Territorial Development Policy Implementation in Cote D’Ivoire: Experiences and Lessons from South Korea ()
1. Introduction
Ending poverty in all its forms remains Africa’s most important challenge of 21st Century, that each country has to solve through implementation of realistic public policies that take into account time, space and resources. Flatten poverty amounts to the efficient management of the territory through key investments in strategically chosen areas with the aim of mitigating economic disparities. Africa has experienced remarkable growth during the last ten years, if we believe the recent OECD annual reports (Africa Development Dynamics, 2018: p. 19) , which boasts of the increase in continental GDP since the 2010s. As far as Côte d’Ivoire is concerned, the economic indicators of the last ten years are beneficial and encouraging for a nation that has been emerging from a long period of military-political crisis since 2002. The country’s GDP rose from 4% in 2011 to 10.71%, 0.8% in 2015 (World Bank Indicator, 2018) , a milestone that will be maintained until 2020. The country is part of the top 10 reforming nations in the world, jumping 17 places in the Doing Business 2019 ranking, from 139th place to 122nd place and is among the four most reforming countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Togo, Kenya, and Rwanda. The country achieved significant scores in five reforms on the ten Indicators of Doing Business, namely business creation, obtaining a building permit, obtaining loans, paying taxes, and executing contracts.
However, these indicators of national economic growth mentioned above are still far from reflecting reality, since they are relatively unusable about people’s lives and in the household basket. Nearly 29% of the Ivorian population still lives below US$1 a day. This poor situation clearly shows the need for further institutional reforms that could impact the daily life of Ivoirians on the considerable reduction of the poverty rate. Moreover, the Ivorian territory shows a remarkable distortion between its regions, the most remote of which are dependent on the region of Abidjan, the only economic “lung” of the country. Several other indicators clearly show disparities between regions of the country. Access to basic drinking water in the rural area, for instance is a very remarkable indicator, since its availability could contribute significantly to the fight and eradicate tropical diseases. This indicates the urgency of making the development policy of the territory a priority to make up for these shortcomings. But the question is whether one can operate real change, or implement a substantial social program without giving a special place to the territory’s development policy. According to Samuel P. S. (1979) , “a good spatial management policy could greatly facilitate the economic and industrial development of a nation.”
The main aim of that work will be how to acquire policy implications from Korea that can be applied to territorial development policy in Côte d’Ivoire. Therefore, it is relevant to conduct a conceptual analysis by defining some important key concepts related to territory development issue. Those concepts might be familiar and quite common. Their contextualization could be essential for the understanding of the work.
1.1. Definition of Key Concepts
1.1.1. National Territorial Plan (NTP)
National Territorial Plan can be considered as a plan that should propose appropriate goals and strategies within the timeframe (triennial, 5-year, or 10-year) allowed, and achieved quantitative growth in terms of the indicators. Such a plan targets many business sectors and areas that could boost the country’s economic growth in the event of investment. It must take into account not only public projects, private investments but also above all a public-private partnership. National Territory Plan should follow specific and clear vision (social and political economics).
1.1.2. Economic Development Plan (EDP)
A plan encompasses decision, forecasting, policy, and government intervention. A national plan is a systematic and comprehensive action plan to utilize specified national resources to achieve specified goals in a specified period of time. An EDP is a national plan to achieve economic development.
1.1.3. Poverty
As abusively used concept, poverty can be defined as simply as possible as the state of an indigent person, who struggles to get his most basic natural needs. The United Nations in making the fight against poverty the priority (First) of the seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also defined a poor person as an individual in absolute poverty, that is the person who cannot afford a “basket” of goods considered essential to his survival.
According to Amartiya Sen (1989) , poverty means “failure of the ability to achieve precisely those things that are ultimately important or someone income below the poverty line and mostly failure of access to basic capabilities (Chap 1, p. 16)”.
Referring to the multidimensional poverty index MDI, produced by the University of Oxford, poverty can be defined very clearly on two fronts: (Rowntree, 1899) Absolute poverty, which refers to extreme poverty, severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, sanitation, shelter, health, water, education, so forth; (Townsend, 1950) relative poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, thus the Relative Poverty is a measure of income inequality. It can be solved by good policy.
1.1.4. Industrialization
Industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural, and mineral (raw material) to one based on the manufacturing of goods. Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production, and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines.
1.1.5. Institutions
Samuel Huntington (1991) defines Institutionalization as the process by which organizations and procedures acquire value and stability.” To describe the establishment of institutions is a process. That is to say that the level of institutionalization of a society or political system is initially complex, but this complexity must adapt to social changes and show some autonomy in functioning.
