A Study on the Setting priorities of Growth Management Planning Zones Designation Criteria

The number of growth management planning zone designations by local governments nationwide has been rapidly increasing. This study aims to improve designation criteria so that growth management plans can effectively control unregulated development in non-urbanized areas. We examine current designation status, review criteria in the National Land Planning and Utilization Act and Guidelines for Establishing Growth Management Plans, analyze nationwide trends, and investigate cases from 18 Gyeonggi Province cities. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is applied to establish criterion hierarchy and propose improvements. Expert evaluation revealed that quality of life improvement criteria—one of urban growth management's primary purposes—were considered most important in designating growth management planning zones, followed by criteria for creating compact urban spatial structures and suppressing disorderly development, both receiving similar weights. Taxpayer protection was assigned lower importance. These findings suggest that growth management should primarily focus on addressing residential environment deterioration and disorderly development arising from quantitative expansion.