New towns for suburbs? Developmental state politics and new town development in Seoul metropolitan region

Abstract

One prominent feature of the urban landscape in North America and Western Europe is the emergence of what have been variously termed ‘technoburbs’ (Fishman, 1987), ‘edge cities’ (Garreau, 1991), ‘edgeless cities’ (Lang, 2003), ‘metroburbia’ (Knox, 2008), and ‘post-suburbia’ (Phelps et al, 2010), arguably embodying new forms of settlement, new urban issues, and a distinctive politics in city-regions. Much has been written on the diverse forms and implications of these elements of contemporary urbanization but there are few studies that address the developmental state setting in East Asia.