After the introductory section which made it possible to understand some concepts related to the work, the remainder work is organized as follows. The following Chapter (I) is devoted to the literature review which gives a general view on the theories of territorial policy and their implementation across different regions of the world. Chapter II is dedicated to the analytical framework explaining the objectives of the work, the choice of the thematic, the theories and above all the explanation of the choice of Korea as a case study. Chapter III will deal with the implementation of the territorial development policy in Côte d’Ivoire, from the 1960s until now, but also its challenges and perspectives. In section IV we will talk about the management of Korean territorial policy and operation and lessons applicable to Côte d’Ivoire and for any other developing countries, then finally, the chapter V will be the occasion for policy implications for developing countries and the ground to propose some policy recommendations for future researches.
2. Literature Revue
With modernization and especially the breakthrough of agglomerations bringing with them inequalities and distortions of all kinds, the question of land use policy is no longer an option, rather a necessity or even an urgency. Many scholars and theorists of the 20th century have, thus made territorial issues their priorities.
When Rachid Amjad (1984) attempts to review the major policies and programs about industrialization of rural areas and their impact on unemployment in Pakistan, he indicates the advantages of small industrial units in the Pakistani economy by showing their contribution of rural development policy inputs in the GDP growth. He also emphasizes very clearly the details of political programs in favor of the development of small-scale enterprises via the National Development Plan which is the compass of the country’s economic development vision. He went through the different Pakistan different Development Plans to define and shed more light on the role of (financial) institutions. Furthermore, the author, among the profusion of promoted rural development programs, draws our attention to two things: (1) Agro-Industries Development Program, and (2) The Integrated Rural Development Program. Saying so, he attempts to underscore the paramount place of territorial policy in Pakistanis’ rural development.
K. C. Yeh (1991) while assessing also the Hainan’s economic development, takes a look over three countries and regions of East Asia, namely, Korea, Taiwan region, and Hong Kong (China). His first analysis was tied to the colonial past and some critical junctures of those four countries that have, according to the author, the same history that influenced the institutions in their society. Furthermore, he advocates that the development of these countries has been supported and boosted by a territorial development programs with institutions set up for this purpose. He concludes that the development of new Industrialized Economies (NIEs) was based on four fundamentals: industrialization and trade, agriculture growth, financial development, and the role of government, talking about territorial development policy.
Another very interesting assertion that drew our attention is from Frank Jr. C. R. (1968) . Frank Jr. tried to explain that neither the high growth rates in African countries, nor the rise of technology in large urban areas can fight against unemployment in the city. The solution he proposes as unique way to solve the challenge related to inequality is regional and local development programmes. He stresses that Territorial policy is the only one likely to generate employment via the creation of small and medium-sized industries by Development economic hubs with intensive labor.
Goto Kenta, Tamaki Endo, and Asei Ito (ed.) (2020) analyzing China’s rise in the world were able to point out the implementation of an economic policy strategy characterized by three main approaches, namely, (1) the nationalist approach defined by the role of the State and Government, then (2) the Neoclassical approach focused on the role of the market and the trade mechanism, and then the third and final approach described as institutional and organizational focused on sectoral policies in specific industries and areas to get the national economy off the ground. According to the authors, this Chinese strategy is TDP based policy, similar to that of the New Asian Industrialized countries and regions such as Korea, Singapore and Taiwan region.
To understand the process of harmonious development of the Republic of South Korea, we set about analyzing the article entitled “Spatial Changes and Regional Development Policy in Korea” by Kim Yong-Woong (2009) . According to him, the Republic of South Korea experienced a centralized development system from the start. The Seoul region was largely developed compared to the other localities of the country thus accentuating the economic disparities between the regions of the country. Succeeding in the harmonious development of the entire territory was a difficult task to accomplish given the many challenges to be met. However, the political will and the introduction of reforms such as the five-year’ National Territorial Development Plan and the Comprehensive National Territorial Plan which defined, both national and regional development objectives made it possible to achieve a balanced regional development.
Jai S. Mah’s (2016) has actively formulated some recommendations to developing countries. He urges developing countries to focus on Institution building by recruiting and capacity building of insightful elites as the economic policymakers. Taking into account Mah’s insight, the greatest challenge today in developing countries is the ability to set up institutions, whose characteristics are not all imported, rather respect social and societal contexts and take into account cultural realities and inspired from countries’ critical junctures. For “without strong political institutions, society lacks the means to define and to realize its common interests”.
3. Analytical Framework
This consists in explaining, the General objective as well as the specific objectives of the study but also exposes the research questions the justification for the choice of theories and the work methodology.
3.1. Theories
Several theories have been developed to the effect of driving the question of equitable distribution of wealth over the same territory in such away. However, as part of this study, we will focus on only two of those theories that we need to better meet the requirements of our main objective: there are the Balanced Growth and Unbalanced Growth theories. We will also attempt to show how they have been successfully applied in South Korea in order to flatten inequality and based on that experience how lessons could be taken to solve inequality and distortion challenges in Côte d’Ivoire and any other developing state.
