Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Urbanisation in South Korea: Case of Jejudo Island during 1946~1970

Abstract

Jejudo Island’s sustainable urbanisation journey offers a compelling narrative that distinguishes its cultural heritage from the broader South Korean experience. This paper investigates the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, cultural practices, and sustainable urban development in Jejudo Island during the phase 1946~1970. Unlike the rapid industrialisation of mainland South Korea, Jejudo Island’s development has been shaped by geographic isolation, harsh environmental conditions, and a smaller population. These factors have preserved unique traditions, such as the Jejuuh dialect, Haenyeo (female divers), and Dottongsi (pig latrine systems), which reflect a deeply rooted harmony between human activity and the natural environment. The study employs a mixed-method approach, including content analysis of archival data and a questionnaire survey of 330 Jeju Special Self-Governing Province officials. Findings reveal widespread awareness of Jejudo Island’s cultural practices and their perceived contributions to economic, social and environmental sustainability. Senior officials strongly support preserving these traditions, underscoring the need to engage younger generations through targeted education and community initiatives. A core distinction between Jejudo Island and mainland South Korea lies in the island’s reliance on communal labour-sharing systems (Sunureum), collective social networks (Gwendang), and ritualistic respect for nature (Singugan). These practices exemplify Jejudo Island’s cultural resilience and self-reliant development model, which contrasts with South Korea’s top-down, growth-centric urban strategies. The research advocates for integrating Indigenous knowledge into urban planning frameworks, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Jejudo Island stands as a model for balancing modernisation with preserving intangible heritage, offering lessons for sustainable urbanisation globally.

Keywords

Sustainable Urbanisation, Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Knowledge, Urban Policy and Planning, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Jejudo Island, South Korea

Author Biography

Sunwoo Bae

Sunwoo Bae received her Bachelor’s degree in Korean Law from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) and earned her Master's degree (Juris Doctor equivalent) from Handong International Law School (HILS), both located in South Korea, specialising in U.S. and International Law. She then spent four and a half years at the United Nations-affiliated organisation UNITAR CIFAL Jeju on Jejudo Island in South Korea, where she gained extensive experience in organising and coordinating capacity-building programs for government officials and civil society leaders across the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, she joined the doctoral program in Environment, Development, and Sustainability (EDS) at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and successfully completed her PhD in February 2025. Her research focuses on sustainable urbanisation, sustainable island development, and sustainable urban policies.

Bharat Dahiya

Bharat Dahiya is the Director of the Research Centre for Sustainable Development and Innovation at the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. He is an Extraordinary Professor at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa. Bharat holds a PhD in Urban Governance, Planning and Environment from the University of Cambridge, UK. He read for his M.A. in Geography from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Master of Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, both based in New Delhi, India.

Bharat is a highly experienced professional in the field of sustainable urbanisation, having held leadership roles in international organisations and academic institutions. He has advised ministers, mayors, and governments with strategic guidance, policy development, and technical support. Working with prominent international organizations, such as the World Bank, UN-HABITAT, the Asian Development Bank, UNDP, United Nations University, and Metropolis, he has initiated, led and/or contributed to international development projects and programmes on sustainable urban development and urban innovations around the world. For example, he led the preparation of the first-ever Citywide Pro-poor Ger-area Upgrading Strategy and Investment Plan for Ulaanbaatar, capital city of Mongolia.

Throughout his career, Bharat has been involved in the preparation and dissemination of cutting-edge knowledge products. At the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, USA, Bharat conducted the first-ever systematic review of the Bank’s investments for improving urban liveability, published as a co-authored book, Urban Environment and Infrastructure: Toward Livable Cities (2004). At UN-HABITAT, he led, conceptualized, and coordinated the preparation of United Nations’ inaugural report on The State of Asian Cities 2010/11 (2010). He was the lead author of Partnering for Sustainable Development: Guidelines for Multi–stakeholder Partnerships to Implement the 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific (UNU-IAS and UN-ESCAP, 2018), and that of Metropolis' first-ever Asian Metropolitan Report (Metropolis, 2021).

Bharat has co-edited six academic anthologies, Urban Planning and Design for Megacities in the Global South: Smart and Sustainable Development (Springer Nature, 2025), Urban Health: A Global Perspective (Elsevier, 2024), City Responses to Disruptions in 2020: From Lockdowns to Aftermath (Springer Nature, 2024), Disaster Resilience and Human Settlements: Emerging Perspectives in the Anthropocene (Springer Nature, 2023), Practising Cultural Geographies: Essays in Honour of Rana PB Singh (Springer Nature, 2022), and New Urban Agenda for Asia-Pacific: Governance for Sustainable and Inclusive Cities (Springer Nature, 2020).

Bharat advises several professional, academic, private sector, and non-profit organisations around the world. Since 2019, he has been a Member of the International Advisory Board for the UN-HABITAT’s World Cities Report (Nairobi, Kenya). He is also a Member of the Advisory Group for Future Earth Urban Knowledge–Action Network. Since early-2014, Bharat has been the Series Editor for the Scopus-indexed Springer Nature book series, Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements, which has a growing collection of over 50 monographs and edited volumes.

Bharat is a sought-after keynote speaker. He delivered a global keynote at the Academia Roundtable -- In the eye of the storm: How research and data can help solve the climate-related urban Housing crisis, as part of the 12th Session of World Urban Forum held at Cairo in 2024. He has spoken at numerous international conferences, symposia, forums, and seminars around the world.

In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society – Cambridge’s oldest scientific society. In the same year, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust admitted him to the status of Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society. For his professional contributions to sustainable urban development in Mongolia, the Government of Mongolia awarded Bharat with a Certificate of Honour, and the Municipal Government of Ulaanbaatar decorated him with a Medal of Honour. In December 2021, the Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade conferred a Global Sustainability Award 2021 on Bharat.

Suthirat Kittipongvises

Suthirat Kittipongvises is currently a lecturer at the Sustainable Environment Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University (SERI), and also Director of Environment Development and Sustainability (International Program), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She received a PhD degree in Sustainability Science from the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science (GPSS), Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan. Her research focuses on environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation, GHG quantification, climate change impacts and natural resources management, low carbon society, disaster management, ecological resilience and sustainability, environmental concern and worldviews, climate change perception and communication and so on. She also has experience as a visiting scholar at the School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, USA. Furthermore, she has attended and presented her research at various international conferences including the International Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, the International Conference of Climate Change and Global Warming, Venice, Italy, the International Conference on Sustainability Science, Arizona, USA, International Conference on Ecology, Ecosystems and Climate Change, Athens, Greece, International Expert and  Dialogue on Applying Resilience Concept for Climate Change Study and Disaster Management in Thailand Context, Bangkok, Thailand, and International Conference on Ecosystems, Environment and Sustainable Development, Sydney, Australia.

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