Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

Accessibility to facilities can be defined in various ways, with one of the most common methods based on the distance between the demand and the target facility. Distance measurement between points is not always straightforward because there are several different metrics, including Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, and network distance. This paper aims to examine how the choice of distance metrics affects the results of accessibility-related studies. We focus on two most popular distance metrics: Euclidean and network distances. We utilise them to evaluate accessibility to various facilities with different numbers and spatial distributions and compare the results. The findings could help us choose appropriate distance metrics for specific settings and contribute to developing efficient location search algorithms for edge devices.

Roads are generally public services that do not require a direct cost to the user, which necessitates consideration of not only efficiency but also equity. However, assessing the equity of road services poses significant challenges due to its conceptual ambiguity, and previous studies have mainly focused on the resulting road accessibility gaps from the user's perspective. This study aims to assess the equity of the road network from the provider's perspective by analyzing the causes of accessibility gaps. We examined the impact of road detour costs on accessibility gaps and derived trends based on patterns of detour costs across cities. Our results indicate that the road network in South Korean cities generally exacerbates accessibility gaps by reinforcing Euclidean distance gaps and localized concentrations of road infrastructure. However, we also find that equity of road network can be improved through decentralized urban structures. This research provides a conceptual and methodological framework for analyzing the equity of road services from the provider's perspective and can contribute to policy discussions on road publicity.

Recent advancements have led to an increased necessity for rapid and accurate updates of road information, wherein remote sensing imagery and deep learning-based semantic segmentation techniques are playing a crucial role in road extraction research.However, when applying deep learning segmentation techniques, issues arise due to occlusions from elements such as trees and building shadows, resulting in incomplete learning of the road's structure and connectivity in the extraction results. Therefore, this study aims to propose a method for road extraction based on artificial intelligence by utilizing masking data in order to consider the structural characteristics of roads. To achieve this, the present study employed artificial masks at the edges of the road as the training data for deep learning, enabling the model to exclude the effects of being obscured by trees and shadows at the road's edge during the training process. To this end, the deep learning model was trained under three conditions regarding 15,000 training data instances: without the application of occlusion masks, with the generation of 50% occlusion masks, and with the generation of 100% occlusion masks, followed by a comparative analysis of the road extraction results. The deep learning models utilized in this study include U-Net, SegNet, and SegFormer. For the structural evaluation of the road extraction results, pixel-based evaluation metrics (Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1- Score, and mIoU) were employed, alongside APLS (Average Path Length Similarity) and SSIM (Structural Similarity Index), which reflect the structural characteristics of the roads. The analysis results indicate that the SegFormer, utilizing 50% of the masking data, exhibited the most superior performance. Therefore, it has been confirmed that the structural characteristics of land cover can be maintained through deep learning models utilizing masking data. In the future, to minimize the issues arising from structural features being obscured by objects such as trees or shadows, it is anticipated that employing artificial masks during the training process of deep learning models will enhance the accuracy of feature extraction.

Public transportation serves as a vital component of urban infrastructure, providing an essential mobility option for large number of citizens. However, limited understanding of travel factors in public transportaion has impaired the equilibrium of its supply and demand, resulting in various societal challenges. To address this issue, this study aims to identify the factors affecting travel patterns in different modes of public transportation from a multimodal mobility perspective. In order to complement the limitations of existing studies that explored the causal relationships between travel variables and individual modes of transportation, an integrated analysis of mode-specific travel, transfer travel, and overall travel within a multimodal framework is proposed. In this context, the analysis examined the travel patterns and factors for each mode of transportation, and revealed the distinct functions of each mode within urban mobility. Notably, with the same set of independent variables applied across transportation modes some variables exhibited regression coefficients with opposite signs depending on the mode. This implies that specific travel factors do not influence all modes of transportation in the same way, highlighting the importance of considering the roles and characteristics of each mode in an integrated manner when implementing transportation policies. The results of this study are expected to contribute to a better understanding of public transportation travel and provide meaningful evidence for the formulation of practical transportation policies.

