Industry-Academia-Research Clusters to Enhance Self-Sufficiency of Innovation Cities
Relocation of 151 public entities from the Seoul metropolitan area to provincial areas to boost local economies
Park Myung-shik, deputy head of the Office for Public Institutions
Relocation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
(photo: MOLIT, article by S. Y. Kim)
The government¡¯s projects to relocate public entities are proceeding full steam ahead during 2014. Park Myung-shik, deputy head of the Office for Public Institutions Relocation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said in an interview with NewsWorld, ¡°We¡¯ll redouble efforts to create housing and other living conditions and clusters for industry, academia and research circles so that innovation cities can emerge as self-sufficient band cities and local growth hubs to boost local economies.¡±
The following are excerpts of the interview in which he spoke of the progress of constructing innovation cities.
Question: Will you tell our readers about the current progress of projects to relocate public agencies to ¡°innovation cities¡¯ and when they will be completed?
Answer: The projects call for relocating 151 public organizations from the Seoul capital area to provincial areas and constructing ¡°innovation cities¡± that will accommodate the public entities. Specifically, 151 public organizations — 44 government agencies and 107 affiliated organizations — have moved or are to be relocated. A total of 115 public entities have moved or will move to 10 innovation cities, 17 have been relocated or will be relocated to Sejong City, and 19 organizations will be repositioned into places of their choosing.
Innovation City projects are under way in 10 cities across the nation without a hitch, and overall site building was 99.6 percent complete as of the end of last year.
Thirty-five public entities have already been relocated as of the end of last year, and 75 more will move into provincial areas during this year, making 2014 a significant year for wrapping up many relocation projects. One hundred and eleven out of 123 new structures have broken ground or are already under construction. We at the Office for Public Institutions Relocation strive to improve living conditions such as housing and education so that the staffs of the relocated public entities do not suffer inconveniences at the initial stage of relocation on top of moving the related public organizations.
If the relocation of public entities and the construction of innovation cities are done as planned, we expect the innovation cities to become self-sufficient with the relocated public organizations and clusters to be created among industry, academia and research circles by 2020.
We¡¯ll redouble efforts to create housing and other living conditions and clusters for industry, academia and research circles so that innovation cities can emerge as self-sufficient band cities and local growth hubs to boost local economies.
Q: What steps are in place to improve living conditions of innovation cities as projects are being implemented in earnest?
A: The Office for Public Institutions Relocation is concentrating more on the supply of apartments for the employees of the relocated public organizations to settle into more than any other as the projects of relocating public entities are in full force. We plan to get 2.5 million apartments ready for accommodating the employees of the relocated public entities during this year. As of the end of 2013, 3,512 employees have already found homes, and 6,411 more have just moved into new houses.
Authorities are considering advancing the completion of construction projects or allowing temporary occupancy to fix a temporary shortage of housing supply. We plan to provide information about one-room units and unsold apartments near the innovation cities and help employees of relocated public organizations find housing facilities to solve a temporary mismatch of housing supply and demand.
Q: Will you elaborate on plans to expand amenities such as hospitals and markets of the innovation cities?
A: Above all, we¡¯re seeking to improve medical services in cities, counties and wards in which innovation cities are located so that new dwellers do not experience inconveniences. To this end, an emergency medical service regime will be built to link hospitals near the innovation cities, and regional hospitals and public clinics will have their medical equipment augmented. Innovation cities have 28 hospitals with a combined 477 beds at their city, county and ward areas. Public clinic branches will be established in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do; Ulsan, Chungcheongbuk-do; and Gyeon-gsangbuk-do.
Installation of medical facilities is now allowed in industry-academia-research cluster areas, and related authorities are holding consultations to expand medical facilities and equipment there.
In reality, innovation cities lack amenities due to a shortage of a settled population during the initial stage of relocating public entities.
Large-sized marketing outlets will continue to be expanded. Retailers will be asked to advance at the earliest the construction of their outlets such as Lotte Shopping Center in Gyeongsangnam-do and Shinsaegae Department Store in Ulsan.
Q: Will you explain strategies to reinvigorate industry-academia-research clusters?
A: Innovation cities need to enhance self-sufficiency by setting up industry-academia-research clusters so as to become brand cities.
Plans on the establishment of industry-academia-research clusters, including the expansion of priority attraction business arenas, have already been revised in a more effective way. Plots of land will be sold according to the revamped plans on the establishment of industry-academia-research clusters.
In efforts to help industry-academia-research clusters enhance self-sufficiency, the MOLIT will designate industry-academia-research clusters as urban, high-tech industrial complexes to exempt them from property taxes. We're consulting with the Education Ministry on a plan to allow universities to relocate parts to industry-academia-research clusters to supporting site-specific manpower programs. And local administrative bodies will establish centers for supporting the attraction of industry-academia-research clusters.
Institutional reform will be done to allow additional companies to move into industry-academia-research clusters, and additional steps will be taken to aggressively attract regional development projects and R&D projects that each ministry plans to implement.