Issue Diversifying and multi-layered land use under concentration and depopulation

Summary

Urban concentration and rural depopulation are advancing together worldwide, creating stark socio-economic and environmental contrasts between overcrowded and depopulated areas. In Korea's capital region and big cities, three-dimensional use of urban space, moving railways underground and new mobility such as urban air mobility are expected to transform the land-use paradigm. As capital-region concentration deepens, development pressure spills into surrounding areas and destroys green space, while depopulating regions accumulate vacant houses and idle land. This creates a double task of regenerating urban cores in shrinking areas and using the opportunity for nature restoration and ecosystem recovery, with land-use change feeding back into climate and biodiversity crises. The survey therefore calls for region-specific environmental policies and strategies for multi-layered use of space.