Seoul waterways and urbanism - the full story

As Typhoon Khanun slashes through Korea, please all be safe.

The other day in KOTE, during my lecture "Flow and order - Seoul waterways and other urban stitches", we've seen among other things how Seoul has been struggling from day one with floods, how its waterways play a vital role in managing them, and how this role is bound to become even more critical with climate change, even if the city keeps increasing its natural defenses. 

Again, I thank the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch for inviting me, Julie AHN for making the event possible in our beloved KOTE*, and every single member of the audience for coming. Again, sorry to have drowned you all under my overworded slides. RASKB will shortly put the video of the disaster on its YouTube channel**, and I'll add the link here as soon as it is available.

If you really want to take your time and read every line of every slide, the full presentation is here: academia.edu/105436714/Flow_and_Order_Seoul_Waterways_and_other_Urban_Stitches. 

Shaped by its considerable natural assets, Seoul turned into a major city by negating them in a constant fight to tame a nature capable of major destruction but unable to cope with urban expansion. In this young millennium, this war has evolved into a love story, and Seoulites are reopening an intimate dialog with waterways that even under their concrete prisons kept drawing Seoul's maps, telling the city's history and their own stories. Yet urban planners must avoid overflowing it with storytelling. If Seoul has no future without curated natural spaces, this shapeshifter of a city will always require unscripted parts.

Introduction: The city's lungs and bloodstream
1) The Way of Water vs The Highway of 'Progress'
2) The Way Forward (?) - 'Recreation', 'Renaissance', 'Emotion'
Conclusion: Storytelling vs the Unscripted Seoul

I'll drop below a few not to wordy samples from this 56-slide trainwreck:

On Seoul's 'dong' / neighborhoods / villages, shared water, time capsules...

Angukdongcheon, the visitor that stopped at KOTE's door the other night 

Seoul choked by concrete (things have improved since, looking forward to fresh data from the Seoul Institute

An extreme climate, major changes and challenges

On the menu: The city's lungs and bloodstream / The Way of Water vs The Highway of 'Progress' / The Way Forward (?) - 'Recreation', 'Renaissance', 'Emotion' / Storytelling vs the Unscripted Seoul

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* always heartwrenching to see KOTE's old odong namu / princess tree down following that recent storm, but its baby is doing well, and that's a reminder that water brings life, destruction, and communities closer together.

** RASKB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@raskb1/about
   Video of the disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YMti3ieiHQ

Seoul's Waterfront Renaissance

Seoul has always been defined by its most valuable environmental assets: its countless waterways, and the mountains that feed them. 

From the start, the capital revolved around Cheonggyecheon and its network of streamlets:

Nowadays, the Han River tells what's North and what's South, but waterways still account for 8.1% of Seoul's land (below in 2010):

After pouring concrete all over the place to tame the powerful Hangang and its tributaries, to stabilize unstable riverbanks, and to prevent recurring floods, the city has reopened its heart to its waterways, rediscovered them as leisure paths and environmental treasures. Following the restoration of Cheonggyecheon, the Hangang Renaissance, and the restoration of neighborhood streamlets, masses of humans, birds, and even fishes have flocked back to Seoul's watersides. Yes, more concrete was often poured in the process, but biomass keeps growing, embankments are often doubled with natural fish nurseries, and significant wetlands have been created.

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A post shared by Stephane MOT (@stephanemot)

 

Citizens are already very active along these waterways, thanks to all the infrastructure needed by strollers, cyclists, or workout maniacs:

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But water level and street level are seldom seamlessly connected, and for good reasons: flash floods remain a constant threat, and these waterways help the city cope with extreme downpour. On such occasions, riversides must be evacuated immediately. Still, more citizens could spend more leisure time there, particularly when they crave for more free and cool open spaces.

More than a decade after his Hangang Renaissance project, Mayor OH Se-hoon aims at a 'Jicheon Renaissance' leveraging Seoul's 332 km of waterways. Not just with more hardware, but with more content and culture, a better connection to local neighborhoods and markets, More 'emotion', as part of an 'Emotional City' of the future vision.