Balanced growth theory: In the perspective of providing a restorative solution to spatial imbalances in terms of development that Meier and Seers (1984) propose us the theory of balanced growth. Modernization, which has led to a wave of change, essentially creates a lack of existing infrastructure now unsuited to the new conditions to which modern societies must necessarily comply. The theory of balanced growth thus provides a solution to strike a balance between the sectors of activity in the country. To do this, this generates mass investments that must cover all sectors of activities. That political economic applied in South Korea is unfortunately not applicable to developing countries, that have lack of capital and human resources in all sectors. We will, therefore, be attempted to explore quite similar and more realistic theory that can fit with developing world: The Unbalanced Growth Theory.
Unlike the requirements of the balanced growth theory that the appropriate development conditions of a country necessarily require investment in all sectors of activity and at the same time, the theory of unbalanced growth, although its name is less convincing, appears more decisive and very imaginative in the process of implementing development projects. According to Albert Hirschman (1958) , one of the pioneers of that vision, the core assumption of the unbalanced Growth theory points out that to boost a country’s economic growth it is sufficient to target some strategic projects with very specific areas of investment. For him all economic sectors in a nation are complementary. In this way the development of one sector will necessarily affect another.
The theory of unbalanced Growth for me perfectly fits with territorial development whose aim is also to correct economic irregularities between regions. Although this theory is more focused on sectors of the economy than on the question of territory, it does not go against the principle of choosing strategic territories or areas to make investments in targeted sectors. Moreover, the theory advocates what is called induced investment characterized by two branches: (1) Social Overhead Capital (SOC) which concerns investments in socio-economic infrastructures in the selected territories and (2) Direct Productive Activities (DPA) involved in the production of goods and services which is for the most part-owned by the private sector. The both main investment drivers, respectively focused on social and in public services and goods, if implemented and monitored, can address the problem of distortions between different regions of a country.
3.2. Objective of Study and Research Questions
Mainly the objective of the work is to facilitate good management of territory development through the improvement of the institutional realm to reduce territory distortions and poverty in rural areas is the main goal of the work. Specifically, the aims of the study are to (1) Ensure a balance between the territories for the benefit of disadvantaged areas; (2) Create conditions of institutional effectiveness that emphasizes social and political issues; (3) Facilitate the implementation of ongoing and future territorial development projects; (4) Strengthen economic competitiveness between regions of the country and then (5) reduce poverty in rural areas.
To effectively understand to aim of the work and achieve those goals it is necessary to ask three quite important research questions like following: 1) What are the mains reasons for the territorial development delay of Côte d’Ivoire? 2) How can the country overcome the challenge? 3) What solutions from Korean’s experiences can be applied to Côte d’Ivoire in order to flatten the curve of inequality?
3.3. Justification of Choice of Case Study
A report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2012) about South Korea industrial development explains more about territorial development policy and the role of institutions in South Korea economic growth. In the report entitled “Industrial policy and territorial Development: Lessons from Korea”, has been analyzed the evolution of Institutions and their implication in Korean economic growth. It shows how Korea caught up is the development by supporting industrialization avoiding territorial and social exclusion. This policy according to the study evolved from specialized programs targeting regions to more articulated schemes. This occurs in three main phases: the first stage from 1998-2003 focused on regional policies were specialized policy on specific programs targeting strategic industries, the second one from 2003-2008 the Government introduce balanced development as national priorities between regions, and then from 2008-2011, the government emphasized regional development policy with more focus on mobilizing growth in the regions. To better understand how Korea experiences can be successfully applied to Côte d’Ivoire, it would be crucial to know first about the Territorial Development challenge of that particular Country.
4. Territorial Development Policy in Cote D’Ivoire
4.1. History of Territorial Development Management in Côte d’Ivoire
4.1.1. The First 10-Years Strategic Development Plan from 1960-1970
The study “The 10-year outlook for economic, social and cultural development 1960-1970,” written in 1962, which was the first planning document developed by post-independence Côte d’Ivoire, clearly indicated the preponderance of territorial policy in the country’s economic development process. But the issue of land use in Côte d’Ivoire was really addressed in the 1970s with the Advent of the 1967-1970 Plan Act, through which an analysis of regional disparities has been made. This analysis is worth recalling in the context of this study, as it gives clear quantitative details on the poverty rate in Côte d’Ivoire by large regions. One of the fundamental reasons that led to the completion of this study. Indeed, net domestic income per head increased (in 1965) from 20,600 CFA francs (21 US dollars) in the North to 52,300 CFA francs in the South, and reached 255,000 CFA in Abidjan. Cash income ranges from 3,000 CFA francs per head in rural areas in the North to 19,000 CFA in the Centre, 41,900 CFA francs in the South; it reaches 19,400 CFA francs in urban areas in the north, 52,000 CFA francs in the Centre and 253,000 CFA francs in Abidjan (Lierdeman, 1974) .
