Seoullo 7017, and more roads to Seoul

Seoullo 7017 opens tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the public, and at 8 p.m., PARK Won-soon will officially inaugurate the pet project that was to be his launching pad for the 2017 presidential election.

twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/857000527665561602

Of course, PARK Geun-hye's impeachment changed the calendar, and Seoul's Mayor didn't last long in the race. But on election night, he managed to hijack MOON Jae-in's podium on Gwanghwamun Square with a mink dance followed hours later by more praise for his fellow school alumni, as part of a call for the new friendly government to support Seoul's future urban plans.

Of course, many projects have already been launched, and Seoullo (formerly known as Seoul Highline / Seoul Arboretum / Seoul Station 7017 ...) was only part of an impressive collection announced two years ago (see "Urban Regeneration: 27 Projects For Seoul").

Seoullo night fever. Where's the disco ball? #Seoullo7017 (Seoullo Blue Night twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/858105090804023297)

Furthermore, countless events have already been planned for 2017, culminating with the first Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (SIBAU 2017), which will also highlight Donuimun Museum Village, still under renovation (reminder: that was the eatery hotspot initially planned for destruction, next to Gyeonghuigung, to make room for Gyonam New Town's park).

But the city wants to push further in all directions, old and new, such as: 
. a car-free Sadaemun (within the old city walls),
. a cultural hub around Sejong Cultural Center,
. a prolongation of the very successful Gyeongui Line Forest Park all the way to Hangang,
. more urban regeneration in Haengchon-dong (NB that's around Dilkusha, on the other end of Gyeonghuigung Xii / Gyonam New Town)
. ...

A clear focus on 'Gangbuk' vs 'Gangnam', but the latter has been overly supported over the past years, from subways to the COEX-Jamsil hub. As if on cue with the regime change, the city is suddenly announcing 1.34 million more square meters of office space in 53 disadvantaged neighborhoods (Suyu, Jongam, Myeonmok-dong...), regardless of the impacts it could have on a market already facing oversupply... not to mention the impacts on Seoul's cityscape, because urbanism rules would be broken to boost F.A.R. all the way up to 800%, and to allow high rise buildings... 

So let's see how the dialog between City Hall and the Blue House evolves. And let's hope they reopen the old projects of subway lines in underserved areas before the next mayoral elections (a classic, regardless of the mayor's political color).

Meanwhile, why not walk along Seoullo? You'll notice an installation by Hwang Ji-hae featuring 30,000 shoes, a tribute to the old shoemaker's tradition on Yeomcheon Bridge, where you can visit the Oh Shoe Museum. It overlooks the soon-to-be-reopened Seosomun Park on one side, and the railways on the other.

• See all previous posts related to Seoul Station 7017 (PS managing labels and hashtags would be simpler if they stopped changing names all the time)

 
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Happy Seoul

Back to Seoul! Let's celebrate with a new Happy video following Pharrell Williams' footsteps. This one features more walks of life (from monks to expats), more sites (from Bukchon to Mecenatpolis or the Floating Island), and far fewer product placements than a PSY video (no, the tribute to Gangnam Style doesn't count)!



YouTube-wise, this version is quickly catching up with the previous leading version, with 37,000 views since September 30, compared to 56,000 since March 14 for the 'Happy' featuring Hong Seok-cheon:



At that level too, we're not in PSY territory, but it's really great to see Seoul clap along!

#HappySeoul on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/seoulishappy

Because I'm happy to see so many faces and places represented.

I'll add a final clap to a yet older video. Also made in Seoul, also based on music. Not from the megastar Pharrell Williams, but from the Icelandic group Sigur Rós. The title, "VARÚÐ", means "caution", and the video (by Nils Clauss with Namui Park) will move you in different ways. I want you to follow this homeless living in the park behind Yongsan Station until the very end of the credits, because that's also about feeling "like a room without a roof", feeling "like happiness is the truth", knowing "what happiness is to you", feeling "that's what you wanna do":



SIGUR RÓS | VARÚÐ. music video from Nils Clauss on Vimeo.

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Gyeongui Line Forest Trail - An Urban Lifeline

Recent news confirmed my hopes and fears regarding the new park stretching along Gyeongui Line (see "Busan Corner on Taxi-daero").

