The government attempts to improve the availability of marginal farmland by attracting urban capital to idle resources, such as land and houses, in rural areas and turning unoccupied houses and marginal land into recreational facilities, further activ...
The government attempts to improve the availability of marginal farmland by attracting urban capital to idle resources, such as land and houses, in rural areas and turning unoccupied houses and marginal land into recreational facilities, further activating experience & stay-type tourist projects regarding guest houses, pensions and recreational forests. However, the governmental deregulation measures to improve the usability of marginal farmland has been limited on individuals' possession and use far from the overall development of rural areas, while causing social problems like sprawling development instead. In other words, the development of marginal farmland scattered in agricultural, mountainous and fishing villages should be in harmony with the improvement of farmers and fishermen's welfare and the overall development of rural areas, but it has brought about temporary one-shot developments and the influx of a few urban residents.
Rearrangement of Agricultural and Fishing Villages Act was originally established to allow and enhance the development of marginal farmland and its surrounding areas (Marginal farmland and so on - Section 18 of Article 2, Rearrangement of Agricultural and Fishing Villages Act), but the effect of this act is still inadequate. Besides, although it has a legal support, this act has failed to develop the local economy, and rural residents has not effectively used the national land because of medium and large-sized individual marginal farmland development and rearrangement projects since the enactment of this act, and rearrangement district projects for individual marginal farmland and marginal farmland have been poorly conducted for the past 10 years.
Thus, this study aims to reestablish marginal farmland and its surrounding area-related concepts, such as marginal farmland, idle farmland, farmland in adverse farming conditions mingled in the present Rearrangement of Agricultural and Fishing Villages Act and Agricultural Land Act, based on traditional theories of rent, and investigate if marginal farmland is efficiently used by substantially analyzing cases of medium and large-sized rearrangement district projects for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas, while seeking plans to efficiently use marginal farmland based on the results of this analysis.
As a result of examining the regional characteristics of rearrangement districts for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas, this study found out that out of all the lands designated and developed as marginal farmland and its surrounding areas, dry fields accounted for the majority, 52.9%. in terms of land category (the purpose of land), followed by paddy fields, 23.4%, which shows that dry fields and paddy fields (76.3% in total) are designated and developed as rearrangement districts for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas. The size of dry fields was largest in Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province and Gyeongbuk Province, and the size of paddy fields was largest in Chungbuk Province and Chungnam Province. However, it was found that several different land categories were mixed in Chungbuk Province and Jeonnam Pronvince.
In the characteristics of each type of districts designated as marginal farmland and its surrounding areas, this study discovered that dry fields and paddy fields are most used, similar to the regional characteristics. When marginal farmland was analyzed by type, it was found that dry fields and paddy fields overwhelmingly accounted for the majority, 97.7%. The size of paddy fields was largest for sport-type rearrangement districts, but the size of dry fields was more for the tour-type, residence-type and education-type rearrangement districts than that of paddy fields. Distinct characteristics of each region should be reflected on the development of marginal farmland because the characters of marginal farmland and regional circumstances are very important factors in utilizing marginal farmland. At present, there are some cases of rearrangement districts for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas that have been developed and operated fit for regional circumstances, but in many cases, such a district is developed not proper for regional circumstances, or its management and maintenance is not properly conducted although it is developed fit for regional circumstances.
In the most cases of developing rearrangement districts for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas, marginal farmland is developed into residential pension complexes. The problem is that there are not many developed districts that are still being operated at present because they are not connected to their surrounding tour complexes. Moreover, since the development of rearrangement districts for marginal farmland and its surrounding areas is conducted in rural areas only, facilities should be constructed to improve rural residents' lives, but in many cases, such facilities as golf courses and golf ranges as a matter of fact.
What we should pay attention most in developing marginal farmland is to preserve the amenity of rural areas. It is because the rural amenity is not only directly connected to rural residents' quality of life, but becomes an important resource for urban-rural exchanges like a rural tour. Even in the level of national land and environment preservation, such a development project should be led in an environment-friendly way to sustain the natural landscapes and rurality of rural areas. As a matter of course. it may take a long time to overcome perspectives valuing residents' life convenience more than the value of rural landscapes in the lack of life infrastructures, but such a development project may damage the natural landscapes and rurality of a rural area, further destroying its value as a tour resource, and in worse cases, the rural residents may lose their foundation of income. Therefore, this study judged that it is necessary to provide a system that can induce s