4.1.2. Planning Institutions and the Beginning of Territorial Development Issues
The alarmist characteristic of inequality mentioned above had forced the authorities to create institutions which could be able to manage regional distortion. Two main technical structures had been established:
v The Southwest Region Planning Authority (ARSO) established in December 1969
In the forest area, the program is part of the improvement of peasant life by emphasizing: (i) the sedentary workforce, (ii) the production and distribution of selected coffee and cocoa seeds, (iii) the introduction of new cash crops, including fruits and vegetables.
v The Bandama Valley Planning Authority (AVB) established in July 1969
In the savannah area, the mission covered two components: (i) a general and permanent regional planning mission; (ii) a specific and temporary mission to transfer the affected populations to the south-west of the country; All this will mark the beginning of the fifteen-year plans in Côte d’Ivoire as tools for implementing development policies. This is the process of implementing these plans from 1970 on Table 1 below.
4.1.3. Five-Years Plans Implementation
It should be remembered that the implementation of these five-year plans was an overall failure due to poor management and coordination problems. Moreover, the 1981-85 plan was not implemented because of the economyic crisis that began to hit the country from 1980. In addition, the implementation of the
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Table 1. Strategic economic plan including territorial development plan.
Source: Research Analysis based on National Prospective Study, Côte d’Ivoire-2025, 2016.
Structural Adjustment Plans (SAPs) has forced the State to disengage from certain activities with very low social impact.
4.1.4. Policy Impact Analysis
In view of the above, it seems important to conduct a more in-depth investigation in order to identify the structural inadequacies that have led to the failure of the first fifteen-year plans. For, it is extremely essential, with regard to the diagnostics to be carried out in the context of the development of sectoral or national policies on land use planning, to highlight these loopholes so that they are taken into account in other studies. These deficiencies may be several, but five have been detected in this study:
First, it should be noted that the first-10-years plans were national development programs which encompassed all projects. Although it gave priority to the territorial development policy, this was less important for the authorities’ whose clear desire was giving priorities to the agricultural sector alone.
Secondly, the Authorities (structures) created as part of the implementation of the 10-year perspective with management autonomy were experiencing coordination problems, and the funds allocated to them were not housed in a bank for this purpose.
Third, the latest five-year plan designates the only city in Abidjan to accommodate large investments without thinking about a real orientation plan for some Foreign Direct Investments towards country’s other major cities, like Yamoussoukro, the political capital, as well as Korhogo and Bouake. Doing so, they increased the disparities between Abidjan city and other regions of the country that have so far no infrastructure worthy of the name.
Fourth, agricultural activity was mentioned as a priority in the four five-year plans drawn up from 1962 to 1990, there was no particular focus on small and medium-sized industries that should serve as a transitional sector from agriculture to the industrial.
The fifth key point is the advent of the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), which have suspended the implementation of the last five-year plan (1981-1985), while the disparities were noticeable among the regions of the country.
4.2. New Face of Territorial Development in Côte d’Ivoire from 1990 Until Now
4.2.1. The Advent of Structural Adjustment Programmes in 1990s
The early 1990s were mainly marked by the period of economic recession with the advent of the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The SAPs as a joint economic reform program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank were designed to enable countries affected by great economic difficulties to emerge from their economic crisis. The conditionality of the SAPs, largely characterized by a policy of austerity and the privatization of state-owned enterprises, favored the suspension of several government projects and interrupted certain public policies qualified as cost full and not necessary at that time (UNIDO, 2012) . However, in the 2000s with the advent of the Paris Declaration and the Accra Program of Action introducing new reforms, land-use planning will reappear with new guidelines after 2000s. In that extent, it can be argued that the time period from 1990 to 2011s can be considered period of inaction.
4.2.2. New Institutions for Planning and Policy Implementation Until 2011
The issue of territorial policy and spatial planning, long relegated to the back burner because of many crises that have shaken Côte d’Ivoire will return to the heart of the new political and economic orientations. The southern region, although playing its role as the engine of the country’s economy, is also beginning to pose problems regarding the highly remarkable disparities between Abidjan, which is increasingly stifled, and other parts of the country. The situation will lead Ivorian authorities to integrate, once again, the planning of the territory in priority projects from the 2000s (PNAT, 2016) also marking the implementation of the Paris Declaration. The general objectives of this new land use and decentralization policy are following:
(a) disengage the State from production activities in favor of actions aimed at establishing an investment-friendly framework (investment code, equipment and public infrastructure;
(b) foster a harmonious, balanced and coherent development of the country as a whole, by strengthening the role of development lever for territorial entities, through the promotion of local competence and increased accountability of populations in terms of programming and development management;
(c) to accompany decentralization with an increased movement to deconcentrate public services;
(d) better program investment and optimize resource management in the broadest sense (natural resources, infrastructure and equipment heritage, human resources).
