Revisiting the growth poles: regional disparity and population redistribution policy

Interregional disparity is still growing in developing countries and persists even in many developed countries. This study examines the effectiveness of the growth pole development policy on population dispersion. Specifically, it analyzes the impact of relocating government-related jobs to lagging regions on migration patterns between urban regions at national and local levels, using the South Korean case. The estimation results show mixed spread and backwash effects from the new growth pole, Sejong City (new administrative capital), but decreased over time. The global-level (nationwide) spread effects did exist but not last long enough to reduce the interregional disparities from the overconcentration in Seoul Metropolitan Area. Also, the estimated local-level backwash effects (hollowing out) to Sejong City had also weakened over time. These findings underscore the importance of the integrated system of growth pole covering the surrounding regions in enhancing the regional livability. The major contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it employed the migration effectiveness measure to directly evaluate population redistribution goal in growth pole development policy. Second, the policy impact is analyzed at two different levels: nationwide (global) and regional (local) levels. The global model estimated the dispersion effects from a leading region to the lagging regions on a nationwide scale, while the local model estimated the backwash effects into a new growth pole from neighboring regions. Finally, the policy interventions should be consistent and comprehensive with the aim to decrease regional disparities by developing integrated system of growth pole in collaboration with various regional stakeholders.