Seoul Smart Life Week - What happens in Vegas stays in Seoul?

So taking more space at CES was not enough: Seoul wants to be a match with the World's leading consumer electronics show and launch 'Seoul Smart Life Week' later this year (Oct 7-9 in COEX).

Mayor OH Se-hoon announced the event at the 640 sqm Seoul Pavilion in Tech West Eureka Park, where 81 companies exhibited their solutions and gizmos (very strong biotech and A.I. verticals behind  Seoul Biohub and Seoul AI Hub). 18 of them claimed a CES Award, but the prize OH and Seoul Business Agency are after means even bigger bucks.

Well the first edition 'only' aims at 100 cities and 200,000 visitors, but it takes time to install a big show in a crowded calendar, and COEX can't host a Barnum the size of CES.

KINTEX would gladly oblige, but Korea's biggest exhibition venue is in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, with limited hospitality capacity nearby. Seoul wants to become a global or at least an Asian leader, to put for good Tokyo, Hong Kong (and its half-yearly Electronics Fair), or Singapore (COMEX- ITSHOW-The Tech Show-Consumer Electronics Exhibition) behind. 

Seoul plans to change venues after the Jamsil Sports Complex is fully transformed into the Jamsil Sports MICE Complex, with a business hub connecting the COEX, SETEC, Hyundai Motors Global Business Center, Dominique Perrault's new Yeongdong-daero, and of course the Han River in this very vegassy vision mentioned in my recent focus (see 'Seoul waterways and urbanism - the full story'):

Seoul already hosts many tech-related events, but no top-of-mind brand emerges. At least, if it may not seem very original, 'smart life' sounds definitely more human-oriented than the old-tech-y 'electronics' or 'IT'. Unlike CES with the CTA, this new SSLW will not be led by an industry but by a local authority, with city pavilions rather than national spaces. To compete with Vegas, Seoul will not only need new hardware and software, but also the power hitters Korea Inc. sends to the national pavilion. And ultimately, Samsung LG, and Co. will have to be convinced to release buzzworthy novelties 3 months earlier than usual.

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Yeongdong-daero Underground City, Korea (YUCK?)

Last March, KEPCO surpassed Hyundai Motor in market capitalization (KRW 37 tn vs 34). Ironically, since Hyundai's financial trouble have something to do with their purchase from KEPCO, in September 2014, of prime land along Yeongdong-daero, for a whopping USD 10 bn.

As you know (e.g. Yeongdongwon focus in last year's "Diagonal crossings, High Lines, and Business Verticals (how pedestrians and businesses remodel Seoul... and vice-versa)"), that site will host the group's future HQ - Hyundai Motor Global Business Center - at the core of a redesigned COEX-Jamsil business district that will stretch over both sides of Tancheon stream (Samseong-dong and Daechi-dong in Gangnam-gu, Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu), and grow what is already a significant transportation hub into a gigantic one.

Yesterday, Seoul Metropolitan Government released more details about that part of the puzzle, an 'underground city' to be delivered by 2021:

• A big whale: 160,000 square meters under Yeongdong-daero (6 underground floors, 630 m long, 70 wide, 51 deep). Cost: KRW 1.169 tn
• A multimodal hub: subway (Samseong Station on Line 2, Bongeunsa on Line 9), bus (including the City Air Terminal), express railways (GTX-A Samseong-Dongtan, GTX-C Uijeongbu-Samseong-Gunpo, KTX Northeast extension), LRT (Wirye-Sinsa Line - see "Seoul LRT Projects Update (Part 2/2)"). Expected gains in commuting times to Dongtan and City Hall: from respectively 41 and 29 mn by car, to 20 and 5 mn by rail

Views presented last year

The hub will also include various culture and service facilities, and a shopping area complementing the COEX Mall. Pedestrians shall have a better time navigating a space until now devoted to Car Almighty.

With its countless traffic lanes, Yeondong-daero looks like a pre-Gwanghwamun-plaza Sejongno on steroids, and this project seems to consider a similar, tree-less, tip-of-the-iceberg central walkway. But it's not as if masses will roam the surface like downtown: distances are even greater, and most of the fun will remain indoor. As nice as Bongeunsa is, it doesn't rival with Jongno landmarks and Bugaksan.

