On Korea's Jigsaw, Urban Footprint, and Urban Replanning

If you're a frequent flyer on my Korean errlines, you've had your fill of rants about recurring blunders in urban planning, the persistence of obsolete visions of urbanism, or (re)development equations that totally ignore plummeting demographics.

Well criticizing is easy. Urban harmony is like life or democracy: a very delicate, dynamic balance of power, a complex, evolutive system of checks and balances. No one will ever achieve perfection, and that's the beauty of it.

Besides, I see some glimmers of hope. Korea has eventually started worrying seriously about its shrinking population, seeking more inter-regional solidarity and cooperation, thinking about reviving ailing city centers in smarter ways... 

Korea is starting to realize that the real estate paradigm it's been addicted to for decades has become a Ponzi scheme, a sub-zero sum game where eventually everybody loses, even the wealthy ones who won't be able to resell their 'luxury condos' with a profit after paying much more for them than they would have for the most outrageous Manhattan penthouses.

Korea is starting to realize that it can't afford 'affordable housing' if that means building apartment blocks in greenbelt areas, that when a 'new town' succeeds somewhere, it means that somewhere else, an older town in depleting.

Korea is starting to realize that it can't keep adding new non-matching pieces to an ever growing jigsaw puzzle on an ever shrinking table, that these absurd urban footprint dynamics can't be sustained any longer.

The 5th Comprehensive National Territorial Plan, which covers the most critical 2020-2040 period, already mentions sustainability and other sound principles, but all is not set in marble and a lot has happened since it was released 5 years ago: rural desertification and fertility rate diminution accelerated dramatically, the GTX and other projects reshuffled whole decks... So a revised version is expected next year, for the 2026-2040 period.

Improving inter-regional solidarity and cooperation remains a key goal, particularly where they prove already challenging at the intra-regional level because of political divisions or fierce city rivalries. 

In addition to their autonomy, such special self-governing provinces as Jeollabuk-do or the recently upgraded 'Gangwon State' don't have to deal with special cities punching holes in their maps. In comparison, Gyeonggi-do must cope not only with giant neighbors nesting in its midst (Seoul and Incheon*), but also with a complex history of city creation explaining odd administrative shapes, or new towns stretching over different cities (e.g. Dongtan).

Granting a special status to a local government was generally done without much concern for the impacts around, which prevented all parties from reaching their full potential.

Wherever you stand on the fierce political fight over the creation of Sejong City (the left wanted to move the capital city to a new, central location to balance development across South Korea - the right refused to undermine Seoul and maintained part of the government there), you have to admit that from an urbanism point of view, things could have been done a bit better.

We're not talking Brasilia or Nusantara, a new capital erected far away from existing hubs: Sejong City seats right* next to the metropolitan city of Daejeon, South Korea's 5th largest cit, its central hub, and already the seat of several  central administrations, and right next to Cheongju, Chungcheongnam-do's capital.

Daejeon lies less than one hour away from Seoul via KTX but no, Sejong City must not enjoy express connectivity with the 'old' capital because then civil servants would commute instead of moving to Sejong**. And no, Daejeon's subway shouldn't come all the way to Sejong's vital parts. At its inception, it's almost as if Sejong City was designed as a local competitor instead of a national facilitator.

17 years after its creation, Sejong claims 400k souls, Daejeon remains around 1.5M, and Cheongju inched up from 650 to 720k. Common sense would have led to something more  rational, even simply two cities instead of three: the regional capital Cheongju and a-name-it-whatever-you-fancy-as-long-as-you-spare-local-susceptibilities national capital bis. If arranged harmoniously, I bet the latter would be today a thriving 2.5-3M strong metropolis.

Mind you, both Daejeon and Sejong are faring relatively well nowadays, but I'm not surprised to see the Sejong City - Daejeon - Chungnam - Chungbuk ensemble included in the potential revisions to Korea's 5th CNTP. Some consistency would clearly make the meta-region more competitive internationally - with the caveat that it wouldn't present an official one-stop front. 

Same with 'sudogwon', the capital region (Seoul-Incheon-Gyeonggi-do): unlike say the Ile de France region that encompasses Paris and its surroundings, it doesn't really exist as an official entity with representatives. It does make sense for the national government to be directly involved in an area representing half the nation's population and GDP, but the World's 4th metropolitan bloc can't fully leverage its potential. Of course, adding another administrative layer and the tensions that go with them, particularly with dwindling resources, may not necessarily be the panacea. Some even envision Daejeon + Sejong + Chungnam + Chungbuk as an 'ultra-wide megacity' - at least that would avoid the ego problem of who gets to be granted the regional capital status...