Clearly, these objectives were due to a number of findings that define the characteristics of the Ivorian economy in terms of inequality
4.2.3. Stage of New Policy Implementation
After a fratricide political crisis of 2011 which once again highlight the poverty rate within the population, the government will implement the Presidential Emergency Programme in order to rapidly deal with endemic poverty caused by the war. A monographic study of the country’s Districts will be carried out in Côte d’Ivoire. The aim of this study is to make a diagnosis in order to control the natural, socio-economic and demographic potential of each region of the country. The completion of the monographic and economic studies of the 14 Districts of Côte d’Ivoire is part of the Regional Economic Program (PER) launched in 2004 by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). This will lead to the establishment of the Competitive Economic Poles programme by the new institutions in charge of territorial policy.
4.2.4. Competitive Economic Poles: Opportunities and Challenges
In 2004 at the request of member states and at the instigation of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WEAMU), was born the Regional Economic Program (REP) which has been materialized by a convention signed in January 2013 between the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the Institution. The Regional Economic Program is an instrument for implementing a strategy aimed at deepening regional economic integration. It is composed of regionally selected integrating projects in view of their catalytic effects in achieving the Union’s growth and development objectives. The objective is to draw up an inventory and to identify the potentialities and the constraints specific to each region of the country, with a view to assigning specific developmental functions to it.
In Côte d’Ivoire, as part of this program, the Ivorian government launched, in 2013, the conduct of monographic and economic studies of the 14 Districts of Côte d’Ivoire in order to identify major projects in Côte d’Ivoire basing on natural and economic resources, and cultural potential.
As a result of the studies, four (4) geo-economics zones have been identified, that is, the South-East Zone, the North-East Center, the North-West Zone, and the South-West Zone (MPD, 2013) .
We call geo-economic zone (or production area) a grouping of territories, meshed by a transport network connecting the “connectors” to each other; the territories of the area have a significant population and consumption pool, share the same natures of production and similar problems (productivity, marketing, logistics, etc.); (Figure 1).
As can be seen, each geo-economic zone has natural, cultural and economic specificities that are comparative advantages specific to each of the geo-economic zones. This strategy defines the possibility of creating boosting the development and economic growth of the main and secondary cities. What we will also need to know is that these four Geo-economic areas presented above, have each a regional specificity in terms of natural and cultural resources and assets that could make it a competitive economic hub.
1) Objective of CEPs
The Competitive Economic Poles (CEPs) development program is part of a logic of territorial development that fully integrates the concept of sustainable development. As a reminder, territorial development is a transformation towards global well-being, through project development, with the development of local resources, and all this in a long-term vision (PECs, 2019) .
• Its mission is to stimulate, design and animate projects that are part of a territorial sustainable development policy, in a participatory approach.
the objectives are like following:
- Strengthen economic competitiveness, including by accompanying the emergence of competitiveness clusters
- Better anticipate economic changes, supporting the territorial actors who are facing them, in order to develop activity and employment
Ensuring cohesion and balance between the territories, maintaining real solidarity for the benefit of disadvantaged territories
2) Concepts and Vision of CEPs
Connector: An economic connector is a city that plays a strategic role in a country’s economy, concentrating the production of its territory of influence and allowing them to access a larger economic market.
v Principal Connectors (Red color): Cities that generate the urbanization economies needed for innovation, activities with increasing scales and global competitiveness.
v Secondary Connectors (Blue color): Cities that generate the localization savings needed for efficient first valuation, trade and regional transport.
v Local Connectors (Green color): cities that generate the economies of scale needed to bring agricultural potential to market.
4.2.5. CEPs: Challenges and Limitations
To assess the challenges and difficulties of the land-use policy in Côte d’Ivoire, we set out to measure a number of indicators included in Table 2 below. These indicators, each subject to an analysis tool, were used to indicate the level of difficulty it represents in slowing down the implementation of territorial policy. We used the historical analysis method to understand political stability. With regard to the effective functioning of government institutions, a Table of Analysis was used, having in order (Political Empowerment and Decentralization/Administrative Empowerment and Decentralization) and in abscises (Central Government Policy, Legislation and Institution/Local government Institutions, Management and Administration/Local Civil Society and Private sector) which made it possible to better determine the degree of functioning of the decentralization policy. For the rest, namely the perception of poverty, the population structure, housing, education, electricity coverage and drinking water as well as the health service, we referred to statistical data present on the sites of the World Bank, Unicef, and the National Statistics Institute of Côte d’Ivoire. The results are summarized in Table 2 below.
As we can see, most of the selected indicators are unsatisfactory outside of access to drinking water, and electricity, sectors that have been a government priority since 2016. However, another very important challenge is that of territorial policy legislation. Our investigation shows that there is no real law to frame the implementation of this policy and to define the key players involved in the sector. This makes it difficult to coordinate and centralize data. In this extent, how can Côte d’Ivoire deal with all those challenges? Can South Korea case give appropriate solutions? The next chapter should give us some elements of answers.
