Jeong-dong forever

Thank you Chosun Ilbo for feeding this stroll-starved quarantined Seoulite with Jeong-dong news ("서울 貞洞이 확 바뀐다, 근대역사 숨쉬는 거리로" - Chosun Ilbo 20200407). So. Seoul intends to invest KRW 20 bn by 2022 into what is already one of the capital's most walkable neighborhoods. Basically, a lot of storytelling to connect the dots, plus a few new dots. 

Sidewalks and signs shall be improved along the 2,6 km scenic walk signaled on this map

But first, let me tell you another story about this neighborhood you think you know.

Jeong-dong basically draws a diagonal between two palaces: Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung, and owes its name to Jeongneung, a royal tomb of the Joseon dynasty. Actually, it used to be also known as Jeongneung-dong.

Wait a minute. Indeed, Jeongneung is located in Jeongneung-dong, but that's in Seongbuk-gu, quite far away.

Blame King Sejong's father for that: King Taejeong was the one who, in 1408, moved the tomb to the opposite end of town, and even beyond the mountain, the city, and its fortress walls. Real estate-wise and  feng shui-wise, quite a downgrade. Why would Taejeong disgrace a royal tomb? Because it honored Queen Sindeok, the second wife of his grand dad, King Taejo, the founder of both the Josson dynasty and Seoul. And Taejeong's grandmother was Taejo's first wife, Queen Shinui. So even if Sindeok played a role in the capital's genesis, she had to get out of royal sight.

Now guess where Jeongneung was located, initially: in Today's British Embassy.

To me, this anecdote illustrates perfectly Jeong-dong's shift from its royal origins to its modern diplomatic tradition.

Of course, this is where Germany, Russia, the US, the UK, France, Italy, Belgium built their consulates at the end of the XIXth century. But if the Brits are still there (see 'Seoul-upon-Han and Yeongguk-dong'), and even if the Russian Legation tower was restored a dozen years ago, most of the rest is gone.

Seoul city intends to revamp Jeongdong Park, at the feet of the Russian Legation to have it themed after the area's rich diplomatic tradition, with a tribute to these lost buildings. Will more people come than today? For the moment, this quiet green patch remains backstage from Jeongdong-gil as well as from Saemunan-ro (accessible through a steep staircase). And Jeongdong-gil itself is already a pleasant, tree-lined stroll dotted with actual buildings full of history or culture: Jeongdong Theater, Sina Memorial Hall (Asiance HQs), Chung Dong First Methodist Church, surviving structures of Ewha Hakdang and Pai Chai Hakdang (Appenzeller Noble Memorial Museum), Jungmyeongjeon Hall...

What always struck me when I saw old pictures of Jeong-dong was the fact that it looked much hillier than today, and now I know why: there was indeed a hill, named after Hwangtohyeon, but it was erased during the occupation. Among the few new dots added to the plan, Seoul will create a small Hwangtohyeon square to commemorate a hill in front of the small police station at the Sejongno intersection.

Most citizens discovered this most central neighborhood when Deoksugung-gil was redesigned in 1998, marking the revival of downtown Seoul as a pedestrian friendly destination*. Another boost came with the 2002 World Cup, when millions gathered right next door on Sejongdaero around City Hall, and what would become the new Seoul Plaza. The SeMA, inaugurated in 1988, would also be renovated in 2002, and its garden at the roundabout remains a popular, Instagrammable spot. 2002 also happens to be the birth year of my beloved Seoul Museum of History at the other end of the neighborhood. More recently, the Seoul Biennales brought new magnets on each side of Jeong-dong: Donuimun Museum Village near Gyeonghuigung (2007), and Seoul HOUR (2019) near Deoksugung.

Of course there's much more than this SE-NW diagonal**. But until a few years ago, the Northeast section of Deoksugung-gil used to be closed to the public around Habib House, the US Ambassador's residence. Thanks to Mark Lippert and Grigsby his basset hound, this key axis opened up, completing at last Jeong-dong's anchoring to all neighboring areas.

Jeong-dong will remain future-proof if it keeps at the same time respecting its past and evolving.

Seoul Village 2020
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* see "Jeongdong-kill"

** Note that its Southeastern half used to be known as Sojeong-dong (close to the 'somun' - Seodomun), and its Northwestern half as Daejeong-dong (close to 'daemun' - Donuimun). About Seoul's Sadaemun and Sasomun, see my small video 'Drawing Sadaemun'

Gwanghwamun Square Enters Third Dimension

Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Cultural Heritage Administration unveiled yesterday their plans for a 'New Gwanghwamun Square' by 2021, and they came up with a weird 'solution' for the potential traffic conundrum I mentioned four years ago, when the project started taking a clearer shape (see "Gwanghwamun, Donhwamun, and the Tale of two Royal Roads").

