Trump: The Art of the Dealapidation (Exclusive Interview)

Seoul Village: 'Mr President, Welcome to our Korean Errlines'

Donald J. Trump: 'Thanks for having me. I must confess that I was a bit jealous of KIM Jong-un - you already interviewed him three times*'.
 
SV: 'You seem to envy a lot of things from dictators'
 
DJT: 'Look, the whole people of North Korea is forced to love KIM, to attend his inaugurations, to vote for him, to worship him. All the media are compelled to praise him. He doesn't have to worry about laws, human right or justice... I'm great, but I'm not sure I would be able to achieve that before my third term.'
 
SV: 'And he's not even half your age'.
 
DJT: 'Isn't that awesome? This young lad is so talented, he can even ride horses like a stable genius. No wonder we have such a terrific relationship.'

SV: 'We're talking about a cruel dictator, a torturer who murdered even people from his own family.'
 
DJT: 'I know, I'm still a bit weak..., but I'm working on it! And if Robert Mueller manages to have Don Jr flip on me, I won't hesitate to sic my mob friends at both.'
 
SV 'That's the spirit. And speaking of spirits, how could you get so friendly with KIM without boozing along? You don't drink a drop of alcohol'. 

DJT 'We binged on junk food, and you know I don't need to drink to embarrass myself. Plus we were both so high on ourselves... We spent our time boasting about our private resorts, and I showed him my Big Button, the interior of The Beast...'
 
SV 'That's your armored limo.'
 
DJT 'Right. I refurbished it completely with Trump gold, and portraits of the Trump dynasty: me, myself, and I. He didn't show me his set of wheels, but he got his bodyguards run a marathon around it while we chatted. I loved it so much, I asked Jim Mattis to add this stunt to our next military parade.'
 
SV 'So your Singapore Summit was a perfect honeymoon, yet there's a debate about the deal you made.'
 
DJT 'I know, I know, I basically agreed with everything Jong-un asked, I torpedoed our joint drills with South Korea, and to make things worse I said that my threats of last year were just rethoric, so that he doesn't feel any pressure anymore. Anyway as soon as I agreed to meet him, I opened the door to Xi Jinping, who already eased the sanctions, and guaranteed Little Rocket Man he had his back - Oops, I'd better save this nickname for when he turns bad again.'
 
SV 'You are taking a lot of risks. You insisted on playing it on your gut feeling, so if or rather when KIM betrays you, you will own it 100%.'
 
DJT 'Absolutely impossible: the buck never stops here, remember? I already said that if he betrays me, I won't apologize, but find excuses. As usual, I'll blame Obama, Hillary, Comey, the Democrats, the deep state, CNN, Hillary, China, the Swamp, or maybe, for a change, Hillary.'

'Take me to your leader' 20180606 (Dennis Rodman lands in Singapore for the Trump-Kim Summit)

SV 'This deal is not only a textbook case of terrible negotiation, but also very bad for America'.
 
DJT 'First, I've never been good at deals, and actually I didn't write 'The Art of the Deal' myself. Haven't you noticed that everything I do goes morally and financially bankrupt. Me? I only know how to bully people, and when they are women to grab them by the...'
 
SV '... I get your first point. And the second one?'
 
DJT 'Of course I know it's bad for America. Why do you think Putin chose me? Do you really believe I'm putting America First? It's always been all bout me. In order to exist, I need to re-create the World everyday in the image of myself, each time while making big splashes on prime time. What I always do is first criticizing things as the worst that ever existed, then promising deals better than anything that existed before, then destroying everything without proposing a solution, then seeing what happens, and then accusing others it it fails. And behold, it was very good'.
 
SV 'Amen to that. But in the case of North Korea, you're breaking things that are highly radioactive... Should South Korea and Japan worry?'
 
DJT 'I don't care about them, but MOON Jae-in has been on cloud nine ever since he stopped my 'bloody nose' plans, and Shinzo Abe, who like me adores fellow strongmen, is already planning a trip to Pyongyang. Anyway I told you: North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat. Won't happen! Now please give me my Nobel Peace Prize.'
 
SV 'Not so fast. You know this deal can't work.'
 
DJT 'Of course it can't. That's why I asked Mike Pompeo to tell Jong-un to take his time, and just do something nice a few weeks before each of my reelections, starting in 2020.'
 
SV 'How about this year's Midterms?'
 
DJT 'These don't count as elections: I'm not on the ballot'

The Groundsparing Declaration - 20180612

Seoul Village 2018
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* see "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un - Season III" (March 2018), "EXCLUSIVE-Second interview with KIM Jong-un" (February 2017), "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un" (December 2013) - all fake, like this one of course!

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(from SeoulVillage on Twitter):
#TrumpKimSummit - never a dud moment?

Riding along 'horizontal verticals' in Magok District (Part III)

This is the final part of my focus on Magok District:

1. Framing Magok (Part I - Location)
2. Magok's horizontal verticals (Part II - Cluster)
3. Magok's lifespace (Part III - Environment)

The future Seoul Botanic Park will feature 3,0000 plant species (its flower-shaped indoor facility - bottom right - is already visible from a distance).