Still, this transport hub certainly looks less nightmarish than Banpo's Express Bus Terminal, because the Yeongdong-daero / Teheran-ro intersection is far less messy, and because you don't have 'apateu' blocks the scale of say a Banpo Xi. One can also hope that the user experience will be better thought through, more seamless.

How much this will cannibalize business from COEX Mall or Lotte World remains to be seen. But it's already adding trouble to the old business center of Gangnamistan: vacancy rates are expected to keep growing in Gangnam Business District (around Gangnamdae-ro and Teheran-ro at Gangnam Station), even if Hyundai Motor is moving in the time to build its new extravaganza.
Common sense, demographic and economic trends tend to make us think that a success story here would mean a failure somewhere else. And this zero-sum game leaves us every year with more infrastructures to fill.

Let's hope that this 'underground city', which unlike many pharaonic projects does have a purpose, won't be the vast magma chamber of a supervolcano bubble, but at least a successful transport hub.


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Joseph Beuys - The Multiples in Seoul (SOMA Museum of Art)

Seoul Olympic Art Museum welcomes a collection of "Multiples" by the late German artist Joseph Beuys : works on various media from the mid 60s to the mid 80s, and from the Bild-Kunst museum of Bonn.

Frankly, I prefer his installations, or even better : installations from Louise Bourgeois, whose story sounds a bit more sincere than the alleged wrapping (in felt and animal fat) of Beuys by Tatar nomads.

Anyway, the visit is supposed to be a walk in the park. The Olympic Park, of course.

JOSEPH BEUYS - The MultiplesJune 16 - August 28, 2011
SOMA Museum of Art (Seoul Olympic Art Museum) - somamuseum.org
88-2 Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel +82.2.452.1077

Seoul Village 2011
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Seoul Rooftops Go Green

Planting gardens on terraces and rooftops is definitely in the air, even in Korea.

Anyone can do some gardening but if you want to do things correctly, that's quite an investment. For instance, various technical layers are needed to collect and recycle water, or to prevent infiltrations. But that's definitely worth the effort : city can devote more space for nature, even at an artificial stage, and owners can significantly reduce charges in Winter and Summer - roofgardens provide natural isolation and air conditioning, and even help regulate urban microclimats.

Seen from above, Seoul boasts beautiful mountains and much more parks than it used to, including at the micro level (the multiplication of neighborhood gongwons being even more important than one Seoul Forest). But the proportion of green remain uneven and insufficient compared to asphalt and concrete. And as we recently saw, greenbelt areas are regularly mutilated by the Government for redevelopments.

Yet, at the rooftop level, change is coming :
- some do it because it's good for the image : green rooftops are becoming a 'well being' / 'ecofriendly' sales argument (ie The Gatehills town houses in Songbuk-dong). In Shinmunro, the ASAN Institute is at last timidly planting on its roof, which was perfectly prepared for the purpose.
- some do it because it's good for business : Ssamziegil set the pace a couple of years ago, and new constructions start adding mid-air gardens to dense urban jungles, using them as magnets to outdoor cafes (ie NOON Square in Myeong-dong).
- some do it on a large scale, for instance burying train tracks under a new park in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, or covering Garak Wholesale Market in Songpa-gu with a a 131 acre 'ecodome' (the second project is really spectacular for anyone who ever visited that place full of life but also full of dust - see picture, courtesy Samoo Architects & Engineers).

Seoul Metropolitan Government recently announced it would invest KRW 11 bn to build 52,000 sqm of rooftop gardens by the end of the year, covering between 70 and 100% of the costs for public properties, and 50% for private properties (122 buildings in total). Of course, that's good for the upcoming elections, but that's consistent with previous operations (ie neighborhood parks, Dongdaemun Design Plaza), and for a noble cause. "Sacrificing" a house for a public garden is always better, but cannot be done as easily as increasing the market share of green on rooftops.

And of course, any citizen with a few square meters can make a difference. Many across the world are seizing the opportunity to grow their own veggies or even become beekeepers. A good way of spreading the buzz.

Seoul Village 2010

Bob Dylan knock knock knockin' on Seoul's door

Tired of K-pop ? Longing for the times when pop music used to mean something, when lyrics used to mean something ?

