earticle

영어

This study aims to identify employment centers and investigate the determinants of employment center formation for the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) during the 1980-2015 period. In doing so, we use a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and cutoff method for identifying employment centers, and a logit panel regression model for analyzing determinants of employment center formation. The empirical findings can be summarized as follows: 1) the number of employment centers has increased from three in 1980 to eight in 2015, indicating that the SMA has experienced a significant spatial transformation to polycentricity over the last 35 years, 2) new suburban subcenters have emerged since 2010 along with Seoul’s satellite cities such as Sungnam, Anyang, Suwon, and Bucheon, and 3) accessibility to labor market (population density), accessibility to subway station, and specialization on FIRE industry (Finance, Insurance, Real estate) are key determinants for employment center formation in the SMA.