***

3) Magok's lifespace


If Gangseo-gu is not an usual darling for real estate speculators, Magok scores much better than most Seoul neighborhoods. Beyond its potential and dynamics in terms of location, connectivity, or research hub, people seem to believe in its quality of life, and to trust SH Corporation for delivering the goods.

Rebranded two years ago Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation*, this public institution has led the development from its early stages, with a mandate to put families, environment and sustainable mobility at the core of the project, a clear difference with other innovation clusters where business preempted everything.

Seoul Business Agency (SBA) did play a central role in Magok as it did in the DMC, but in the latter, residential developments were secondary, and not considered as a key factor of success. And we saw how the Gale International - Posco tandem struggled in Songdo.

Pangyo too enjoyed a partnership between national and local authorities for its Pangyo Techno Valley (Gyeonggi Institute of Science and Technology Promotion established in 2010), but for its residential areas, it only had to surf on the Bundang wave, and from the start flush with private money, that very hyped 'New Town' got 'blessed' with more than a few luxury residences.

Like Pangyo, Magok started essentially from scratch. Revamping Guro Digital Complex, and supporting its evolution into a XXIst century G-Valley demands different efforts from Seoul and Kicox (Korea Industrial Complex Corporation).

Magok wasn't dragged down by ailing neighborhoods in need of regeneration. The central role of public authorities is a guarantee that everybody will profit, not a sign of destitution. I don't think Magok will become as 'bling-bling' as Eastern Gangnam either, but I don't see that as an inconvenient.

* 

How does this 'common good' approach translate into the landscape? For instance, beyond the central park, you don't have a collection of green spaces, each one managed by a gated apartment complex, but neighborhood parks connected by green corridors between open blocks. Branded M-Valley by SH Corporation, the residential complexes remain relatively low rise compared to other recent projects this side of the Han River, keeping in mind that this is a first development. Even if we're still in the classic 'apateu' model, there could be a greater sense of open community than in Pangyo's luxury town houses or from the top of a Songdo penthouse...

The green corridors are wider than Yeonnam-dong's 'Yeontral Park' (the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail), but without the streets, shops or restaurants on their sides, and only a few tables to picnic here and there, which minimizes noise pollution for the residents.

As I noticed before, along large sections of Seoul Botanic Park, blocks devoted to research centers sit right across the street (e.g. for the moment LG Science Park and Kolon One and Only Tower), which could be seen as a form of privatization, but could also become a motivation for them to open up, to let visitors roam their own land, to propose services that would flourish along the frontline in probably more anarchic ways, to blur the lines of a strict zoning. 

Tadao Ando's LG Art Center (see part II) provides a clearer example of how local communities can benefit from private infrastructure: parts of the program will involve residents, and the venue will eventually belong to Seoul city. 

For the moment, residential and research blocks stand out, and local businesses mostly develop around subway stations. The first significant hotel to open in the neighborhood mirrors its positioning: overlooking the park, Courtyard by Marriott is not the chain's most luxury brand, but provides quality stays for both business people and families.

*

Seoul issued guidelines and specs early in the project to make sure that environment, accessibility, or bicycle lanes were taken into account:

Water collection and filtering systems embedded in the buildings, roads, or parks

Accessibility and security at pedestrian crossings

Pedestrian crossings again, this time for bicycle lanes, always a tricky moment for cyclists

With its flatness and absence of major disruptors in its core (hills, river, railways, highways**), Magok District is perfect for cycling. 40% of all roads will have dedicated lanes, in a continuous network connecting the new neighborhood and its Seoul Botanic Park to the Hangang backbone. Beyond a 'Ddareungi' special zone facilitating commuting and leisure rides, or many bike parking facilities, four bike storage systems will be available at subway stations.

Bicycle-friendly Magok (left, one of the green diagonal corridors between apartment blocks - right, a protected bike lane that could be wider, like for instance the one along Seongmisan-ro in Seongsan-dong).

Magok's bicycle network

So it seems that even in this early stage, Magok is aiming at to the vision I finished my 2013 update with (see 'Magok District on cruise mode'):

"Now the most important remains to give some soul and consistence to this alleywayless place. You want to see residents and researchers venture beyond their homes and campuses, roam the streets, enjoy the city. The park and diagonal canal can give purpose, but let's not forget to optimize every single street for pedestrians and bicycles, make this neighborhood a destination from all directions, in continuity with Hangang Park, and the new neighboring communities (Banghwa, Balsan...)."

*

As usual, as an urbanist, I would have done things differently; Magok District doesn't signal a revolution in the Korean New Town or the Korean innovation cluster models. Yet it redefines Gangseo-gu, and beyond Southwest Seoul. It might even demonstrate that a big residential and business project South of the Han River can succeed without arrogance. What matters is that, ultimately, people live happily together in a place where trees, bicycles, and fellow earthlings are welcome.

Seoul Village 2018
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* see "Seoul summerscapes: death, taxes, and budongsan" 
** if Gonghangdae-ro is a wide and busy axis, it can't be compared to the Gyeongbu Expressway that separates Seopangyo and Dongpangyo