intermediaries.
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