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Table 2. Assessment of TDP challenges indicators in Côte d’Ivoire.
Source : Researcher Analysis, 2020.
5. Territory Development in South Korea
5.1. Historical Motivation of TDP Implementation in Korea
The 1950s were characterized by an unprecedented fratricidal war (1950-1953) on the Korean peninsula shortly after a long (1910-1945) period of Japanese colonization. The devastating effects of the war, in addition to the extensive plundering of Korean resources through colonization, will raise a collective awareness aimed at restoring the dignity of the Korean people (KRIHS, 2013) . This awareness will be made not only intellectually, culturally and politically, but also economically by the improvement of the living and working conditions of all Koreans. This made it possible by the implementation of economic policies aimed at drastically reducing disparities between regions of the country and especially social inequalities. Like many African countries today, South Korea also experienced significant disparities between its regions yesterday, that have been caught up thanks to the implementation of territorial policies.
5.2. Metropolitan Area and Regional Inequality
The development of metropolitan areas at the expense of other regions is a remarkable identity for almost all nations in early growth. And the Republic of South Korea has not been on the move. Kim Yong-Woong pointed out regional disparities and their collateral effects on people’s daily lives between the 1960s and 2005. The rapid urbanization of the city of Seoul and its peripheries and the concentration of an urban population in a few large metropolitan areas have resulted in an unequal regional distribution of the population (P 10). It indicates that the population growth rate in the metropolis was 4.30%, while national statistics were only 1.83 in 2005. This uneven distribution of the population is associated with several other indicators such as unbalanced industrial growth, employability rate and GDP per capita was at the root of the leaders’ clear desire to implement a strategy of equitable management of the country’s wealth through space planning policy (Table 3).
It can be seen that from 1960 until 1972, the period before the implementation of the Comprehensive Territory Development Policy, the disparities were clearly visible. The population in the largest city Seoul increased by 6.2%. This situation will motivate the implementation of the land-use planning policy from 1972 on known as the Comprehensive National Territory Plan in order to balance the distribution of populations through not only the creation of new industrial zones and economic poles likely to relieve congestion in the city of Seoul, but also the relocation of certain institutions of the Republic to other localities to inspire confidence in the populations of the will of decision-makers to be closer to all.
5.3. Implementation of Comprehensive National Territorial Plans in South Korea (1972-2014)
From the 1970s, the Republic of Korea decided to implement a genuine policy of economic balance and equitable management of the country’s wealth throughout the territory through the Territory’s Comprehensive National Plan with clearly defined objectives and action plans. Since that time, four plans have been put in place in total as summarized in the following Table 4.
Gross Regional per Capita is almost same everywhere, which not obvious in others countries
Those outcomes haves obtained through effective Institutionalization
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Table 3. Evolution of Korean urban and rural population.
Source: https://databank.worldbank.org (Sept, 2020).
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Table 4. Korea comprehensive territorial development plan schedule.
Note: The CNLP is the framework territorial plan in Korea.
5.4. Impact of CNTP Implementation
Regarding the development policy implemented since the 1960s, it can be said that significant changes have been observed in terms of improving the socio-economic conditions of populations. This Table 5 below shows the evolution of purchasing power, the rate of GDP by region which gives clear indicators on the impact of this policy on people’s lives.
It can be seen through this table that the balanced growth policy put in place through the CNTP was a reality in Korea. And this reality is noticeable in all administrative regions of the country, each of which has benefited from specialization on the basis of its natural and cultural potential for some but above all on the desire to make certain regions competitive economic poles. However, the question is how was the institutional framework organized? What is the mechanism in place to make successfully work the CNTP in Korea?
5.5. The Secrets of the CNTP Effectiveness in South Korea
5.5.1. Institutionalization of CNTP
Francis Fukuyama (2011) said of institutions that they are born to face a competitive challenge in a particular environment that can be physical or social and as such they need to be preserved because of human nature through laws, norms and values. Institutions are in a way the guarantor of societal welfare and must also adapt to its evolution over time and space. Gunnar Myrdal characterizes this as an “upward movement of the whole social system”. Thus, it is important to stress that mastering the institutional framework of Korean territorial policy was the main condition of its success.
5.5.2. The Appropriation of CNTP by Korean Government
The implementation of the spatial planning and development policy owes its
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Table 5. South Korea gross regional product per capita.
Source: kosis.kr/stat. 2018.
success in appropriation of a vision brought to the highest level of the Korean state that has encouraged the implementation of what could be called an “economic ethics” whose objective is the balanced growth of the different localities of the country, so that all citizens have the same opportunities throughout the territory. That appropriation can be materialized as following: (Figure 2).
This economic ethic plan revolves around five main areas including (1) Vitalization of regional living areas, (2) Creation of regional employment, (3) Improvement of educational environment, (4) Flourishing of regional culture, (5) Welfare and medical services without blind spots. The project was initially supervised by the presidency of the republic and followed a logic of prioritization that starts from the national level to the last scale at the local level.