The debates promise to be complex and animated, but it's important to get every stakeholder involved, to identify all the impacts of each option, to learn from past mistakes, to minimize / optimize the urban footprint, to think urbanism beyond cities, towns, and other labels, wherever humans decided to settle or to build (be it a road, a remote factory, a farm, or even a field), and not to build for builders' sake.

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* If the cities are administratively continuous, there's no actual urban continuum... but then again, few cities in Korea excel at urban continuity.

** Likewise, I still can't stomach the fact that the railway from Seoul to Incheon Airport was deliberately delayed until a few years after inauguration because that would have hurt taxi businesses. Or that Songdo didn't have a subway from day one (hello? a ginormous polder built from scratch?). At least nowadays, if new big fat greenfield 'new towns' keep popping up, most of them include a railway connection.

Cheong Alive, Jeonju Kicking

Last week, we had a fantastic time in a Jeonju blessed with a perfect weather... 

Autumn in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do - 20141010
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520443719456026625

... and a perfect alibi for returning to that lovely city: the 2014 Jeonju International Sori Festival (see links below).

Official poster of the 2014 JISF (Oct. 8-12) - sorifestival.com

I was specially looking forward to watching 'Cheong Alive', the opening concert:

Cheong Alive (淸 ALIVE), the inaugural concert

I knew that PARK Jechun and Miyeon would give their best, not only for Jeonju and Korea, but also for the country's younger generations and for the future, particularly in the wake of the Sewol tragedy. They delivered such an incredibly powerful creation that we came back the following night to watch it again, this time with 600 Korean kids in the audience.

'Cheong' is the SIM Cheong of Simcheongga, a great pansori classic that had already been adapted and updated in countless ways (some of which quite stimulating, like in "Bitter, Sweet Seoul"). In the story, the daughter of SIM sacrificed herself for her father, but comes back from the depths of the sea to become an Empress.

It took guts to cast only young pansori singers for the opening ceremony of such a prestigious festival, but the young talents were up to the task, and 'Cheong Alive' follows on from a long tradition, without forgetting to honoring pansori greats. Master KIM Cheong-man, the janggu player in that amazing 'Yeourak' Super Session (see "In the zone with Miyeon and Park Je chun"), even chaperons the younger generation during a multisensorial experience that's much more than a concert, an opera, and a musical wrapped in one. Bridging generations and lifting pansori to new territories, Miyeon's music claims you from the first to the last second, and keeps haunting you long afterwards.

'Cheong Alive', an amazing pansori musical for the Sori Festival opening ceremony in Jeonju. Bravo Park Jechun and Miyeon!
20141008 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/519813170731315201

*

Mind you, I also crave for more traditional pansori, and loved KIM Yeon's take at another one of the five surviving great stories of pansori, Heungbuga, where humor plays a much larger role.

*

But the Sori Festival is not just Korea's best festival for traditional music, and if Songlines lists it among the 25 best in the world, that's also because it is truly international, and proposes very high quality music that don't often reach Korean shores (that's all about heralding cultural diversity, remember?*). I'm sure Jechun loved the incredible percussionists in these Iranian and Armenian groups:

From Iran, Sialk Ensemble - 20141010 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520444186571460608

Duduk music from Armenia - 20141010 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520592506069594113

*

The beauty of having festival venues, cultural assets, and great eateries scattered across the hanok village is that you can always find quiet or busy spots, depending on your mood:

Visitors and characters from all horizons roaming Jeonju hanok village. Sori Festival full throttle - 20101009
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520057631625314304

Aaah Jeonju... special mention for the doenjang (with the zucchini leaves, bottom left) - #koreanfood - 20141010 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520373873405988864

*

Of course, beyond the festival and the hanok maeul, there's a lot to see in Jeonju. 


The Nambu market deserves a triple visit for its outdoor street along Jeonjucheon, its covered section, and its trendier upper floor.

Jeonju Nambu Market - 20141010 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520480117097644033

*

On the other side of the river, Dongseohak-dong is evolving into a arty neighborhood full of new cultural hotspots, but like in many other parts of the city, original vintage shop signs are preserved, and sometimes old trades, such as this time-capsulesque cushion puffing place:

One of Korea's few surviving cushion puffing services, in Jeonju - 20141011 twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/520717462656937988

*

We went on to an amazing trip across Southern Korea, but more about that later.

