Han, Dongho; (2021) The evolution of policy mobility embedded in urban regeneration: A critical analysis spanning 30 years in Busan, South Korea. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The ultimate aims of this research are: (1) to understand and interpret an urban regeneration project through the theoretical framework of policy mobility and (2) to explore the change and evolution of urban regeneration ideas and policy mobility processes in Busan. From the early 2000s, Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea, experienced long-term structural changes and post-industrial decline under conditions of neo-liberalism and the flexible post-Fordist form of capitalism (Siegel and Weinberg, 1977, p.67; cited in Grant and Scott, 1996). National and local authorities therefore promoted urban regeneration projects as a strategic tool. Such urban regeneration projects were influenced by successful large-scale post-industrial urban regeneration projects in foreign cities. There has been a limited amount of research that addressed and explored the implementation of such urban regeneration projects (Shin et al., 2015). To articulate the relationship between the delivery of urban regeneration and knowledge circulation across the world, this thesis draws on the concept of policy mobility (McCann, 2008) as a theoretical framework. Differing from traditional policy mobility literature which usually focuses on mobilisation processes within a specific period, this study looks at the development of urban regeneration ideas and the evolution of policy mobility processes over 30 years (from the 1990s to the 2010s) in Busan. Three consecutive urban regeneration projects – Centum City, North Port, and Eco-delta City – in Busan, South Korea were explored, and the policy mobility framework was conceptualised on these empirical case studies. The first half of this research investigates the implementation of individual urban regeneration projects through the policy mobility process. The other half of this study explores the development of urban regeneration ideas in the local area and ways in which the policy mobility process evolved over time in these urban regeneration projects. To address these issues, qualitative methodology including an elite interview, document analysis, thematic and narrative analysis was used throughout the research. The results of this research show that the idea of sustainability has been strengthened in urban regeneration over 30 years. Through the legacy of Centum City, developers focused on securing enough funding for the delivery of a large-scale urban regeneration project. In the North Port project, eco-friendly approaches within the development site were important. The impact of community participation began in the North Port project and became significant in the Eco-delta City project. Regarding policy mobility processes, it was experimentally begun in Centum City. Based on the active role of international resources, North Port became a conventional model of policy mobility. Eco-delta City, however, can be described as an innovative failure model of policy mobility due to the inappropriate transfer. Overtime, actors engaged in the processes varied across projects. Also, vague ideas, knowledge and ideal images in addition to clear forms of programme or policy were transferred to Busan. Policy mobility processes occurred in more diverse spatial settings, not being limited to conventional spaces. Overall, the idea of urban regeneration and the policy mobility process have been developed and evolved by city-specific political and development processes, being influenced by underlying factors such as local temporal and spatial contexts that impacted the circuit of knowledge and policy processes.

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