PERSPECTIVES ON DECENTRALISATION AND RURAL-URBAN LINKAGES IN KOREA.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
1 Assessment and recommendations
	Assessment
		Korea has experienced strong growth, including in rural regions, yet some gaps remain in areas far from large cities and in places that have not benefitted from targeted development initiatives
		Despite promising economic performance, population ageing and decline pose significant challenges for rural Korea
		Public well-being in rural regions show scope for improvement, with all regions showing a need for improvement in environmental and community life indicators
		The policy of balanced national development has yielded results but further efforts are needed to include rural areas
		An ambitious decentralisation agenda is creating new opportunities and challenges for subnational governments
		Contracts are opening a new path towards regional development autonomy and local capacity building
	Recommendations
		Further decentralisation should proceed with close monitoring of fiscal and human capacities at the regional and local level
		Strengthen co-ordination between subnational governments and with local stakeholders
		To broaden the benefits of major initiatives, like Innovation Cities and Free Economic Zones, strengthen the linkages between urban and rural areas.
		Support service delivery in rural communities through innovative, efficient channels
2 Trends, opportunities and challenges in rural Korea
	Defining rural in Korea
		Korea’s official definition
		The OECD regional typology
		A regional typology based on access to cities
	Demographic patterns of rural Korea and land distribution
		Korea has a low share of its national population in rural regions
		Settlement growth and implications for concentration
		The young population migrates from rural to urban regions
		Korea’s rural population is fast-ageing
	Rural areas of Korea are performing well economically
		Rural regions specialised in tradeable sectors
	Well-being of rural dwellers
		The well-being agenda has come to the forefront of OECD countries in recent years
		Measuring well-being at the regional level
		How’s life in your regions in Korea?
	References
3 Evolution of rural policies in Korea and current policy measures
	Key institutional actors for regional and rural development
	Historical evolution of rural policies in Korea
		The early days of Korea’s development journey
		Evolution of the Comprehensive National Territorial Plans
	Current rural development policy approaches in Korea
		Rural policies for economic development
		Rural policies for enhancing well-being in Korea
	Main features of Korea’s multilevel governance framework
		Subnational government responsibilities
		Subnational government financing
		Subnational government expenditure by functional classification
		Subnational fiscal rules and debt
	Current approaches to decentralisation in Korea
	Implementing rural policies in a context of increased decentralisation
		Advancing from top-down policymaking
		Improving vertical co-ordination
		Overcoming budgetary constraints
		Applying a functional region approach
		Working with civil society and other non-governmental stakeholders
			Annex 3.A. Korea’s decentralisation plan
	References
4 Considerations for upcoming decentralisation and devolution
	The OECD approach to decentralisation
	Vertical co-ordination and delegation of tasks
		Consultation fora and other forms of regular dialogue
		Contracts as a tool for vertical co-ordination and regional development
		Contracting in Korea – Initial steps in leveraging contracts to support decentralisation
		Delegation contracts
		Policy-sharing contracts – The Korean Regional Development Investment Agreement
		Takeaways for Korea
	Capacity building at the regional and local levels
		Empowerment contracts – A tool to build capacities
		Takeaways for Korea
	Horizontal co-operation for regional development
		Inter-municipal co-operative organisations in Sweden
		Municipal co-operation in Finland – Business Joensuu
		Regional growth poles in Brandenburg, Germany
		The Inner Areas National Strategy, Italy
			Access to services and local development
			Step-by-step process towards the Programme Framework Agreement
			Multi-level governance
			Multiple funding sources
			Challenges to the Inner Areas National Strategy
		Takeaways for Korea
	Public engagement – How to promote and strengthen it
		Takeaways for Korea
	Subnational fiscal autonomy and effective public investment
		Takeaways for Korea
	References
	Note
5 Rural-urban linkages and innovation cities
	Rural-urban linkages: What are they and why do they matter?
	From innovation cities to regional hubs
	Experiences in building linkages from other OECD member countries
		Germany: The Nuremberg Metropolitan Region
			A rural-urban partnership to better compete in a globalised world
			Partnership structure
			Takeaways for Korea
		France: The Brest-Pays Centre-Ouest Bretagne reciprocity contract
			National government as a driver of urban-rural linkages at the local level
			Takeaways for Korea
		Canada: The Southern Ontario Scale-up Platform
			Entrepreneurial supports available wherever you live
			Takeaways for Korea
		Scotland (UK): The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC)
			Leading-edge research in a sparsely populated rural community
			Takeaways for Korea
		Strengthening the impact of Innovation Cities in the surrounding rural areas
	References
6 Case study of Chungcheongbuk-do and Jeollanam-do
	Introduction
	Demographic overview and trends
	Economic overview and trends
	Outlook and policy
		Raising rural incomes
			Income support and price stabilisation
			Eco-friendly and advanced agriculture
			Beyond agriculture
		Rural service delivery and well-being
		Long-term economic development
			The blue economy in Jeollanam-do
			An ICT and bio-health cluster in Chungcheongbuk-do
			Research and development
			Fiscal constraints
	Recommendations
		Service delivery
		Vertical and horizontal co-ordination
		Spreading the benefits of policy initiatives
		Driving tourism and retaining young adults
	References