I'm very glad I could enjoy Jeonju with old and new friends, and wish Chip were there as well, to taste the makgeolli we prepared together last July for the festival inauguration:

Preparing makgeolli with friends last July (see "Soriju seems to be the sweetest word")

*

See all posts related to Jeonju and to the Sori Festival, including:

• on Jechun, Miyeon, and the festival: "In the zone with Miyeon and Park Je chun" (May 2014)
• on the hwimori flashmob: "World Cup v. Korean Keg" (June 2014)
• preparing the makgeolli for the festival: "Soriju seems to be the sweetest word" (July 2014)

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* talking about waves and shores, see "Heralding cultural diversity - a stronger and more sustainable Korean wave (Part I)", Part II, Part III

Hop on!

Seoul and Korea provide more and more tourist friendly services, and if I never used their bus programs, I'm quite impressed by their dynamism. Two new exciting routes are just starting these days.

At the national level, a new free shuttle bus for foreigners between Seoul and Jeonju will start tomorrow to celebrate the Visit Jeonbuk Year (for 26 weeks, see links and details below). All you need is: to bring your foreign passport, to book online, and to be among the lucky lottery winners (). And if you're too lazy to even plan ahead your trip, know that you land in Jeonju Hanok Village, in Wansan-gu, the historic center. If you missed this great city (great not only for Korean cuisine lovers), you have no excuse now. Even if you don't win the lottery, go!

Seoul-wise, Seoul City Tour Bus inaugurated its Traditional Markets Tour on February 22*. Double deckers will start every 35 mns for a 105 mn journey, and you can hop on and off at any of the 15 stops:

• 37. Departure from Doota (Dongdaemun Doosan Tower)
• 38. Bangsan Market (and its baking street, all the ustensils), Jungbu Market (dried fish and food)
• 39. Lotte Young Plaza (opposite Myeongdong's NOON Square, and next to Lotte Dept Store - if you don't want to shop "traditional market" all the way)
• 40. Seoul Station Bus Terminal no. 6
• 41. Namdaemun Market
• 42. Myeong-dong
• 43. Jonggak (and Bosingak)
• 44. Tapgol Park, Insadong
• 45. Sewoon Electronics Plaza 
• 46. Gwangjang Market
• 47. Pyeonghwa Market - Dongdaemun fashion town
• 48. Dongmyo shrine, Dokkaebi Market (Banghak-dong), Pungmul Market (flea market, Sungin-dong)
• 49. Yangnyeong Market (oriental medicine)
• 50. Majang Market (meat and livestock, Majang-dong)
• 51. Jungang Market (Singdang-dong)

This service is not free, but KRW 12,000 max (for adults), that's a fantastic deal to discover Seoul's main traditional markets in one day (from 9:30 to 18:30), particularly when you don't know the city: seats are equipped with audioguides and screens, and there's even an interpreter on board (ENG/JAP/CHN) to help you decide where to stop and what to do... which may include cultural visits (eg Dongmyo, Insadong, Tapgol, Bosingak), and should include snacks in every market. Why not have your fix at Gwangjang (see "(Gimbap) Drug Wars in Gwangjang Market"), try "Kalguksu alley and Gamegol mandu (Namdaemun market)", eat dry squid in Jungbu Market, red meat in Majang Market?... I should hop off now, before I drool all over the keyboard.

Seoul-Jeonju free shuttle: jeonju.chesstours.co.kr - email: visitkorea@chesstours.co.kr - Tel: +82.2.1577.2507. Departures 3 times a week - Friday, Saturday, Sunday -, between March 1st and August 25. Check also K-Shuttle lines (k-shuttle.com), and Jeonju City website (jeonju.go.kr).
Seoul City Tour Bus: seoulcitybus.com (NB: much more detailed on VisitSeoul) - Tel: +82.2.1544.4239 (Traditional Markets Tour), +82.2.777.6090 (Seoul City Courses)
... and always: VisitSeoul.net - VisitKorea - Korea Travel hotline: 1330

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* the fifth course after "City Circulation" (26 stops across Gangbuk with all major highlights), "Cheonggyecheon-Royal Palaces" (13 stops), and 2 non-stop "Nighttime Courses" that include the Han Riverside.

