This study aims to empirically examine how the planning characteristics of Self-Sufficient Facility Sites (SSFSs) within housing development and public housing districts in the Seoul Metropolitan Area affect the degree of employment activation. Specif...
This study aims to empirically examine how the planning characteristics of Self-Sufficient Facility Sites (SSFSs) within housing development and public housing districts in the Seoul Metropolitan Area affect the degree of employment activation. Specifically, it identifies which planning attributes contribute to employment creation and urban self-sufficiency, and seeks to provide policy implications for redefining the supply standards and locational strategies of future SSFSs in a more effective manner. The research challenges the conventional practice of evaluating self-sufficiency merely based on the designated area of SSFSs, arguing that spatial quantity alone cannot ensure economic self-containment.
While numerous previous studies have investigated factors influencing the activation of SSFSs, few have analyzed the causal relationships between their planning characteristics and employment activation across the Seoul Metropolitan Area. Most existing works focus on large-scale new towns, but applying such findings to smaller-scale districts remains limited. Thus, this study examines how the planning characteristics of SSFSs affect employment activation across diverse urban contexts, and under what conditions such characteristics exert positive or negative effects.
After reviewing relevant legal frameworks and prior research, the study identifies major planning factors influencing employment activation. The dependent variable, representing employment activation, is defined as the number of work-purpose arrivals per unit area of SSFSs. Multiple linear regression analysis reveals that the floor area of knowledge-industry centers and business/educational-research facilities has a statistically significant positive effect, while the floor area of support facilities and the distance to the nearest station show marginal positive and negative significance, respectively.
To complement the quantitative analysis with spatial interpretation, four case districts were selected two with high and two with low employment activation levels. Through detailed analysis of planning documents, building data, and in-depth interviews with tenant firms, the study finds that continuous occupancy intention is closely related to accessibility to public transportation and nearby support facilities. The analysis also highlights the role of public-sector intervention in promoting corporate attraction and sustainable operation within knowledge-industry centers, the primary facility type of SSFSs.
Synthesizing these findings, the study suggests that the employment-activation function of SSFSs cannot be achieved merely by securing land area or setting proportional supply standards. Instead, fostering employment-generating uses such as business and research facilities, ensuring qualitative locational characteristics through improved commuting accessibility and functional integration with other land uses, and establishing institutional and financial support mechanisms by public authorities must interact synergistically to realize the intended purpose of SSFSs in metropolitan development.