Yellow Sea Region Infrastructure Spending and Land-Use/Pricing News

This list includes news about land use, related infrastructure investments, coastal conservation, real-estate prices, and associated values in the countries bordering the Yellow Sea, as well as relevant articles from elsewhere. This list is neither complete nor up to date. However, the most-recent version will be posted indefinitely at this web address. Feel free to pass along relevant articles to james.hadley@factplusfancy.com.

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Current Year

China Daily, 2012.01.13 07:33, "Fishermen ride wave of discontent: Depleted stocks mean catch is harder to come by, Cui Jia and Liu Ce report from Shandong and Liaoning provinces", http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2012-01/13/content_14435394.htm
[Selected quote] Bohai Sea, where Shidao port sits, used to have 70 types of marine products with commercial value, according to a study released in July by Tianjin Bohai Sea Marine Products Institute. Pollution and overfishing have cut that number to 10. "China's overfished and depleted waters are forcing Chinese fisherman farther and farther out into sea, where they are running into more and more trouble with Korean coast guards." [said Li Yongkai, deputy director of oceanic administration of Rongcheng city].

Korea Times, The, 2012.01.08 17:13, "Still time for Songdo City to protect biodiversity" opinion by Tim Edelsten, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2012/01/137_102458.html
[Selected quote] Tidal flats play an important role in sustaining healthy environments and marine ecosystems. A 2006 study by the Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute found that the average economic value of mudflat (mostly due to its fisheries) was over [US]$32,000 per hectare annually. Assessing Incheon's tidal flat in 2007, the Korea Environment Institute found that just one hectare provided $27,972 of benefits in water purification, and sequesters 10 tons of carbon per annum. The economic and ecological value of tidal flats was also well-known in 2000, when Incheon publicly committed itself to its "Charter for Tidal Flat Preservation." Despite this, Incheon recorded the largest loss of tidal flats of all South Korean localities between 2003 and 2008 -- an area of 33 square kilometers.

Korea Herald, The, 2012.01.04 19:30, "Lotte to set up shopping complex in Incheon zone" by Shin Hyon-hee, http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120104000631

the network: Cisco's Technology News Site, 2011.01.04, "Cities of the Future: Songdo, South Korea -- Episode 1" by Wendy Tanaka, http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?type=webcontent&articleId=630153
[Selected quote] South Korea is one of the world's most densely populated countries. When the Songdo project began in 2001, there was no available land to build it. Fifteen hundred acres had to be reclaimed from the sea.