Gwanghwamun Square 3.0 - the royal Sejongno-Gwanghwamun-Gyeongbokgung-Cheong Wa Dae-Bugaksan-Bukhansan perspective

This modification of Seoul's most defining center has potentially even greater consequences than the previous one, which we followed step by step a decade ago. I will as usual focus on the urbanistic impacts (passing by many familiar spots), but since this is also about Korea's center of power ever since its capital was founded, I'd better start with some political context.

It's the politics, stupid?

Such a project deserves to be carried by both the local (SMG) and national (CHA) governments, and PARK Won-soon as well as MOON Jae-in happen to have a special bond with a site where PARK Geun-hye started and ended her presidency.

Started? If we all remember the massive, peaceful demonstrations that led to PGH's destitution, who could possibly forget that kitschissime wishtree** on Gwanghwamun Square, her first symbolic stop on her way to Cheong Wa Dae?

During his own campaign, MOON Jae-in pledged to move the presidential offices from Cheong Wa Dae to Sejongno, and the presidential residence closer to Gwanghwamun, in order to cleanse the feet of Bugaksan, and to honor the place where democracy took a stand and won. MOON also picked Gwanghwamun Square to celebrate his victory.

Retrospectively, I shudder when I remember AHN Hee-jung's over-the-top cheering that night - back then, I didn't know he couldn't even control his darkest pulsions... anyway, his DSK / #metoo moment completely revived the ambitions of a man who tried to steal the show on the very same night.

Only weeks ago, PARK Won-soon was clearly out of the game for the 2022 presidential elections, and about to be dumped by his own party for the upcoming mayoral elections (June 2018). Now he's leading the polls by far (against WOO Sang-ho and PARK Young-sun for the primaries, and against AHN Cheol-soo and KIM Moon-soo beyond), and this new project looks like the ideal platform for both ballots: he can make a splash in 2018 on the very site that boosted his predecessor's reelection***, and deliver the goods just months before 2022. Of course, PWS already combined a major urban project with a major political event before, but PGH's impeachment derailed Seoullo 7017's perfect timing ahead of the 2017 elections (see "Seoullo 7017, and more roads to Seoul").

Now is the right moment to communicate a grand scheme and vision, big enough to mask PARK's most recent shortcomings: he barely managed to avoid criticism for Seoul's waste management crisis by sending deputies to face the media, and he let his rival WOO preempt the usually well coveted 'public transportation' territory by campaigning on a new metropolitan authority, including yet another revival of the key Seobuseon project (after 2013, when "Seobu Line confirmed as Seoul's LRT top priority", the city dropped the ball once again).

So yes, it's about politics. But regardless of this context, Gwanghwamun Square and its surroundings needed a fix.

3.7 times bigger, 3.7 times better?

So what's the plan? Basically, the pedestrian zone grows not only, as expected, to the West and along nearby streets, but also right in front of the gate, making the road map much more complex, what I dubbed Seoul's 'Royal T'**** turning into a Y:

Seoul also revived its old ambition to restore Baekundongcheon, Cheonggyecheon's main source, the diagonal still visible on today's map (see "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It"*****).

Seoul city advertises about the 3.7 factor by which pedestrian surface booms from 18,840 m2 to 69,300 m2, the reduction of traffic lanes to 6 along Sejong-daero, and its renewed demands to the State for a GTX extension to Gwanghwamun.

All this sounds very positive and environment friendly, but no really new green spaces are planned, and the extended square might make Summers and Winters even more merciless in what looks more like Tiananmen Square, or the barren landing site that preceded Yeouido Park.

There are still no dedicated lanes for buses or bicycles, and buses shall be redirected South, which seems recipe for disaster for public transportation around downtown Seoul, particularly since the new road map deprives Sajik-ro 8-gil (formerly Naejadong-gil) from its role of main NS/EW dispatcher.

Compared to Gwanghwamun 2.0, the 2009 revolution that brought pedestrians back to the heart of the capital, this Gwanghwamun 3.0 adds only marginal change to their experience. I like the idea of restoring the 'parvis' in front of Gwanghwamun, the Eastern pavillions and hanok around a 'History Square' that could liven up the walk from Seochon to Bukchon... but pushing traffic further downtown, and adding new bottlenecks to already saturated axes does seem like a big price to pay. 

Unfortunately, like with Seoullo, impact surveys have obviously been eluded in a race to meet electoral deadlines, and authorities chose to worsen traffic situations by not tackling them. Even the curve of the new road following the back of the central government building (that by the way shouldn't be on that History Square) tells about quick and dirty fixes without consideration for the big picture.

