Cheonggyecheon
Uploaded by annamatic3000.
Anyway, I wanted to say a little about this project because I was really impressed with its outcome. Even though this undertaking had (and has) its share of criticisms (allegations of corrupt financing, steamroller development tactics, protests from displaced merchants), I'm glad that those in charge forged through. There's just not enough times that a public project makes it from conception to construction while maintaining architectural, environmental or cultural integrity. Too often fuzzy values like "beauty," "culture," and "nature" get run into the ground while businessman-types eye the bottom-line.
The Cheonggyecheon restoration was the pet project and campaign promise of Seoul's current mayor, Lee Myung Bak. Rumor has it that Mayor Lee is preparing to run for President. That -- and the fact that he was once head of Hyundai Engineering & Construction -- help explain the speed with which this enormous project was completed. An entire expressway was dismantled and 8.5 miles of beautiful water-, walk- and park-way was constructed within 15 months. I can't help but compare this to how such a project might progress in New York (not to mention anywhere else in America), where you'd be lucky if the developers and community groups were done bickering within 4 years. Perhaps the "Freedom Tower" would be done by now if Bloomberg were considering running for President?
Anyway, even if this is all part of an elaborate bid to get elected, it's not an unwelcome bit of electioneering; as Gavin and I walked along the banks, we saw nothing but smiles on the faces around us. Businessmen took off their shoes and socks to dip their toes in; dating couples snapped photos of one another; children and grandparents playfully hopped across the stepping stones.
The new waterway doesn't aim to mimic a natural stream; instead, its design is an appropriate almalgam of nature and technology, with odes to both history and the future. There are upper and lower walkways to enjoy the stream from various vantage-points; some portions of the walkways are paved for modern convenience, others cobbled to mimic the rocky paths of yesteryear. Signs point out the names of the reintroduced indigenous plants; site-specific public sculptures provide a contemporary cultural response to the stream. The flow of the water has been carefully choreographed, with some segments smooth and rippleless and others splashing playfully over rocks, all punctuated with occasional mini-waterfalls or shooting geysers, criss-crossed with bridges of all types: stepping stones, restored ancient stone bridges, as well as new overpasses for cars. All of this begins in a plaza near Gwanghwamun, where the "start" of the stream takes the form of a tiny tiny hole in the sidewalk, out of which springs a mini-rivulet that meanders and grows. As if to remind everyone that even big multibillion dollar projects must have humble beginnings. For over 500 years during the Joseon Dynasty, the Cheonggye drew citizens in the heart of Seoul to its banks for festive and day-to-day activites. It was both a source of fresh water and an important sewage drainage system. Commercial, cultural and entertainment districts developed alongside it. But in the 1950s after the Korean War, shantytowns sprang up on its banks and the waters became a polluted health hazard. During the 1960s, in the rush to rebuild Seoul, the stream was paved over to create the Cheonggyecheon Expressway.
I'm quite sure that the re-appearance of this strip of green bisecting downtown Seoul has significantly increased the number of daily smiles per capita in the city, if such a thing could be measured. By comparison, the project's environmental benefits are more quantifiable: fully 100% of the demolished expressway was recycled -- 75 % of the cement waste became basic construction material, 25% went to a reclaimed land project at Gimpo Airport. Meanwhile, contrary to its critics' predictions, the elimination of the expressway has thus far reduced -- not increased -- noise, pollution and congestion in downtown Seoul. And on the economic front, the new greenspace will likely bring a host of cafes, restaurants, and shops to the area to service the area's walking traffic.
Overall, the message here seems to be: cultural and natural preservation can be progressive, not backwards. Once considered the antithesis of modernization, environmentally-sound practices are these days its very essence. 아주 좋아요!