Starting with 4 pilot projects along three streamlets (Dorimcheon, Jeongneungcheon, and Hongjecheon), with 2 more sites by 2030 (Anyangcheon and Jungnangcheon):

• Hongjecheon will never fulfill its great potential as long as the Naebu Expressway disgraces it (see "Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway"), and the pilot will focus on two spots: upstream at Hongjimun and Tangchundaeseong, midway at the artificial waterfall near Seodaemun District Office, with a place to have a drink.
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Dorimcheon is more about the connection to the neighborhood and its businesses, with decks to make the transition and chill out:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
•  Jeongneungcheon will add a cultural layer through a new media art space:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Of course, all this requires water, particularly since the city intends to make these shallow streamlets a bit deeper (from a very thin 10 cm to a more significant 30 cm). So backstage, there's a lot of work to improve water and waste management. 

Today, 18 streamlets including Cheonggyecheon are actually fed with water recycled from the Han River, and climate change has spectacularly dried up the whole nation. Even if I knew Seoul experienced very few precipitations last Winter, I was stunned to see in a recent treck up Bukhansan, how parched soils were. But the only time water streamed by was magical:

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As usual, I guess we'll have more imperfect, odd spaces requiring some improvement in further iterations. But overall, Seoul keeps democratizing access to quality time and nature, even if that's in not so natural spaces.

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Moving matter and hearts - Choe U-ram in Daegu

If you happen to pass by Daegu, you may witness a very rare gathering of elusive creatures, but be quick, they're about to take off very soon: only a few days left for CHOE U Ram's exhibition at the Daegu Art Museum!

CHOE himself is a very rare creature: at the same time a brilliant artist producing spectacular works, and an extremely modest human being, who sometimes refers to himself as a 'Cheonggyecheon dog', because according to him, even a dog would have learned all these techniques by just roaming the workshop neighborhoods the way he did as he grew up. A poet, a dreamer, and a maker, U-ram also happens to be one of the kindest people I ever met.

This robot hero he painted when he was 7, and the story that came with it were already very touching.

If nowadays, his 'anima machines' use more complex mechanisms and technologies, they are still about turning his fertile imagination into reality.

  URC-1, 2014 by Choe U-Ram from U-Ram Choe on Vimeo.

It was really moving to see all generations of visitors mesmerized by U-ram's poetic wonders.

In front of Choe U-ram's Scarecrow (www.instagram.com/p/BPHnOKHjdhr/)

And I can't wait to discover what will come next from his Yeonhui-dong workshop.

'Choe U-Ram: [Stil laif]'
1 Nov 2016 – 12 Feb 2017
Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, Korea
40 Misulgwan-ro, Suseong-gu, Daegu 42250, Korea
T +82 (0)53 790 3000

DaeguArtMuseum.org


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PS: also from last month's trip to Daegu:

Modern art or carwash? (www.instagram.com/p/BO_N9TFDjvF/)

Vincent Van Gogh's poppy field, or buchujeon? (www.instagram.com/p/BO_j2BejYdL/)

Revamping Seun Sangga - If Possible Without Vampirizing The Area

Seoul city presented yesterday* more details about the revamping of Seun Sangga I recently mentioned in a focus on Seoul urban revitalization projects (see the 'reviving neighborhood' section of "Diagonal crossings, High Lines, and Business Verticals (how pedestrians and businesses remodel Seoul... and vice-versa)").

Spared from total destruction in 2009, when only its Northernmost section (facing Jongmyo) was cut to build the Seun Greenway Park**, Kim Swoo-geun's liner shall undergo two waves of renovation by 2016:

• The Northern half first between Jong-ro and Eulji-ro: the Seun Sangga building proper (Jongno 3-ga, Jongno 4-ga, Jangsa-dong), and on the other side of Cheonggyecheon, Cheonggye Sangga and Daelim Sangga (Sallim-dong, Euljiro 4-ga)
• Then the Southern half, between Eulji-ro and Toegye-ro (Euljiro 4-ga, Inhyeondong 2-ga, Chungmuro 4-ga)

The most spectacular modification is the prolongation of the cruise ship's upper deck all along the bar, meaning new structures over the streets, including here over Cheonggyecheon:

I understand the logic, restoring the original bridge with a continuous promenade very much like the Seoul Skyway (that's the latest name of Seoul Station 7017 Project - see "Seoul Station Elevated Park (Seoul Station Project 7017? The Seoul Vine?) - An Update", and the 7 consortia selected on seoul.go.kr/story2015/skyway).

But this elevated walkway's a bit bulky. Do we have to sacrifice street levels all the time? And of all places, over Cheonggyecheon, the symbol of the removal of massive elevated structures?

