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.

Seoul Village 2013
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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)"

Chusoaked

Typhoon Fanapi poured up to 10 cm of rain per hour over Seoul on Chuseok day (261 mm overall, a record for September), causing major damage in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do. More than 10,000 homes (including the 70 year old Seoul Mayor residence in Hyehwa-dong, which was to be relocated anyway*), were damaged by this unusually late monsoon.

If you were there, you probably witnessed spectacular scenes on the streets : streams forming here and there, geysers breaking pavements apart, meter-wide holes cutting traffic on major roads, cascades springing from doorsteps, cars stuck into newborn ponds...

Should Seoul organize olympic games again, Gwanghwamun Lake would make a perfect spot for rowing events. And as I carefully drove across the two feet deep Yonsei Stream, I was surprised not to see any kayakist enjoy the moment (during a similar event in France, I did come across one on a main street).

This typhoon wraps up an extremely humid summer, and whoever the culprit (global warming, the Three Gorges Dam, La Nina, the cashmere industry in Mongolia, Lee Harvey Oswald, all of the above), Korea will have to adapt. Among other things to be redesigned : parts of the sewage and drainage systems, certain road curves, and a few dangerous spots, such as the tunnel connecting Sangamno with Gangbyeon Expressway, where some drivers even drowned in previous flash flood episodes.

Seoul Village 2010

* a new residence is under construction in Hannam-dong, this one is supposed to be transformed into a Seoul Global Business Center for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Silgyecheon along Daehangno

Is Seoul city center turning into some kind of Venice ? After Baekseokdongcheon (the main source of Cheonggyecheon, soon to be restored), another stream is getting ready for rebirth, this time on the other side of Gyeongbokgung.

Alright... don't expect gondolas anytime soon : only cicadas can drown* in such streamlets basically tap-controlled by city officials. But they sing better and louder than most gondoliers.

The new waterline, Silgyecheon (실계천), entertains visitors almost all along Daehangno (the 1 km long stretch between Hyehwa-dong Rotary and Ihwa-dong Sagori), on the same side as Marronnier Park. Some of the "artworks" on display there were removed, maybe not enough for my taste**.

With its curves, stones, and vegetation, the streamlet adds a natural touch to an area already lifted up a few notches on the "well being scale" following last year's salvation of Hyehwa-dong Rotary.

I know it's completely artificial but it could change the whole experience for pedestrians, especially during scorching summers. Temperatures around Cheonggyecheon dropped by 3 degrees celcius after renovation, but of course you cannot compare that pharaonic project with this cosmetic work.

Seoul Village 2009

* see "Save Korean maemis"
** OK, not all of the sculptures are terrible, and some shall really shine in this new environment, but anybody who's walked that walk knows what I'm talking about. ie now the three multicolor ceramic turds in front of the University seem to have been dropped by some indelicate giant dog on LSD, and waiting for the streamlet to flush them down the drain.

A silver lining over Seoul mountains

Seoul is rediscovering its streams and that's a wonderful thing. If only it did more to protect its beautiful mountains...

Few cities can boast such assets. They play a considerable role in Seoul's regulation from visual as well as environmental or cultural points of view. Granted, they create lots of congested bottlenecks, but they also provide fresh air you cannot find anywhere else, and give to the city its unique skyline. Skylines and landmarks do not necessarily consist of skyscrapers, remember ?

Mountains are a defining feature in Seoul's identity. The city should protect them and particularily their elevated forests, lungs of great esthetic value and key to Seoul's differenciation from other Capitals.

From where I'm writing, I enjoy everyday beautiful sunrises and sunsets on natural elevations, but still, bits of blocks of "appateus" spoil the view, emerging from behind the fortress.

Now most elevation points are artificial. Twenty years ago, every little hill had already its red neon cross at its top but at least, you could tell the shape of the land under the buildings. In too many parts of the city, I saw charming hills flattened, mountain tops chainsaw-massacred, forests of wood replaced by forests of concrete... This frenzy goes much too far beyond the normal "domestication" of a rather challenging landscape.

