The Korea Local Administration Review

‘Place prosperity vs. people prosperity’ is a classic debating subject of urban and regional development theories and practices in U.S.A. In this paper, I try to review some traditional theoretical issues about this subject, and examine the strengths and weaknesses of these two conflicting approaches, focusing on logic, goal and policy instruments of each approaches. And then, I examine related arguments in Korea, and compare Korean and American argument. In conclusion, I emphasize the need for the unified people-place prosperity policies that integrate these two approaches.