• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.229-248
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• 2002

In the recent years the office sector or industry are recognized not only as a key economic activity and employment source in urban areas, but also as a factor for the changing urban spatial structure. This paper aims to review the research trends and future prospects on the office locations. The study starts with a survey of literatures by summarizing the most important previous studies on the office location research and by disclosing research deficits. And then general locational trends of office activities on the base on the different geographical scale and its current location dynamics including the influencing factors are discussed. Finally this study summarizes the outlooks on the future task within office location research.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.85-102
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• 1998

The Changing Characteristics of Office Location in Central Seoul In recent years, central Seoul has been experiencing a dynamic transformation. In the process of reorganization of urban industrial structure including tertiarization and quaternarization of the economic base of Seoul, business services are growing very rapidly and large scale urban renewal projects are agilely implemented. Downtown office activities become a nucleus for economic performance of Seoul and high-rise office buildings steer the landscape transformation of central Seoul. Even though there appear to exist some evidences that office districts have dispersed to several subcenters, major office activities are still concentrated in the central Seoul. This paper redefines office industry in a narrow meaning comprising only relevant economic sectors and office buildings as office activity-functioning units. It then explores the industrial networking and territorial specialization of office activities focusing on the dual process of concentration and dispersion in Seoul. The changing characteristics of the downtown linkages of office activities in this post-industrial era transforms the spatial economy of central Seoul into more flexible and volatile, while territorial concentration of power and control functions are fortified at the same time. Finally, the paper addresses the development of manufacturing-tertiary-quaternary industrial complex, which can be regarded as new industrial clusters, selling cultural economy of urban space and possessing placeness or images for clients and customers, in relation to urban competitiveness and territorial specialization of large metropolitan areas.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-419
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• 1994

Telecommunication and intormation technology have been conceived as crucial as well as revolutionary elements for recent and future social and economic development, and their development have led to a spatial reorganization and locational change of economic activities. Information technology has resulted in important changes in the organization structure and location of firm. This study draws attention to the understanding of the relationship between the diffusion of information technology and changes in firm activities with the special reference to the service industry of the United States. Information technology has had a significant impact on the growth and changes of the service industry of the United States through changes in the organizational and employment structure, market structure, and locational changes. The impact of information technology on location changes of the service industry shows two opposite patterns, concentration and decentralization. Among these patterns, the location change in the service industry of the United States reveals predominantly the decentralization tendency such as suburbanization and transfer to lower ranking cities rather than concentration. In case of Korea, however, it is anticipated that the rapid development of information technology may lead to the concentration of the service industry in Seoul and Capital region.