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20130228 UPDATE

Just received this ad by email (links to VisitSeoul):

Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone (SGFEZ)

We've already mentioned Saemangeum*, the arch claimed over the sea between Gunsan / Buan-gun in Jeollabuk-do, and yet another New Town slash Dream Hub slash Ubiquitous City slash Well Being Greentopia slash Former Korean President Pet Project.

The Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone (SGFEZ) has beefed up its communication through its SGFEZ.com website, and an exhibition organized with ARU (London Met's Architecture Research Unit).

Here are the latest visuals :


Note how the number of zones on which they communicate decreased to 3, the only remaining verticals being "tourism" and "industrial" :

- There's more focus on the environment, and Gogunsan Islands become an asset, almost a brand :


- "Saemangeum Industrial Zone", next to Gunsan's "Gunjang National Industrial Complex" up North :


- "Saemangeum Tourism Zone", at the Southern end of the project :


Expect more changes ahead : infrastructures are supposed to be progressively rolled out until 2020, and the timeline stretches until 2040. Parsecs away for Korean urban planners... and in completely alternate universes for Korean politicians.

Seoul Village 2011

*"Ari, Arirang, Ari, Ariul City"

UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education in Seoul, 7 more candidates for the World Heritage List

You've seen the banners downtown, and on the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism : between May 25 and 28, 2010, Seoul hosts the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education*. UNESCO Director-General Irina Georgieva arrived ahead of the conference, right after the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, to discuss all fields of cooperation between her organization and Korea, beyond the topics raised this week by experts from 190 countries and the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.

The occasion, maybe, to talk about recent submissions on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage. We've seen how active Korea is in that field, and in 2010, the country submitted no fewer than 7 new properties :

=> 2 submissions for ancient mountain fortresses ("sanseong") :

. Namhansanseong in Gwangju (Gyeonggi-do)

. Chungcheongbuk-do Ancient Mountain Fortresses : Samnyeonsanseong (Boeun-gun), Sangdangsanseong (Cheongju), Chungjusanseong (Chungju), Deokjusanseong (Jecheon), Ondalsanseong (Danyang), Jangmisanseong (Chungju), and Mireuksanseong (Geosan).

=> 2 submissions in favor of the Baekje heritage, encompassing city-level clusters, very much like Gyeongju (and once more honoring Korea's great funeral tradition) :

. Gongju and Buyeo Historic Sites : Baekje heritage in Gongju-si and Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do.

. Iksan Historic Areas : remains and royal tombs of an old Baekje capital in the Wanggung-myeon and Ungpo-myeon area.

=> 1 'prehistoric' submission :

. Bangudae Petroglyphs (Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs) in Daegok-ri, Ulsan. Entering the prestigious list could accelerate the process of protection for these priceless prehistoric relics, whose very existence is threatened by a dam. Korea managed to put its dolmens in the list, but is still waiting for its fossilized dinosaurs.

=> 2 'nature / environment' submissions :

. Southwestern Coast Tidal Flats : probably ignited by the 2008 RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands held in Korea, and the realization that Korean coastal wetlands and their habitats are endangered, this submission focuses on Jeolla-do sites (Gochang-gun and Buan-gun in Jeollabuk-do, Suncheon, Boseong-gun, Muan-gun, Sinan-gun in Jeollanam-do). The Louisiana oil spill tragedy may help the cause. And the listing would be a perfect answer to the Saemangum / Ariul mess.

. Jeollanam-do Salterns in Yeonggwang-gun (I guess the group of salters at the end of Yeomsam-myeon peninsula), and Sinan-gun (there's a big cluster on the islands of Bigeumdo and Dochodo). Beyond the sites, the submission focuses on the local techniques.

5 other sites remain on South Korea's tentative list, to which 6 North Korean candidates could be added, all submitted in 2000 (Goguryo Tombs remain NK's only assets listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List).


Seoul Village 2010

* see UNESCO website and the Korean website (artsedu2010.kr)

Ari, Arirang, Ari, Ariul City

Seoul Village 2010 - Korea loves urban planning from scratch : obliterating a whole chunk of an old city to make room for an anonymous new town, building an orwellian international city on the sea (see Songdo ubiquitous city), or even planting a new capital in the middle of nowhere (see the Sejong City telenovela)... now combine all this with the ecotourism fad and you get "Ariul".