I'm less interested in this crystallization of Kim Swoo-geun's bar than in its integration in a revitalized urbanscape. The project pays, as it should, a lot of importance to the building's sides... even if, of course, that is just an alibi to relaunch the profitable redevelopment of the low-rise maze surrounding Seun Sangga. 

Well. I neither expected nor wanted that area to be totally preserved, because it is neither sustainable, nor safe (industrial pollution, poor fire protection...).

And I'm okay with the principle of docking the ship to its neighborhood with much lighter footbridges. Yet in this rendering, it looks as if Seun Sangga will be flanked by two canal-less Songdo Canal Walk:

Hardly better than the New York High Line at Chelsea Market, where I was the other day:

I believe there is room for improvement from this project. For instance, I would ban cars from the lower level, and ask for a mandatory 'slope' in the future adjacent buildings, for example through terraced buildings, thus preventing the creation of dark 'canyons' similar to Cheonggyecheon before its renovation:

The slopes would also contrast with the Seun Sangga's verticality, highlighting the landmark instead of mirroring it, but flattening it at the same time to reduce its towering effect.

Good to know the New Town-ish project of the mid noughties has been dumped. I didn't want the neighborhood to be just filled with new towers, like what's happening around Sejongno. We already lost Pimatgol's alleyways, now we must keep some of the charm of this messy maze. It will certainly make the promenade more enjoyable.

And if we could avoid another giant leap for the gentrification of Jongno-gu...



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* see on YouTube "세운상가 재생계획 기자설명회":  
** see "No cars on Gwanghwamun Square for New Year's Day"

Seoul's Big Data On Slow Motion

The densest traffic in Seoul? In front of Hongdae on Friday afternoons, according to the data crunched by Seoul (over 2013: 7.6 billion GPS records from part of the taxi fleet)*. It makes sense for a city where Hongdae, Cheonggyecheon, and Namdaemun see the slowest traffic on average, and where Friday is the slowest day (21.6 km/h), but makes me wonder if there's not a bias: in front of Hongik University Station, the right lane is very often blocked by cabs waiting for customers, with their GPS recording non-existing traffic jams... That said, let's cruise on.

Know that overall, Seoul posts a 26.4 km/h average speed: 18.7 km/h downtown (thank you Jung-gu!),  26.6 km/h in the rest of the city, and 59.9 km/h on expressways.

The following maps show averages at the district level, which is much less precise than a map of the main axis. It clearly penalizes tiny "red" Jung-gu: a significant share of its roads are perennial bottlenecks, while the much bigger Gangnam-gu compensates its notorious traffic jams with its vast quiet neighborhoods. At the geographical center of the capital, "Blue" Yongsan proves a rather efficient transportation hub. And if Seongbuk-gu comes as a surprise to you, remember that this district is home to almost half a million Seoulites, and that many Nowonites cross it every day, making circulation even more difficult between the Dongsomun-ro - Bukhansan scissors.

Average speeds per district / Weekdays on secondary roads

Weekdays / Weekend

If you want to follow in real time the traffic along Seoul's main axis, or watch live webcams along the way, visit SPATIC's website:

Seoul metropolitan Police Agency Traffic Information Center - spatic.go.kr

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* see "금요일 오후 홍대입구 가면 `거북이` 된다" (Seoul inews - 20140512)

Namdaesunrise, Seoul Friendship Fair 2013, and other spring classics

To me, this week-end marks the true beginning of Spring in Seoul.

Yes, we've had lovely days so far in 2013, but at times, it felt like February never stopped, and nowadays, I feel glad to inhale fresh lilac instead of toxic nanoparticles or lethal macropoliticles*. Furthermore, I've been bracing for two events:

• the reopening of Sungnyemun to the public (Sunday), five long years after "Namdaemonium". I bet the signboard will be more carefully finished than that of Gwanghwamun a couple of years ago...
• the reopening of international food stalls for my favorite festival, Seoul Friendship Fair (Saturday and Sunday). As usual**, I'll shamelessly come for the food, but there's a lot to see around City Hall: Seoul Plaza, Mugyo-dong, Cheonggyecheon - check out the program and international performances: seoulfriendshipfair.org.