Don't worry, this is not another post about subway line extensions (even I grew tired of them!), but about the forest trail planted over the southern branch of the Gyeongui Line, the 107-year-old railway that used to connect Seoul with Pyongyang. Seoul city just announced that the 6.3 km-long linear park between Hongjecheon and Munbae-dong would be completed by the end of 2014.




Overall, 6.3 km via Hongdae, Seogang, Gongdeok, and Hyochang stations

Nowadays, what you see in the unfinished sections often looks a bit like this...

... but ultimately, we shall see this thin "coulee verte" from above:

• Here, we're at the beginning of the park, where the Gyeongui Line splits in two (after Gajwa Station): aboveground along Seongsan-ro towards Seoul Station, underground along Yeonnam-ro towards Yongsan Station. You can clearly see at the top of the picture the elevated Naebu Expressway covering Hongjecheon (about that, see "Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway"), and the hills of Yeonhui-dong's Gungdong Park. The park cuts through Yeonnam-dong, with Gyeongseong school to the left:

Gyeongui Line forest trail at Yeonnam-dong

• Now we're at the other end of the park, or rather the head of the dragon ("yong"), in Yongsan-gu. Actually, the street that passes between two apartment blocks on the bottom right of this picture separates Mapo-gu from Yongsan-gu. The main avenue bordering the park is now Baekbom-ro, here between Gongdeok and Hyochang stations. Note that Gyeongui Line's Hyochang and Yongsan stations will also open next year.

Some sections of the park have already been inaugurated, but it takes time for the vegetation to grow, and there are not many places to seat in the shade. So the 1.310 m-long initial stretch (Yeonnam-Hongdae) is not very crowded during daytime. Lined with cherry trees, the 630 m-long section between Sogang and Gongdok stations, not far from Sogang University, looks more welcoming and decorated for the moment... but 'sullae-gil' style (expect a lot of signs and storytelling).

For the moment, the most exciting parts may be around Wau Bridge / Wausan / Donggyo-dong / Changjeon-dong, precisely because they have not been fully 'edited' yet. Don't get there if you're the Cheongdam-dong kind of Seoulite.

• Once you've passed the airport line exits, you can enjoy some really creative graffitis along the fences (unfortunately, also less enjoyable and creative tags on private homes):

Walls have eyes too. #Graffiti near #Hongdae, #Seoul
pic.twitter.com/MmPfp1MNPM - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/347677211379261441

• On the other side of Wau Bridge lies a very unique Hongdae neighborhood. Of course it's evolving very quickly, but not as quickly as the rest of Hongdae: here, time seems more suspended. Like in Kim Jin-hwan's cult bakery, where you must not expect bread to be available every time you pass by. Like in these tiny houses, in front of which old timers wash their baechu for the gimchi. Like in this lost field, by the small street that crosses the path of the Gyeongui Line, where Seoul city grows the flowers that will decorate less forsaken neighborhood:

The #Gyeongui line near #Hongdae. Here, flowers are grown for the rest of #Seoul
pic.twitter.com/95E2AkeViY - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/347676715432161281

What will it look like one year, two years from now? Probably sanitized, gentrified. Hopefully more open to other neighborhoods, and full of life, kids, and bicycles. I come there on bicycle, but both sides are hilly and that's not very convenient. On the other hand and as you can see, the path of the covered line is very flat, so once the trail is opened, people can join from far away, breeze from one neighborhood to the other. Life will completely change for people who are used to live in the middle of nowhere. 

If my wishes have been fulfilled, so have my fears of seeing more soulful parts of Seoul disappear. As expected, my Busan Corner is closed, and my "Taxi-daero" is already starting to morph into something different. I'm mourning that beautiful Chinese restaurant on Baekbom-ro, next to Hyochang Park Station; an exceptional building, and an architectural heritage that would have added something very special to the trail...

But don't get me wrong. Above all else, Seoul is reclaiming wastelands and barren areas for the enjoyment of all its citizens, and that's fantastic. Just like for Cheonggyecheon or Gwanghwamun Plaza, planners won't get it right from day one, and they'll have to fix bugs that could have been avoided in the first place, but Seoulites will come to love a place they didn't know existed.

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KTX coast to coast Incheon-Gangneung

It was part of the Pyeongchang 2018 bid but now that's official: the KTX Incheon airport line will be prolonged all the way to Gangneung by 2015, connecting key entry points (ICN, Seoul) to the future olympic venues and the East Sea. A major milestone for a national network in permanent development for conventional as well as high speed lines.