No one can tell today how Robert Allen Zimmerman will perform on that one night in Songpa-gu*, but you're more likely to hear an intriguing version of a great classic than to see sexy dances, and not just because the man will turn 70 next year : Bob Dylan was simply not that kind of teenage wonder (he was over 20 when he released his first single anyway).

OK. 68, talking about a slow train coming... and just for one night in Korea, compared to twelve in Japan... but that's a first. Eleven days earlier, Jeff Beck will haunt the same spot**, and it tells a lot about changes that have a'comed to Korea in matters of musical tastes (among others : world class connoisseurs abound in any field - arts, food, wine...).

OK. Bob Dylan is also an institution, and the concert tells also a lot about the power of Korean entertainment industry. But Seoul Fringe Festival has been around since 1998 and last July, two indie festivals were competing against each other (Jisan Valley Ski Resort in Icheon taking a shot at established Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon). And if Whitney Houston "paid" a visit earlier this month, groups like Muse are enjoying gigs here.

So enjoy this rare moment.

Seoul Village 2010

* Dylan : March 31st - Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Olympic Park (organizers : Access Entertainment).
*** Beck : March 20th - Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Olympic Park (organizers : Private Curve, Dream Factory Club)

Subway news : Sillim line, Line 3...

Next month, Seoul will decide among the two finalists (NamSeoul Light Rail Ltd and Yeouido Sillim Light Rail Co., Ltd.) the winning consortium for its future Yeouido-Sillim (여의도-신림) Light Rapid Transit line. Construction shall start in 2012 for an inauguration in 2017 and by then, a complete Southwest - Northwest Seoul connection should be operational : other LRT sections are planned between Eunpyeong-gu (ie Eungam-dong) and Yeouido via Seodaemun-gu (ie Yeonhui-dong).

This new line will start from Gwanak-gu and Seoul National University, but at the very gates, not at the existing station. It will follow Dorimcheon, the stream serpenting across Sillim-dong which give the area a unique charm, and head North towards Yeouido (Saetgang Station, Line 9) via Sillim Station (Line 2), Boramae Park (Line 7) and Daebang Station (Railway).

Overall : 7.82 km and 10 stations including 6 brand new ones. That will add some verticality badly needed by a network that's desperately horizontal in this part of the Capital (only Line 4 is heading straigth South, but that's East of Gwanaksan).

If this line makes perfect sense, I'm not sure Sillim-dong can keep the unique charm I mentioned earlier : high buildings are step by step masking the exceptional natural site around Dorimcheon (please preserve the hills !), and a major cluster will bloom along Hoam-gil on the way to Geumcheon-gu : Sillim New Town. I'm sure the place will be much more popular and more fun in 2017, but it probably won't be the same...

More immediate changes ? Line 3 is about to inaugurate 3 new stations this Thursday, February 18th, 2010. Instead of finishing in Gangnam-gu at Suseo Station (Bundang Line), the orange line will cross Songpa-gu (Garak-dong and Ogeum-dong) :
- connection with Line 8 at Garak Market Station
- new station : National Police Hospital
- connection with Line 5 (a line already met at Jongno-3-ga Station) at Ogeum Station

This extention confirms the importance of the Seongnam-Gangnam corridor, but instead of just commuting, why not visit the Garak wholesale market ? Definitely less cute than your local traditional market (except maybe for informal merchants at the entrance), but quite impressive : the merchandise is more often exposed in bulk than packaged, and depending on the season you can see whole hangars filled with onions or watermelons.

That said, yet, what we got here is yet another line stopping short of entering Hanam... Line 9 seems in a better position to do so (via Gambu-dong), unless Line 5 prolongs via Macheon-dong or Mangwol-dong. The other end of Line 3 has a brighter perspective, for beyond Goyang (today's terminus : Daehwa-dong, KINTEX), and towards West Paju.

Seoul Village 2010

Seongnam and Hanam merge

The cities of Seongnam and Hanam (both in Gyeonggi-do) announced their intention to merge by 2014 in a new city which would border Southeast Seoul from Gangdong-gu to Gangnam-gu via Songpa-gu.