Before and after Korea’s liberation, various actors redefined the modern view of nature to adapt to shifting social, political, and academic conditions. This process accompanied the institutionalization and spatial planning of national parks and protected areas, contributing to the territorialization of nature. During the colonial period, the development of both geological and symbolic mountain systems, the designation of mountain-centered “New Eight Scenic Sites of Korea,” and the promotion of rail-based tourism marked early stages of this process. In the transitional government era, scholars participating in the Corea Alpine Club’s “National Land Investigation Project” emerged as key figures. From the 1960s onward, they engaged in ecological diplomacy led by the Ministry of Education and Culture in collaboration with the United States, advancing the notion that natural reserves were precursors to national parks. Amid Cold War tensions in the late 1960s, the DMZ was proposed as a protected site, and following the 1972 North-South Joint Declaration, the central Taebaek Mountains were also considered for designation. Under the Park Chung-hee regime, national park development was directed through regional hub strategies aligned with the Five-Year Economic Development Plans and the First Comprehensive National Physical Development Plan, driven by the Ministries of Transportation and Construction. National parks were reframed as major natural and national tourist destinations, reflecting a “South Korean version” of the colonial-era New Eight Scenic Sites. These areas were developed by linking iconic mountain landscapes with tourism infrastructure, and through institutionalization, they served as instruments for the homogenization and hierarchical organization of national nature. While natural reserves emphasized strict preservation of pristine environments, national parks sought to balance conservation and development, functioning simultaneously as international tourist attractions and regional growth engines—effectively becoming another name for national natural development.

This study analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in land use and settlement systems in South Korea using the archaeological site data for 10 time periods, spanning from the Paleolithic Age to the present. We utilized the frequency and density of sites in each period, point pattern analyses, and a city rank size rule (Zipf's law) for site density. Analyses revealed that the evolution and development of Korea’s land use characteristics could be categorized into five stages: the pioneering period (Paleolithic to Neolithic Age), the settlement period (Bronze Age to Early Iron Age/Proto-Three Kingdoms period), the diffused growth period (Three Kingdoms period to Goryeo Dynasty), the marginal growth period (Joseon Dynasty), and the civil engineering growth period (period of Japanese occupation to contemporary times). In the early pioneering period, archaeological sites were concentrated in flat areas along rivers and coasts, forming a dense spatial structure; in the settlement period, land use focused on low-altitude, low-slope, and highly available areas for stable land use based on agriculture. During the diffused growth period, most of the land was occupied and utilized due to population growth and productivity improvement, and a dispersed settlement system developed. In the marginal growth period, land use expanded to lowland areas around rivers and mountainous areas that had not been utilized before, along with population growth and the development of agricultural technology, and the phenomenon of spatial concentration centered on Hanyang emerged. In the civil engineering growth period, the introduction of modern civil engineering technology led to the emergence of different types of land use characteristics and strengthened spatial concentration. The results of this study outline and visibly show how the spatial structure of land use in southern Korea has changed over the prehistoric and historic periods. However, due to the limitations of the archaeological site data used, detailed regional case studies and further analysis are required.

Since Korea's urban system rapidly evolves in response to recent regional development policies, there is a growing need for diverse analytical approaches. This study applied the Interlocking Network Model, primarily used in global city network analysis, to the public sector's intra-firm business network to assess inter-city interactions. The findings reveal key characteristics of Korea’s urban structure. While Seoul retains strong national dominance, its functional influence is relatively weaker than suggested by its population size. Metropolitan and provincial cities follow in descending order, while Innovation Cities have formed new intercity linkages through the relocation of public institutions, displaying unexpectedly strong influence. These results indicate that Korea’s urban system, when viewed through functional inter-connections rather than population metrics alone, exhibits a less hierarchical structure.

This study reveals the mechanisms inherent in the formation and change of relationships among residents in a rural area. A qualitative study was conducted based on constructivist grounded theory by using interview data and field notes that had been collected and synthesized during a month-long field study in Yeonpung-myeon (Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do). The findings show that there was a presence of amicable, indifferent, and conflictual relationships among the residents. Amicable relationships were enhanced through relationship-building by taking roles for the community and through cultural activities and various gatherings, particularly held indoors. Indifferent relationships were triggered by changes in the profile of residents due to the influx of new settlers and the decline of native residents, along with the widespread individualism caused by the disappearance of traditional culture and the proliferation of electronic devices, leading to decreased interaction. Conflictual relationships were characterized by accumulated conflicts stemming from cultural differences among the community members from different regions, generational gaps, financial conflicts, and differences in opinions among community members regarding social integration. This study is significant as it considered the characteristics of rural areas and overcame dichotomous thinking to uncover the mechanisms behind the formation and composition of various relationships among residents.