우리나라 농촌 중심지의 인구변화 특징: 1995~2020년의 지방 읍급 도시를 중심으로

Abstract

In this study, 110 eup-class cities located in the county-level administrative district (Gun) of the nonmetropolitan area were named local small towns, and the its characteristics of the demographics from 1995 to 2020 were considered. There are 25 local small towns whose population has increased in the past 25 years, of which 7 eups such as Samhyang-eup, Seokjeok-eup, Hongbuk-eup, and Deoksan-eup have increased by more than 10,000 people. However, these towns have inflows from outside such as administration, industry, and residential functions, and the increase in middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s is conspicuous. As the adjacent rural population flowed into local small towns, the effect of population dispersion from large cities was not significant. On the other hand, among the 85 eups where the population has decreased, the population decline in the local small towns of Jeonnam (26), Gangwon (14), and Gyeongbuk (12) was most noticeable. Thirteen eups, including Beolgyo-eup, Buyeo-eup, Gwangcheon-eup, and Janghang-eup, whose population has decreased by more than 5,000, have been aging at a rapid pace since the 2010s. These local small towns were found to have the most active population movement with adjacent cities and rural areas.