Industrial land use planning and the growth of knowledge industry: Location pattern of knowledge-intensive services and their determinants in the Seoul metropolitan area

As the industrial structure is reorganized from manufacturing to one that is knowledge-based, the knowledge-intensive service (KIS) industry has grown steadily. Since KIS industries make a significant contribution to regional competitiveness through innovative activities, it is important to examine what factors determine their location. Since KIS industries reportedly concentrate in and around large cities, wherein the land price is high and vacant land is scarce, land use planning is expected to play an important role in the location of KIS. Therefore, this study analyzes the location patterns of the KIS industry and the factors contributing to the industry’s growth in the Seoul metropolitan area, with a focus on land use planning. According to the result, KIS industries tend to locate in traditional KIS centers in downtown Seoul and new centers around Seoul. While the growth of KIS workers in the traditional KIS centers was stagnant, that in the new centers was much higher. Concerning the factors that affect the growth of KIS employment, the factors related to land use planning significantly influenced the growth of KIS activities. Among them, semi-industrial zone and housing site development areas were influential due to the exclusion of residential land use and land use regulation changes that allowed the development of the knowledge industry center. This shows that exclusionary land use control and flexible measures should be properly applied to accommodate new industrial demands and create space for urban employment.