5.5.3. The CNTP: A Strong Legally Based Policy
In the Republic of Korea, the success of the land-use policy is the result of laws and standards in this area that define and frame the fundamentals of this economic and territorial policy in order to ensure its coherence, its compliance with commitments and ensure its implementation while indicating the appropriate frameworks and authorities to intervene, as well as the designation of all stakeholders and key actors of policy making.
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Figure 2. Territorial development implementation chart. Source: “2008 Annual Report on the Planning and Use of National Territory”, Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs, Korea.
However, before the adoption of the framework act on national territory in February 2002, which has been reviewed several times, including the last amendment dated December 2016, the economic development strategy on the balanced growth of the national territory was framed by conventions or orientation laws covering each of the selected realm and the concerned economic sectors. This Table 6 below shows the Framework acts of key sectors relates to territory policy implementation according to each sector of activities.
In view of the above, it is also important to point out that a Territory Development Plan is different from an Economic Development Plan (EDP) even if both work from the same perspective of implementing the country’s economic vision.
5.5.4. EDP in South Korea
Although the implementation of the Economic Development Plan was conceived shortly before the implementation of the land development policy, the EDP is now a tool to support and accompany the implementation of CNTP. In this extent, the EDP represents the effective implementation phase of the policy developed and the projects selected in the CNTP. Thus, it should be noted that from 1960 to 1996 eight EDPs implemented in Korea with defined objectives. Two of them before the implementation phase of CNTP. The EDPs facilitate the materialization of political visions and the effective implementation of national objectives in the short and medium term. It can be said that the successful implementation of EDP is one of the sine qua non condition for TDP effectiveness. Therefore, to clearly indicate the difference between both planning tools, it is important to mention another criterion that makes EDP particular.
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Table 6. Land use related law and specific Areas.
Source: MOLIT Presentation to the OECD Secretariat during the Fact-Finding Mission, 2017.
1) Conditions of Effective EDP
UNDP (2016) suggests an integrated planning frame-work for sustainable development based on five key areas: 1) institutions and governance; 2) evidence-based and empirically backed policy options; 3) development of budgeting and financial system; 4) monitoring and evaluation (M&E); and 5) capacity development. Each area contains three to four conditions for effective development planning and execution (Figure 3).
6. New Findings, Policy Implication and Recommendations
With regard to the first concern about the fundamental reasons for economic and territorial disparities in Côte d’Ivoire, the diagnosis revealed a number of direct and underlying causes.
• The direct causes include:
- Improvisation in implementation in the policy of Territorial Development in the years after independence;
- The creation of institutions without legal basis (lack of framework law);
- A problem of coordination in the implementation of public and sectoral policies;
- The lack of a policy of planning and development of the territory itself until 2006;
- The express will on the part of the leaders to make Abidjan alone the lung of the economy for lack of means at the request of the World Bank via the SAPs;
- Repeated political-military crises since 1999;
However, there are also indirect reasons for slowing down the implementation of territorial policy:
- The land development policy is not truly institutionalized;
- Lack of political will to implement a balanced territorial policy;
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Figure 3. Conditions for effective economics development planning and execution. Source: UNDP, 2016 .
All these anomalies found during our analysis, allowed us to propose new lines of operation within the framework of the territory’s policy.
6.1. Five Principles of Effective Territorial Development Plan
The analysis of the Territorial Development Policy based on the Republic of Korea led to the identification of some recommendations. These recommendations abound, but our work will be focused on the most important ones identified as principles. There are five.
First, it must be remembered that territorial policy cannot and should not be substituted by the National Economic Development Plan and vice versa. In other words, the development of the territory is a broader long-term ambition that an economic development plan must build on in the short term. Thus its success requires its total harmonization by the political and administrative authorities. The implementation of EDP should not undermine that one of TDPs. This method is harmonized dissociation or Principle of complementarity.
Secondly, it is important to stress that any development or development process must be supported by institutional reform. Because institutions must always adapt to change in order to operate effectively and efficiently. To do this, structuring projects need to be framed by standards and values in order to remain in the main objective. These new laws will also determine not only conditions for implementation but also the main actors who need to intervene. Thus the institutionalization of the changes gives a legal guarantee and full power to the decision-makers to drive. This institutionalization must be extended at the financial level, in Korea for example banks have been set up to support the development policy of the territory. Supported in turn by the State, their role was circumscribed and totally devolved to support projects enshrined in politics. This encourages the full participation of the private sector, which is essential for the implementation of such a development strategy. This is about institutionalization and adaptability.
