The Designation of Korean DIF Zones by Implementing the AMOEBA Technique

Abstract

This study has been conducted to supplement the Hotspot method that could not properly deal with the ecotone issues as has been demonstrated in the preceding study by Kim and Choei (2017) in designating the Development Impact Fee (DIF) zones in Korea. In lieu of the Hotspot technique, the study adopts the AMOEBA procedure that shares the common Getis-Ord Gi* statistic with the former but is more adequate to figure out the ecotones than its counterpart. For the comparative purpose, simulations have been run by both methods according to a series of different scenarios in terms of the analytic spatial units (here, square grids) from 100m up to 400m, and the zonal outcomes by both methods have been compared based on a set of evaluative indicators. In terms of the numerical evaluation, the zonal outcomes by either Hotspot or AMOEBA method is quite comparable except that the former is a bit superior to the latter with respect to the avoidance of the oversized spread of the selected zones and vice versa with respect to the ease of infrastructure installation. Contrary to the proximity in numerical evaluation, however, 40 percent of the zones selected by each method have been set at totally different locations on the spatial map, indicating the clear differences in their approaches to pursue the locational optimality of the zones. It thus remains as one of the major issue to be investigated further by extended study that includes the in-depth field surveys to figure out the causes as well as the meanings of such differences in zonal outcomes.