The latest avatar of the Saemangeum Embankment project, a local drama I've been following ever since I set foot for the first time in the peninsula in 1991*, Ariul (아리울) was presented yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister.

By 2020, this "waterfront city" is supposed to attract flocks of eco-tourists and international business travelers to a polder to be created along the Saemangeum Seawall, a 33 km-long dyke built at the mouth of the Mangyeong River (between Gunsan and Buan, with a halfway stop in the former island of Sinsido).

That pharaonic embankment had already caused major uproars in environmental circles, and one can expect similar reactions for this KRW 21 trillion, dubaiesque project covering the equivalent of two thirds of Seoul city.

At least, it won't be a bridge to nowhere anymore.

What strikes most in the new master plan is the circular road around the city center... a body of water surrounded by thematic blocks : international business, industry, residential, ecology / environment / media (?), scientific research, renewable energy, agriculture, leisure / tourism. That last cluster will be modeled after Venice and Amsterdam, and this lovely utopia will be connected to the real world by new or improved highways, plus a new Saemangeum-Gunsan railway.

At this pace, by the end of year 2050, "eco-tourists" will be able to drive from Gwanghwa-do to Jeju-do as seamlessly as along the Florida keys...

If you wonder what a new port, complete with industries, and all this real estate frenzy have to do with "eco-tourism", welcome on board. If you wonder why this polluted spot was selected for a water tourism utopia, learn that one seventh of the budget is devoted to improve the quality of water to make the said utopia relevant. If you wonder why 20% of the land is devoted to agriculture, it's simply because city planners thought that that poorly located cluster wouldn't attract investors (this heresy shouldn't last if the program proves to be a success). And if you wonder how this zillionth "Eastern Asian Ubiquitous Well Being Green Hubopia" will position itself against its countless national rivals already under construction, go figure.

Who will pay ? The next president, the next generations of taxpayers, and the next generations of people condemned to live in an artificial environment.

To whom do we owe this brilliant mess ? Lee Myung-bak is only following the pledge of Kim Young-sam, who promised it to Jeolla-do voters during his 1992 campaign. The "bulldozer" president couln't decently pull the plug on that one just weeks after abandoning his pledge to Chungcheong-do voters, made during his own 2007 campaign : keeping Sejong City (and Roh Moo-hyun promises) alive. But Lee hasn't given up his own fabled Four river project... The day presidential candidates stop destroying their country with insane promises, Korea will probably feel better.

To me, Ariul sounds like the nth regional version of the old folk song Arirang. Only this time the subject would be that other eternal love of Koreans : real estate.

S.M.


* in Gimpo airport of course (from Paris via Tokyo because you couldn't fly to Korea over Russia). But land had already been claimed from the sea for Incheon airport : when I first visited Yongyu-do, it was already connected with Yeongjong-do, even if you had to take a ferry from Wolmido.

7 zones

LEE Myung-bak's government is facing big hurdles these days but at least something seems relevant : grouping provinces and big cities around 7 economic zones, and accelerating bullet train projects at the national level. I hope this won't alter the "cluster" approach but boost each region.

The 5 major zones will be :

- Central metro : Seoul + Incheon + Gyeonggi-do - major : finance & hi tech
- South East : Busan + Ulsan + Gyeongsangnam-do - major : heavy industries
- Daegu / Gyeongbuk : Daegu + Gyeongsangbuk-do - major : electronics, textile, energy
- Chungcheong : Daejeon + Chungcheongnam-do + Chungcheongbuk-do - major : science, R&D, education
- Gwangju / Jeolla : Gwangju + Jeollabuk-do + Jeollanam-do - major : tourism

Two provinces remain on their own :

- North East : Gangwon-do - major : tourism and medical
- Jeju : Jeju-do - major : tourism

Not a dramatic change for Jeju but some hope for Gangwon, now a segment of one potentially more advertized overseas. Splitting Gyeongsang is an even smarter move. Jeolla remains untouched and focused on tourism, but a "Sun Belt" Economic Zone is also planned from Mokpo to Busan along the South Coast in order to rival Seoul and accelerate the demographic and economic development of Mokpo area. Top chaebols will be invited to open vice-national HQs in the new zone. Preferably not in the Busan area, already a major hub by itself.

If new administrative levels could limit the intranational competition between self proclaimed Asian hubs, they are not necessarily good news - poorly handled they would even destroy value everywhere. I also suspect some potential cannibalization / coopetition with Korea's existing cluster strategy.