Korean Urbanization Process in the Japanese Colonial Period

This study chronologically reviews the Korean urbanization process and the national spatial structure in the Japanese Colonial Period. Urbanization in Korea was begun with the vitalization of the agricultural economy in the latter part of the 1920s. In the latter period of the 1930s, Korea experienced unprecedentedly rapid urbanization. It resulted from rapid growth of Hamgyeong Provinces and the Seoul~Incheon area based on industrialization. The primacy of Seoul continuously decreased except 1940 for the entire Japanese Colonial Period. It resulted in balanced regional growth. The direction of Korean urban growth accorded with the trace of main railroads in the Japanese Colonial Period