Natural mountain should be protected as natural treasures, and they are priceless for a city that intends to become an international touristic hub. No construction should be allowed beyond a certain point, and many atrocities should be removed. It was done on Namsan**, but less prestigious elevations are of the same importance for Seoulites.

I'm pleased to notice that recent real estate projects involving towers at mountain tops were turned down, the city recommending low rise constructions. This was only in order to enhance the visibility of the city fortress, and it won't deter all speculators (luxury positioning will further exclude former inhabitants), but that's a positive start.

Over the past few months, a few regulations brought some hope for the future :
- dividing a lot will not necessarily multiply the number of rights owners : this easy way of gaining a status of former resident will disappear, seriously curbing speculation
- associations of owners pooling for a redevelopment will have to be approved by the city : we may no more see competition between rival factions, and transparency should gain (some) ground over corruption
- obligation of devoting a significant proportion of low rise villa areas to public gardens : Seoul is literally suffocating in large areas completely covered with such compact buildings
- protection of certain areas with a high proportion of hanoks (traditional houses) : this stopped a few projects, like in Gahoe-dong
- ...

Prices did go down last year, as a combination of the worldwide crisis and measures taken by late President ROH Moo-hyun. But the bulk of the housing bubble remains, and its expansion seems to be even resuming.

As the housing market almost stalled last winter, President LEE Myung-bak tried to revive it by loosening regulations : reducting vital green belts, allowing higher constructions, lower proportion of green spaces... But now and at last, he seems to understand the necessity of cooling it down and prevent a massive and brutal collapse. During his mandate only, of course : it seems a little bit too late now. You cannot find any place in Seoul unspoiled by new town or renovation speculation fueled under his tenure.

As a Seoul Mayor, LEE did initiate some major projects with overall positive environmental impacts (Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Forest, bus corridors...), but he also unleashed too many private developments with tragic and long-lasting consequences.

Mayor OH Se-hoon doesn't have as many opportunities to shine as his predecessor, but he seems to follow a more impressionist path, multiplying small local projects, bringing change at a more human level.

Seoul is breathing a little bit better when overpasses are removed or about to be removed (ie Hyehwa-dong Rotary, Hoehyeon-dong Sagori, Seodaemun Station...), when car lanes are replaced by tree and bike lanes plus wider sidewalks (ie Bongcheon-ro in Gwanak-gu), when kids can play and cool down in water spring fountains everywhere, even if they can't afford overcrowded pools (which I dub "Salamtang").

Yes, water spring fountains are not necessarily environmental friendly (what to say about the latest Banpo Bridge extravaganza !).

Yes, sometimes the "Wellbeing" fad goes grotesque (ie these days : miniature rice paddies frying in their flower pots in front of Gyeongbokgung).

Yes, building a "green park" often deviates into replacing big old trees with pine trees that don't pump much CO², covering large patches of soil with a concrete plaza and disgracious metal sculptures.

But that's the way Seoul breathes, embracing change at an amazing pace, redoing things before they are even completed. And we've been waiting for this positive if clumsy trend for too long.

Let's hope that in the process, collateral damage will not prove too great and irreversible.


* a pair of old green appartments for foreigners was destroyed. Too bad they turned the tower in a color-shifting squid (the new and improved N-Tower should be called the 오징어 Tower).

Hyehwa-dong Rotary

Another elevated road has been removed. Less spectacular than Cheonggyecheon's restoration, the denudation of Hyehwa-dong Rotary is already completely redefining a key crossroads up Daehangno (connections with Changgyeonggungno South-Westwards, Uamro North-Westwards, and mainly Dongsomunro and Seongbuk-gu North-Eastwards).

The reconstruction site is still at its early steps, and green patches have yet to be drawn, but what used to be a scary dark space covered by concrete already looks like the sun catching, passers-by friendly grand' place of a village.

Well. It takes some imagination to see that... but it took some vision and courage to get rid of this convenient shortcut between Mia Sagori and downtown Seoul.

This city is definitely starting to consider passers-by higher on the evolution scale than mere parasites.