What Seoul needed was a consistent vision and plan to prepare its whole historic center Sadeamun (intra muros) for a driverless future. What Seoul delivered was a dangerously incomplete, short-sighted, ill-prepared PR stunt.

The city will take one year to select a proposal, start work in January 2020, and finish by EOY 2021. Mayor PARK missed by a few months last time, and 2021 seems safe enough a goal for him to inauguration the new (if not improved) Gwanghwamun Square. 

I sincerely hope he'll reconsider this plan, and grow some ambition for our city.

Seoul Village 2018
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* see "The Anipang Election: Park wins big, but who won?"
** see "Park 2 Day 1 in pictures"
*** will OH Se-hoon rise again (on billboards, at least - see "OH Se-hoon returns... but did he ever leave?")
**** see "Inwangsan's Great Wall and Seoul's Royal "T" Time"
***** note that since my 2009 focus, the streets West of Sejong-daero have been renamed Saemunan-ro 9-gil and Saemunan-ro 5ga-gil. Seoul also renewed the project of highlighting walls around Sajik-dan and Sajik-park.

Take a walk on the Seoul side

More good news for pedestrians in Seoul: 10 streets will undergo a "road diet" this year, and twice more shall follow every year.

By "road diet", the metropolitan government means slimmer, curvier, healthier streets, like in this example where one traffic lane is turned into sidewalks:

Now if you look at the first 10 streets, some have already great assets as neighborhood connectors, short yet scenic and / or gastronomic walkways, often already lined with trees. But many have little to tell, like the 'apateu' blocks surrounding them. 

Here's the list, starting with my favorite:

• Saemunan-ro-5-gil (Jongno-gu): between Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung stations, the first parallel to the left of Sejong-daero, backstage for the governmental buildings or the Sejong Cultural Center, but centerstage for such great eateries as my beloved Gwanghwamun-jip (yummy gimchi jjigae below). Redefined by the Four Seasons Seoul, it also signals the beginning of the Baekundongcheon diagonal (see "Baekundongcheon / Gwanghwamun-gil - A River Runs Through It"), and I wouldn't be surprised if that diagonal became car-free in the future...

 

• Noksapyeong-daero-26-gil, Yongsan-gu: known for its antique shops, this elbow connects Noksapyeong-daero and Bogwang-ro.
• Seongsuil-ro-10-gil, Seongdong-gu: a treeless diagonal between Seongsuil-ro and Achasan-ro, and one of the old royal hunting trails - you can tell them because they radiate from where the old stone bridge used to cross Cheonggyecheon / Jungnangcheon.
• Dongil-ro, Gwangjin-gu: further to the West, Northeast Seoul's backbone follows Jungnangcheon from Yeongdong Bridge. Seoul starts with the Southern section, more interesting around Jayang-dong, but very challenging because of that ugly bridge landing.
• Gwanak-ro-30-gil, Gwanak-gu: a stretch lined with trees between Gwanak-ro and Kkachisan Park
• Opaesan-ro-3-gil, Seongbuk-gu: not much to see either between Naebu Expressway and Wolgye-ro, but you already have sidewalks and trees.
• Nowon-ro-1ga-gil, Nowon-gu: a lower section of Gongneung-dong around the school
• Guil-ro-10-gil, Guro-gu: between Anyangcheon and the pack of railways south of Guro Station (Line 1), in Guro-dong.
• Yeouidaebang-ro-44-gil, Dongjak-gu: a scenic walk around Daebang-dong Community Center, and along Noryangjin Neighborhood Park
• Nonhyeon-ro, Gangnam-gu: maybe the city wants to improve the shopping experience of Gangnamites along the vertical axis between Maebong, Yeoksam, Eonju, Hak-dong, and Apgujeong stations. Or to remind them that they have feet, and that they could, for a change, spare the driver and spoil the Jimmy Choos.

This announcement followed series of updates by the city of its urban plans for 2025 issued last Autumn, including this list of zones preserved from demolition and reconstruction within Sadaemun / the fortress walls (Ikseon-dong also included):

Of course, you first notice the spots that WILL be redeveloped, like the Sajikistan I mentioned recently ("The Yongsan itch and the Sajik balm"). And the extension of semi-protected zones around Seun Sangga (Jugyo-dong, Ojang-dong, and Chungmuro 5-ga prolonging the direct neighborhoods listed in the regeneration project), or along Jong-ro near Jongmyo (e.g. Inui-dong)...

... not to mention the irony of seeing the DDP in an area 'preserved from large-scale redevelopment'.

Seoul Village 2016
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