In such mergers, more ambitious and harmonious policies can be developped, and the new ensemble can forge a stronger identity, be more competitive at the national and international level. But the union has to be carefully and soundly planned, and it is essential to preserve the soul of each area of the newly formed city. Spotting and reviving key cultural assets should even be considered an essential mission. So I would strongly advise planners to make a lot of research back in time before starting anything irreversible. This is clearly a promise for the future and a new start, but certainly not from scratch, from a blank page.

And I hope this won't end up in more destruction of Seoul's vital greenbelts.


A FORESEEABLE TREND

A referendum involving Seongnam and Hanam citizens shall be held, but the final decision remain in the hands of the national government... which shouldn't oppose the move : LEE Myung-bak wants to regroup 246 administrative areas into 60 to 70 municipalities, a natural trend that Japan has been experiencing for years, and that Nicolas Sarkozy is also considering for Paris' "little belt".

Among other regroupments under discussion within Gyeonggi-do : Guri with Namyangju (an obvious team just booming, just North of Seongnam-Hanam, on the other side of the Han river), and Hwaseong with Suwon (a powerful economic - cultural combo south, which could counterbalance the impressive rise of nearby Incheon).

I don't see small and unpopulated cities like Gwacheon (35.9 km2 / 74,600 inh.) or Uiwang (53 / 142,000) remain much longer on their own : a merger with Anyang (58 / 618,000) could be a solution. Gimpo seems big enough, but not so dense (276.6 km2 / 203,000), but many areas are either booming or about to (ie near Incheon's Cheongna, Ganghwa-do). Bucheon or Gwangmyeong are populated (850,000 and 341,000) but small (53.4 and 38.5 km2). For this pair, joining forces with Siheung (441,000 / 131) and why not even Ansan (Southwards) would make sense... Combinations are countless.


GWANGJU OUT OF THE LOOP... FOR THE MOMENT

Seongnam-Hanam project started as an even more ambitious project : Gwangju (the Gyeonggi-do city not to be confused with South West Korea's metro city) was initally in the loop and eventually declined to join Seongnam and Hanam, which would have created a major and relevant powerhouse :

- Today, Seongnam claims 141.8 square kilometers and 1,023,000 inhabitants (including people about to move in Pangyo New Town). Hanam 93 and 128,000. The 235 km2 and 1,13 million inhabitants ensemble will claim the "Metropolitan City" status and can even beat Suwon (121 km2, 1,087,000 inhabitants) as Gyeonggi-do's most populated city, but Gwangju would add 431 km2 and 215,000 inhabitants, forming a 3-city bigger than Seoul itself (605 km2 - but over 10 M souls).

- From a geographical point of view, Seongnam-Hanam looks a bit crooked : only a tiny kilometer of common border (at Hanam's Hakam-dong) unites two otherwise distant blocks and furthermore, a mountain (Namhansan) prevents both urban centers from actually connecting. Gwangju is the obvious missing piece that would complete a puzzle as harmoniously* shaped as the capital Seoul.

- Precisely, Gwangju used to be a capital, and the 3-city-merger would have made perfect sense at the historical level. The young city of Hanam (established on January 1st, 1989) owes its name to the former capital of Baekjae Kingdom, and used to belong to Gwangju-gun. Besides, the Gwangju corner that fills the puzzle, the fortress of Namhansanseong, would be the trio's perfect pivotal landmark.

Joining the duo later may prove more difficult...


A STIMULATING URBAN CHALLENGE

This administrative measure will necessarily have more or less telluric effects. Typically, the old core of Seongnam city, sidelined by Bundang and Pangyo, appears now central and is very much likely to experience some kind of revival.

Today, Seongnam-Hanam looks as unbalanced as Incheon, with very various landscapes, from the Southwestern New Towns to the Northeastern nature (Hangang, Geomdansan). And each block is disfigured by a major highway hub : Pangyo InterChange (Highway 1 to Busan / Circular 100) for Seongnam, Hanam Junction for Hanam (100 with Highway 35 to Daejeon).

Bundang lost some of its luster but remains a success story. Yet competition is raging with cities further south. Cities which don't have as many natural obstacles to development.

I'm sure city planners are full of ideas. But I hope destroying Namhansan is not one of them. Seoul green belts are definitely in real danger these days.

Seoul Village 2009

* from a distance at least, because each city lies in a different valley and connecting the centers would somehow mean replacing mountains with concrete.