Reinventing Alternative Ways of Community Regeneration: The Social Economic Experiments of Former Mining Areas

The former mining areas of Gangwon Province are one of the best known historical places where most of the serious problems and challenges of social upheaval have happened in Korea. With the plight of work and employment,... [ view full abstract ]

The former mining areas of Gangwon Province are one of the best known historical places where most of the serious problems and challenges of social upheaval have happened in Korea. With the plight of work and employment, former mining areas had to suffer abrupt population decrease. During last two decades bussing economic activities, which once constructed unique culture of mining villages almost faded away and the whole community had to face fast disintegration of communities. In face of the crisis of the whole community, the local people in the Gangwon areas had to struggle with the alternative ways of local regeneration. The idea of community regeneration through social economy is one of the most recent trials to provide people in the community new visions, policies, and the methods of local development. During their hard struggle and long fight with the central government, community leaders, union people, and civil movement were able to submit a new blueprint for establishing citizen company idea.
Former mining areas of Gangwon Province have provided huge test beds for different kinds of local regeneration. Undergoing two decades of struggle, the region and its communities have tried various kinds of local regeneration projects. The major objective of this work is a trial to get some understanding and lessons for the successful implementation of an alternative strategy of local regeneration. We also want to figure out important conditions when community people try to revive social economy in partnership with private sector and the state agencies.
One of the major structural factors behind the alienation and powerlessness of local society can be largely explained by the nature of economic restructuring. The economic restricting was almost exclusively governed by the government. Due to the government led development, existing community became more and more dependent on one resource center. The city and its social economy had to sacrifice their autonomy in exchange for radical transition from coal to casino tourism and community people had to hang on another risky industry.
However, people also face fundamental dilemmas of new approaches, because they had to depend heavily on the move of government and the company. In a situation, local social capital and willingness of the local people have almost gone, a new strategy also has to depend on public hands in order to initiate and regenerate community social capital.
Development and implementation of new policies based on different paradigm has just begun around the turn of 2010s. We may need to wait for several years whether new approaches could make any meaningful social impacts on the nature of local society. Community people, public agencies and local companies may hope to see positive effects of new approaches on the revival and reintegration of local society. Different regeneration strategies may result in permanent consequences on the long lasting fabric of social capital. The social experiments, which is still going on in Gangwon area may provide significant lessons for those people who had to suffer from sudden shutdown of local industries, or various kinds of natural and man-made disasters.