The Balanced National Development Plan, which began in 2004 with the Special Act on Balanced National Development, made the central government agency’s relocation a major axis of its development strategy. In 2005, the Committee for Balanced National Development divided the locations where central government agencies relocated into the Innovation District, located in an existing city, and the Innovation City, newly built. In that year, the committee decided on the locations of 10 innovation cities.

 

In 2006, six districts (Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Gwangju-Jeollanam-do, and Jeollabuk-do) were designated for the construction of innovation cities in accordance with the Housing Site Development Promotion Act. It was decided to develop Daegu and Ulsan Innovation Cities in the newly developed districts within the city. With the enactment of the Innovation City Act in 2007, ten Innovation City projects were in full swing.

The construction of an Innovation City for decentralization and balanced development was carried out with the agreement of the central and local governments. On May 27, 2005, the Government-Local Basic Agreement on Innovation City Construction was signed, and site selection committees for each province were formed. The Special Act on the Construction and Support of Innovation Cities (the Innovation City Act) also allowed national institutions, local governments, government-invested institutions, and local public enterprises to propose the designation of a planned Innovation City development district. The Innovation City, carried out through consultation between the central and local governments, was Korea’s first regional development plan that considered the public institution (entity) relocation plan, the city construction plan, and the regional development after the city was built.

The Innovation City Season 2 started after the relocation of public institutions was completed in the 2010s. It is a regional development paradigm that combines the infrastructure construction and settlement environment improvement of the Innovation Cities with the local industrial ecosystem. The government announced the 2018 Innovation City Comprehensive Development Plan after establishing the Innovation City’s specialized development strategy in connection with the regional industrial development strategy encompassing the innovative city.