This study approaches the politics of urban development from within the framework of the emergence of a new multiscalar growth regime and the path dependence of the Korean developmental state. Through a case study of the Songdo New City development in South Korea, this study looks at how the scalar division of labor among various actors has interacted with the emergence of a multiscalar growth regime. We focus on the logic by which different scales of governmental and nongovernmental actors cooperate and, at the same time, compete with one another for authority over economic development. Our findings demonstrate, first, that the new regime resulted from the emergence of downward state rescaling to the local scale and of private business as a key actor. Second, the regime actors have been involved in scalar tensions and have constantly negotiated the scalar divisions of labor among them. This research provides a contextualized example of a spatiotemporal logic in which statehood has been transformed into a network.

This paper extends the literature in cultural festivals and urban methods to consider a case where the objectives of local government in holding a cultural festival exceeded economic development. In the city of Gwangju in South Korea, authorities initiated the Biennale exhibition to replace the troubling image of its political history with the new image of a city of art. This attempted transformation faced resistance from citizens who wanted to protect and develop Gwangju's own political identity and image. From 1995 to 2002, four Biennales were held. The Biennale, initiated to remove the controversial political image of Gwangju, became a place where Gwangju's history could be reinterpreted and its identity could be negotiated and defined by its own civil society.

This article investigates the ways in which cultural economy is formed through negotiation and interaction between local actors in the case of culture‐led regeneration in Gwangju, South Korea. It looks at the dynamics between the bureaucrats' pursuit of economic growth in the city and the efforts of civil society to maintain a strong political spirit throughout the regeneration process. Through in‐depth interviews with various participants and archival analysis, the politics of cultural economy are examined in relation to the Gwangju Biennale and the City of Culture project. The findings show that in these two cases bureaucrats were the dominant force, a tendency that instrumentalized culture. They also illustrate that this dominance brought about resistance from civil society. However, in the process of both engaging in conflict and working with each other, the different discourses of economic growth and cultural meaning were integrated, and in the process mutual learning and adaptation took place among members of the two groups. Civil society also faced cleavages resulting from different approaches to how to collaborate with the bureaucrats and its ensuing self‐reflection on communicative value enhanced its rehabilitation. The article argues that the politics of cultural economy is dynamic, involving processes of renegotiation, adaptation and self‐realization. It also offers the possibility of a new arena for the public sphere. Civil society plays a critical role in the integration of culture and economy.

This study seeks to distinguish patterns and processes of contemporary urbanisation in the east Asian context by investigating contemporary developments at the edge of the Seoul capital city over the past two decades. Through the analytical angle of local politics, the aim is to examine the nature, driving forces and outcomes of these new town developments in the context of South Korean urbanisation through the case of the Pangyo new town development. It is argued that a new form of governance with regard to city-region formation is gradually emerging, while the state still holds significant institutional power and policy tools in the context of new town development. This study utilises triangulation techniques that employ multiple methods of observations, such as interviewing (informal, formal and semi-formal), listening, document analysis and site visits.

Contemporary spectacles are often criticized for tightly scripting public life, proscribing spaces and their meanings, and instrumentalizing the public realm for political, cultural or economic gain.