Establishment of Rural Living Area Boundary for Sustainable Agri-Food System

In general, rural areas are declining due to urbanization and climate change, which affects the agri-food system centered on rural residents. For agri-food systems, the size and connectivity of regional systems are important, and the boundaries of people living in rural areas must be clearly defined. To effectively respond to these problems, the Republic of Korea proposed a policy plan for rural areas. However, there are issues with this approach since it is based on a legal spatial unit—meaning rural residents are not receiving the full breadth of intended benefits. It is necessary to readjust the spatial boundaries by aligning them more closely with the extent of the rural residents' living radius and the standards for services. This study aimed to establish the concept of a living area as it relates to rural areas, present criteria for setting the range and dimensions of a living area, and to then apply it to case studies. The target area was Muju-gun, Korea. It contains rural areas that face various problems such as population decline and aging. First, the concept of the rural living area was established based on insights gained from relevant literature reviews. The rural living area concept was defined as “a unit or range of spaces where rural residents can receive services to live and to support economic activities.” Second, building on the concept of the rural living area, the Muju-gun population, living service facilities, road networks, and watershed items were established, while relevant maps were collected. These materials were leveraged to conduct a network analysis. The closest facility analysis was performed and a network map was developed by overlaying the population and living service facilities with 12 key sectors (childcare, education, welfare, culture, physical education, health, medical care, commerce, finance, administration, transportation, and rest) and using the road network connecting them. Third, the range of living zones classified in order of size (small/medium/large) and by key sector in Muju-gun was derived. Excluding any missing values, a total of 30 Muju-gun living area ranges were drawn and presented. It was asserted that this was due to the fact that life service facilities in Muju-gun vary based on sector and size. The results of this study are particularly meaningful in that they presented a range based on the information that rural residents live in reality, and not an administrative district superimposed by the Republic of Korea—which reflects the existing legal standard unit. Since the derived range was based on the actual living range of rural residents, we expect efficient policy utilization in the planning and management of the agri-food system.

This work was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development(Project No. PJ0171102022)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.