Third, there is a strong need to support the participation of people and civil society. No change is possible without the people for whom change is made. The pool of experts must be dominated or even composed exclusively by the nationals. The import of expertise in the implementation of development projects sometimes violates the principle of inclusive participation and consideration of national opinions and also distorts adaptability. Hence the need to create an Institute of Expertise, not for the occasion but for continuity, insofar as the development of the territory is a process in perpetual continuity that must balance and economic growth and the process of urbanization. The total implication of the top authorities is required as was the case in Korea through the creation of a presidential committee for the implementation of this policy. We will call this phase appropriation and inclusion.
The fourth recommendation will focus on accountability, through strict monitoring and evaluation of the objectives of the Land Development Policy. The experience of developing countries tells us the gap between the project planning process and their implementation. This is therefore one of the most important steps. For the monitoring quality of the first step of a program determines the level of its success and the continuity or not of that program.
The fifth and last principle is also the most important. It’s about the revision of Foreign Direct Investment policy in Côte d’Ivoire. This must be supported by a framework act to guide investors whose projects meet the criteria as determined by national experts in relation to the specific regions chosen for each type of investment. This strategy must also be guided by tax exemptions and other guarantees and administrative facilities to reassure each investor about the opportunities existing in the investment area. In addition, the state must assume its full responsibility for overseeing private investment through public investment. These are the conditions for facilitating Foreign Direct Investments. Only in that way can be given chance to the establishment of micro-industries and facilitate the transition from the agricultural economy to the industrial economy.
6.2. Conditions of Effective TDPs
As a full-fledged planning tool, it is appropriate to propose the effective conditions for the success of a Territory Development Plan that can enable the efficient implementation of a TDP different from an Economic Development Plan.
This painting inspired by the Korean experience is therefore a reference, par excellence, for driving and better applying a better policy of Land Development. However, we stress that this Table 7 alone cannot clearly state the conditions for the success of a land development policy. That’s why it is necessary, in view of the difficulties raised throughout this study, to propose possible solutions to help Côte d’Ivoire and any other developing country. These solutions are neither definitive nor rigid, their effective applicability lies not only in the ability of leaders of developing countries to contextualize conditions at a less broad and limited level in space, but also the stability and emergence democratic institutions.
6.3. Policy Recommendations for Future Researches
This work opens two essential doors in terms of possible research related to territorial policy. One of the factors that has facilitated the achievement of the
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Table 7. Conditions of Effective TDPs.
objectives of Korean territorial policy is the policy of foreign direct investment. Through easing and certain tax exemptions, South Korea has been able to attract multinationals in a great way while directing them to the areas chosen by the CNTP’s expert committee. This method is, while applicable to Côte d’Ivoire, however, the notable differences between economic assets in both countries on the one hand and the quality of their respective human capital on the other is a grey area that can undermine the application of FDI policy in Côte d’Ivoire as set up in South Korea, where the targeted localities already had qualified human resources to take part in the industrialization process due to massive investments in education in previous years. This leads us to develop hypotheses, whether the smooth running of the FDI is necessarily dependent on the available human capital, if so how can this gap be bridged without preventing the flow of foreign capital to Côte d’Ivoire?
The second grey area to be illuminated is the effective management of the parity Economic Development Plan and Territorial Development Policy. Indeed, the effective implementation of EDP remains an important challenge for many African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire. To this end, how to implement a land use policy that takes into account all development issues and all sectors of activity without compromising the effectiveness of the National Development Plan. A good understanding of this mechanism could be an important asset in the implementation and success of a better economic policy for a harmonious distribution of wealth and the reduction of poverty caused by regional disparities.
7. Conclusion
In closing, we can argue, in view of the objectives achieved by South Korea since the implementation of the CNTP in 1972 and its positive results, that land development policy is an essential planning tool and a strategy for effective and efficient implementation of economic development policies. Put emphasis on strategic investments, not only in key sectors of the economy, but also in specific areas that may meet the economic resource mobilization challenge to enable neglected areas and communities to make up for themselves economically and give rise to more human-faced development. To do this, we first set out to make a diagnosis of the territorial development policy of Côte d’Ivoire. It has been identified irregularities in the implementation of the first fifteen-year plans that had operated without any real legal and institutional basis. Second, we tried to understand the current functioning and new directions of territorial policy in Côte d’Ivoire while emphasizing the institutional framework. It turns out that the Ivorian Territory Development Policy, as currently presented, faces many problems that are institutional, political and above all legal insofar as this policy is not framed by any Act. This makes it difficult to identify key players involved in decision-making. These elements have led us to understand in detail the strategy put in place by South Korea where the land use policy is a program that has been appropriated by all successive governments, whereas in Côte d’Ivoire it is managed only at the lowest end of the scale. This made it clear that the difference in the implementation of land development policy in these two countries lies not only in the level of conception and the comprehension of this policy but also in its appropriation. Côte d’Ivoire must thereby give itself the technical, financial but above all the political will to develop a real policy in terms of the development of the territory, finally to truly contain poverty by creating economic poles across the country and promote political stability.
Endnote
This paper is abstracted and improved from the author’s master thesis.