Strategy to Regenerate Manufacturing-Intensive Areas in Cities for Job Creation: With Focus on Printing Businesses

​Kyusang Kwon et al., Associate Research Fellow

Korea Research Institute Human and Settlement

Summary

1. (Job creation based on urban regeneration) Attention should be paid to the creation of sustainable jobs that are linked to industrial and economic policies in addition to the creation of jobs directly from urban regeneration resources or start-ups in advanced industries.

2. (Limitations of manufacturing businesses in urban areas) As the regeneration of industrial complexes can be applied only in industrial areas, manufacturing businesses that are concentrated in downtown residential and commercial areas and act as the foundation for urban economy have been a blind spot in efforts for urban regeneration.

3. (Current status of printing businesses in downtown areas) Printing businesses pursue customized production through division of labor among small-sized businesses concentrated in downtown areas. However, they have limitations due to rising rents, lack of new business sites, environmental degradation, and increasing pressure on redevelopment.

4.(Perception toward regeneration of printing-intensive areas) Workers in printing businesses in downtown areas believe that it is necessary to promote effective regeneration in order to address redevelopment pressure, make a shift to high value-added processes and implement a training system to attract more human resources.

5. (Basic principles of regeneration) Regeneration should help maintain and develop a competitive industrial ecosystem where urban manufacturing businesses co-exist with residential and commercial buildings and generate synergies through collaboration between government organizations.

Policy Implications

1) (Dual system for retention and transfer of businesses) Some processes of printing businesses that require access to markets in downtown areas and post-processing that is difficult to transfer should remain in downtown areas while other manufacturing processes are transferred to industrial complexes.

2) (Increase in job creation through a dual system) Efficiency achieved from the dual system can contribute to expansion of jobs and start-ups while related jobs should be created through improvement of workplace conditions and support from technological and training programs.

3) (Establishment of the urban industry type as a new urban regeneration project Type) The “Urban Industry Type” should be established as a new type of urban regeneration project to ensure that remaining businesses gather together for efficient collaboration and management by utilizing empty sites and spaces of businesses that are transferred.

4)(Collaborative project to maintain the industrial ecosystem) In order to maintain the industrial ecosystem of the printing business, collaborative projects to collectively transfer various companies related to the printing business should be promoted to create an industrial complex near downtown areas to accommodate small-sized companies that are transferred.