Caught in the Seoul traffic with Sungnyemun. That's not a k-pop star: she's much cuter, has better conversation pic.twitter.com/J1n5wC6LKk - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/329023620355596289

If you're in town Sunday, there's also the Jongmyo Jerye and a collection of events around Children's Day. KMA announces 20 celcius and sun for both days. So everything is set, including Admiral Yi and King Sejong, who took their yearly shower yesterday:

Also met Yi Sun-sin on the way. He was about to take his yearly shower on Gwanghwamun Square. #jongno #seoul pic.twitter.com/ZKlUqV0aTa - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/329034058321506305

Enjoy Seoul to the fullest!

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* see for instance "Air Pollution: New Measures, Please" and "Dear Japan, Please Say No To Abeignomics"
** see "Seoul Friendship Fair 2012, Global Seoul Mates", "Seoul Friendship Fair 2011", "Seoul Friendship Fair" 2010)

Old Seoul, Old Seochon

donA just published the first volume of a history of Seoul written by Professor CHOI Jong-hyun (Hanyang University Urban Planning and Engineering) and KIM Chang-hui (dongA Ilbo), centered as it should be around my favorite Seoul neighborhood: Seochon - Inwangsan - Gyeongbokgung - Sajik-dan... Volume 2 will lead us towards the East (Dongdaemun) and Southeast (Gwanghuimun), and volume 3 along Cheonggyecheon and other parts of Jongno.

The book is said to be very lively, and to make you feel as if you roamed the alleyways of old Seoul, like in "Les Miserables". And you know how I feel for Seoul alleyways*!

I can't wait to read it, and I hope the book will soon be available in English. Why not in French (personal message to French readers who love Seoul and work in / study / teach urbanism)?




Old Seoul / "오래된 서울"
Written by Choi Jong-hyun and Kim Chang-hui
364 pages, dongA publications
ISBN-10: 8996787221 - ISBN-13: 9788996787228


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* "Seoul needs alleyways. By "alleyways", I don't necessarily mean the last capillaries irrigating the actual "Seoul Intra Muros" ("Sadaemun", the original city surrounded by its fortress), but also the kind of inclusions that extend Seoul, the places where the city can freely and randomly stretch, grow more complex, and reach deeper, these intimate scars where your own mind can't help but wander." ("Magok District: SIM City as in "Seoul Intra Muros"? Alleyways as in "Seoul Inter Muros"?"). PS: I just finished a short story about alleyways for my collection of fictions devoted to Seoul...

New homes, old stories for Seoul mayor

A couple of weeks after the inauguration of the new city hall*, local authorities announced that Mayor PARK Won-soon would move in March 2013 from his residence in Hyehwa-dong (which had to be abandoned because of the renovation of Seoul fortress**) to a controversial place in Bukchon: a hanok built during the Japanese occupation by relatives of an infamous collaborator. Even if it later belonged to BAEK In-je, the founder of Baek Hospital, some people contested the Mayor's decision.

Today, Korea JoongAng Daily publishes an interesting focus on this two-story hanok, its past and future ("An old, unusual hanok gets a new life"), where we also learn that PARK will eventually move in later than scheduled, next September.

Personally, I have no objection to that move, provided the whole story is properly taught. I'm glad Seoul's top officer will welcome hosts in Jongno-gu's second largest hanok, a rare display of Korean traditional architecture. And after all, wasn't the old City Hall itself - now a library - built by the Japanese?

Furthermore, if you take any luxury hanok built for a Korean VIP during that period and particularly in this neighborhood, chances are the owner was palling around with the occupants anyway. I keep that in mind each time I pass by Bukchon's most touristic hotspot.

Following a "gentlemen's agreement", the Japanese occupants would generally live south of Cheonggyecheon, except of course for the government, or the land claimed over Gyeonghuigung in Shinmunro area. And unsurprisingly, "literary" Seochon was a bit more rebel than Bukchon, an enclave of power between Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung***.

I recently mentioned a similar controversy about the name of a palace changed under Japanese rule ("Deoksugung or Gyeongungung?"), and I think the best way to prepare the future is to be as transparent as possible about the past, and to reveal both sides of the coin. If you should boycott all places with a troubled past, most world capitals would be empty.

Some day, spotlights will focus on what happened after the occupation, which ill-gotten assets finished in which hands under which conditions. I'm not sure everybody's ready for that level of transparency.

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* see previous posts about this landmark, and "Seoul Tsunami City Hall, The Other Korean Wave"
** completion was previously expected by 2014 ("Seoul Fortress Walls (re)completed by 2014"), but now it's by 2015 

**** see "Seochon's Dead Poets Society (YI Sang, YUN Dong-gu)"