A mega urban project and two competing accumulation strategies: negotiating discourses of the Songdo International Business District development

• Published in: International development planning review Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 299 - 317
• Main Authors: Sonn, Jung Won, Shin, HaeRan, Park, Se Hoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Liverpool University Press 01.06.2017; Liverpool University Press (UK)
• Subjects: Methods; Project management; Urban planning; South Korea; Songdo International Business District; South Korea; accumulation strategy; free economic zone; mega urban project
• ISSN: 1474-6743; 1478-3401
• DOI: 10.3828/idpr.2017.7

For the understanding of the accumulation strategy behind a mega urban development project, the distinction should be made between the two different strategies of capital accumulation, which we term the rentextraction strategy (RES) and the socio-economic transformation of space strategy (STSS). This distinction is important because each is preferred by actors at different scales, thereby creating conflicts between them. Local actors are likely to prefer RES because its benefits mainly fall in the local area. National actors often prefer STSS because it symbolises state-level commitment to a business-friendly economic environment. Negotiation between these two strategies constitutes a major part of the formation of accumulation strategy. We test this theoretical prediction against the case of Songdo International Business District in South Korea. We find that the history of the project is consistent with our theoretical prediction.