Historically, Korean railways followed the Seoul-Busan axis: the Gyeongbu Line and Jungang Line are basically Nortwest-Southeast parallels, the former starting from Seoul Station and the latter from Cheongnyangni (two multimodal hubs about to be more closely connected in the future).

The KTX dramatically shrunk distances, and now Daejeon competes with Daegu as the main hub between the capital and Busan because it lies at the intersection of the KTX Gyeongbu Line (Seoul-Busan 2h10)and the Honam Line (Seoul-Mokpo 1h46). Initially planned for 2014, Seoul-Gangneung is expected to take 1h39, largely within the goal set by railway authorities for all intra-korean lines (two hours maximum).

The Incheon Airport KTX line (not to be confused with the AREX - "AREX on time for Seoul - Gimpo - Incheon" - even if it shares the infrastructure) reaches Wonju West station in Gangwon-do, with 5 stops in between:
- Susaek (Gyeongui Line, close to the DMC and Subway Line 6) in Susaek-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul
- Yongsan (other KTX lines, Jungang Line, and Subway Line 1) in Hangangno 3-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
- Cheongnyangni (Jungang Line, Gyeongwon Line) in Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul
- Mangu (Gyeongchun Line, Jungang Line, Subway Line 1) in Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul
- Yongmun (Jungang Line) in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do

The old Wonju Station being also on Jungang Line, this is basically an AREX-Jungang combo.

The Wonju-Gangneung extension will connect the two cities that gave their name to the Gangwon-do province when it was founded in 1395 (GANGneung + WONju = GANGWON). Wonju remained the capital for centuries but now Chuncheon rules: it claims 1.4 mn souls compared to 310,000 for Wonju and 230,000 for Gangneung.

Only two stops are scheduled between WON and GANG: Pyeongchang and Daegwallyeong, both in Pyeongchang-gun. Daegwallyeong is famous for the Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm, but two major olympic venues are located in this myeon: Alpensia and Yongpyong resorts.

When I think that driving to Yongpyong took us 6 hours back in 1992, if we were smart enough to leave Seoul before 6 AM to avoid the traffic on the old road... infrastructures have so much improved over the past two decades!

Well. Not all infrastructures proved successful. This new KTX line looks like another nail in Yangyang International Airport's coffin: that's by far the closest one to Pyeongchang as the crow flies, and it's quite ok (yours truly used it back in 2002), but it's a commercial flop and totally desert except for the occasional charter flight.

Even on steroids, a crow cannot beat a KTX.

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Yongsan-Gangnam-Bundang subway completed in 2017

Seoul Village 2010 - Bundang, Gangnam, Yongsan... the New Bundang subway line seems to be going back in time as it links symbols of the 2000s, 1980s, and 1960s. Will it go back all the way to the 1390s and Seoul city center some day ?

In 2017, 7.5 km will be added to the "Sinbundangseon" (신분당선), connecting Gangnam Station with Yongsan Station. The inauguration of the first section (17.3 km from Jeongja Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do to Gangnam Station) was postponed from July 2010 to September 2011.

Joining Bundang business district and Pangyo New Town directly with the Northern half of the capital city is already an important step, but extensions all the way up to Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung stations were also considered at one stage (POSCO plan).

Yesterday, the government already announced a total of KRW 18.6 for railways, ports, and logistics, plus 22.9 tn for roads. The Sin Bundang extension is expected to cost W 900 bn excluding expropriations, and for the moment it is supposed to cross the Yongsan Army Base... which means delays and additional costs are more than likely.

Section to be inaugurated next year (3.2 + 8 + 2.9 + 1.7 + 1.5 = 17.3 km) :

. Jeongja station (connected with Bundang Line)
. Pangyo station (new station, future Yeoju Line, heading for Southeastern Gyeonggi-do)
. Cheonggye / Cheonggyesan station (new station)
. Yangjae Citizen's Forest / Maeheon (new station)
. Yangjae station / Seocho-gu Office (subway Line 3)
. Gangnam station (subway Line 2)

Extension decided yesterday (7.5 km) :

. SinNonhyeon (subway Line 9) - to be confirmed
. Nonhyeon (subway Line 7)
. Sinsa (subway Line 3)
. Seobinggo (station of the Yongsan-Deokso section of the old Jungang Line)
. Ichon Station / National Museum (subway Line 4, Yongsan-Deokso)
. Yongsan Station (subway Line 1, KTX bullet train, Yongsan-Deokso)