This study provides an in-depth analysis of how young adults, who relocated to Goesan-gun in search of alternative lifestyles amidst the discourse on local extinction, reconstruct administrative "Abstract Space" into autonomous life-worlds and places ...
This study provides an in-depth analysis of how young adults, who relocated to Goesan-gun in search of alternative lifestyles amidst the discourse on local extinction, reconstruct administrative "Abstract Space" into autonomous life-worlds and places while exercising their rights as residents. Drawing on the concepts of "Abstract Space" and "Differential Space" from Henri Lefebvre’s The Production of Space, the research examines the value of place-making through "appropriation" by young migrants. It offers a multi-dimensional analysis of Goesan’s spatial specificities and the settlement narratives of these young adults.
The key findings of the study are summarized as follows:
First, the low urbanization rate and geographic non-urbanity of Goesan-gun do not imply a lack of urbanity; rather, they serve as a strategic foundation and spatial possibility. This environment inhibits the homogenization of space by capital and allows young adults to actively produce new local identities.
Second, by categorizing the spatial occupation methods of young migrants based on physical flexibility and social practice density, this study derives four models: "Active Differential Space," "Relationship-Centered Appropriated Space," "Contingent Contradictory Space," and "Typical Abstract Space." The analysis confirms that the decisive variable for settlement is not the hardware quality of facilities, but the attainment of "spatial sovereignty"—the ability of users to autonomously determine and transform the use and timing of space.
Third, an analysis of seven design proposals by architecture students, who participated in a month-long participant observation with the researcher, demonstrates that the sensory enjoyment of primordial nature and the community-based reconfiguration of authoritative administrative spaces are key physical drivers for forming place attachment among migrants.
Fourth, a deep narrative analysis and survey of 16 participants representing the full life cycle of settlement in Goesan—categorized into five groups based on duration and patterns of residency—reveals that settlement is a dynamic, phased process of appropriation: [Exploration-Entry-Adaptation-Establishment]. While early entrants recover "self-efficacy" through local hospitality, those in the adaptation stage grow into core drivers who break through administrative rigidity through autonomous spatial planning and policy participation. Notably, "senior" residents of over 10 years act as "social capital" leading a resident-led ecosystem. However, analysis of exit cases reveals that the lack of a spatial foundation to realize professional identities is a critical cause of lost settlement momentum.
Fifth, the study confirms that the practical assets sustaining the permanence of settlement converge in "resident-led differential spaces" created through the reflection of residents' needs and values. This suggests that the core pillars of settlement lie in the combination of three elements: "relational goods through reciprocal networks," "self-efficacy as irreplaceable members of the community," and "physical hubs that enable autonomous experimentation."
This study suggests that successful settlement requires shifting away from administrative-centered landmark construction or fragmentary financial support toward guaranteeing the "right to appropriation," allowing young adults to produce the meaning of space themselves. Administration must redefine its role from a manager to a facilitator that secures spatial and temporal margins for resident-led networks. Only when qualitative improvements to micro-level living infrastructure are paralleled can the long-term permanence of regional settlement be expected.