KJCKorea
Journal Central

Urban growth prediction has increasingly incorporated AI-driven modeling approaches in planning practice, yet questions remain regarding effective model conditions and their role in decision-making. This study examines the application of a ConvLSTM-based AI model to identify performance-sensitive conditions and to clarify the division of roles between AI and planning practice in urban growth management. Using time-series spatial data from 2000 to 2020 in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, the model predicts urban growth for 2025 under varying spatial resolutions and input configurations. The results show that predictive performance improves at a 100×100 m resolution compared to 500×500 m, and when development constraints are explicitly included as input features. The findings suggest that AI captures latent spatial constraints to generate quantitatively grounded development potential, while planners retain a qualitative role in aligning outcomes with policy objectives and public acceptance. This study contributes to refining deep learning applications and proposes a complementary framework that integrates insights from the model into growth management.

This study examines the relative price dynamics of apartment prices in Seoul following the January 2023 deregulation of speculative control zone designations across 21 non-Gangnam districts, while considering the Special Bogeumjari Loan as part of the contemporaneous policy-finance environment. Using district-level monthly panel data, the study applies difference-in-differences and event-study models to examine both the average relative change and its dynamic adjustment paths. The results show that deregulation did not lead to a relative price increase in non-Gangnam areas. Instead, non-Gangnam districts followed a weaker relative price path than Gangnam, with the gap gradually widening over time. The results of pre-trend and placebo tests suggest limitations in interpreting the estimates as the isolated policy effect of deregulation. The findings suggest that Seoul’s post-deregulation housing market should be understood as a differentiated adjustment process shaped by overlapping policy measures, policy-finance conditions, and submarket structure.

This study examines changes in household financial conditions and the determinants of housing purchase prices among married households transitioning from renting to homeownership. Using data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), the analysis focuses on 1,839 married renter households that purchased their first home during the observation period. Specifically, the study investigates changes in household asset and debt structures before and after home purchase and identifies the factors associated with housing purchase prices through multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that households’ financial assets declined after home purchase, whereas debt levels increased significantly, suggesting a substantial reliance on mortgage borrowing and other forms of financial loans during the homebuying process. In addition, housing purchase prices were found to be significantly associated with the household head’s education and age, household income, duration of marriage, rental deposits and financial assets accumulated prior to home purchase, and regional characteristics. Notably, disparities in housing prices between the Seoul Metropolitan Area and non-metropolitan regions appear to contribute to unequal patterns of interregional mobility and asset accumulation during the transition to homeownership. These findings suggest that the transition to homeownership represents not merely a change in housing tenure, but also a critical financial event that substantially reshapes household asset portfolios and financial stability. This study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing the home purchase decision of renter households as a dynamic household-level financial decision-making process. The findings provide empirical evidence for the design of housing finance policies and contribute to policy discussions aimed at promoting stable asset accumulation among non-homeowning households.