Entering the 2010, the society has faced a couple of new tasks including the lack of available lots for development in cities, efficient utilization of limited urban spaces, and deterioration of old downtowns. In 2014, urban regeneration plans began, ...
Entering the 2010, the society has faced a couple of new tasks including the lack of available lots for development in cities, efficient utilization of limited urban spaces, and deterioration of old downtowns. In 2014, urban regeneration plans began, promoting the revitalization of old downtowns. They have raised huge interest in the utilization of "vacant spaces" as a plan to react to the horizontal expansion of cities in terms of managing and utilizing urban spaces.
Resources are, however, limited for various policies and projects to create an efficient space. As citizens benefit from more and more opportunities to participate in a policy-making process, there is a need to figure out perceptions needed to create a space for the community and real life as well as efficient urban spaces in the viewpoint of citizens.
Set against this backdrop, this study set out to propose new approaches and plans for the utilization of vacant spaces by examining, comparing, and analyzing the utilization flow of vacant spaces within current urban regeneration plans and citizens' preference for the utilization of vacant spaces.
For this purpose, the study set two major research questions:
First, what is the trend of unit projects based on the utilization of vacant spaces within current urban regeneration plans.
Second, what types of utilization do citizens prefer for vacant spaces?
In an effort to fulfill the research goal, the investigator reviewed unit projects within urban regeneration plans and employed the topic modeling method to examine the current utilization of vacant spaces within the current plans. In addition, data gathering and text mining followed to survey citizen awareness based on data found in the Internet.
The findings were as follows:
The study reviewed planning elements of utilization plans, established data, and analyzing the tendencies of utilizing vacant spaces for urban regeneration, finding that general type projects for neighborhood regeneration at 27 sites in Seoul utilized vacant spaces to create a residential environment and community space. Central urban district type projects for neighborhood regeneration showed such keywords, topics, and flows as the utilization of empty rooms in the market, attraction of tourists, establishment of public spaces and parking lots, and supports for start-ups. Economy-based projects showed such keywords, topics, and flows as local vitalization, competitive edge, industrial resettlement/cultivation, and attraction of corporations.
The analysis results of citizen awareness regarding the utilization of vacant spaces identified 13,550 pieces of text data, of which top 100 keywords concerned the current types and utilization of vacant spaces. The data was examined for relations, and keyword, centrality, and CONCOR analysis was conducted to understand citizens' awareness and preference. The analysis results show that keywords related to vacant spaces mainly covered the types of vacant spaces and activities using them such as construction and lots for the transfer of public agencies. Citizens had negative perceptions of vacant spaces such as garbage, negligence, and abandoned railroad areas along with the current state of vacant spaces. CONCOR analysis results identified eight major clusters, which focused on residential environments and utilization in the public and private aspects along with the current state of vacant spaces.
The findings demonstrate that there are certain differences between the utilization directions of vacant spaces and citizens' preference within current urban regeneration plans. By conducting a survey on citizens' preference before reflecting their opinions in various projects including urban regeneration plans, the study offers some implications to grant additional chances for citizens' participation in a policy-making process.
The study has its share of limitations including difficulties with surveying various classes for their preference in the Big Data text mining technique. The study had no means to check urban regeneration plans were implemented or not based on the analysis of their elements to figure out the utilization tendencies of vacant spaces. In the future, ongoing researches are expected to supplement these limitations.