• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-34
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• 1997

The impact of a central place on daily living over wide outlying territory has been one of traditional subjects in the field of urban geography. The flow of rural population toward the central city of Chinju characterizes the population movement in Western Kyungnam, where the spillover of urban population into outlying areas, an especially prominent phenomenon in American society, does not occur. The central city of Chinju is supposed to be the most favored settlement area in Western Kyungnam. More than two thousands of teachers. who live in Chinju, cross the city boundary each morning to do their jobs in Western Kyungnam. But only ninety teachers living outside Chinju commute to the workplace in the city. The teachers willingly spend hours commuting each day to enjoy better quality of life in the central city. In fact, the central city of Chinju functions as bedroom communities for many middle-class workers in Western Kyungnam. On the basis of teachers' commuting behavior, four levels of Chinju's urban spheres are identified in Western Kyungnam. As Table-6 and Figure-2 show, the first-order level of Chinju's sphere includes most Myuns of Sanchung/Hadong Guns and some Myuns of Sachun/Gosung Guns. The second-order level comprises Sanchung/Sachun Eubs and many Myuns of Sachun /Gosung Guns. The third-order level is made up of Samchunpo, Hadong/Gosung/Eryung/Namhae/Habchun/Hamyang Eups, and many Myuns of Eryung/Namhae/Habchun Guns. And all of Guchang Gun and most Myuns of Hamyang Gun belong to the fourth-order level of Chinju's sphere. The influence sphere of Metropolitan Chinju is extended farther in the direction of less competition with other metropolises. Such a situation occurs to the west and south of Chinju. Daily commuting, defined as the journeys to and from work, is an excellent indicator for delimiting urban spheres of influence.