September 14, 2006

Revelation: Seoul's Cheonggyecheon

I had read about this before, but didn’t really appreciate it until I saw this picture:

seoul-river-dale.jpg

According to Toronto’s Spacing Wire:

In Seoul, South Korea, they managed to both dismantle an elevated expressway that cut through the city, and unearth the Cheonggyecheon, a river buried beneath it.

Just last year, Seoul’s municipal government spent $360 million to have the stream uncovered. Walking along the river now is like being in a real life version of one of those urban planning student’s thesis projects …

The Cheonggyecheon is now lined with walkways, art, historical plaques, and tall grasses. It’s sits below street level in a concrete ravine, with busy roadways on either side. It’s 5.8 kilometers long and at night it’s packed with people. Kids actually swim in it (apparently it’s kept that clean), and adults wade or sit along its edge with their feet in the water.

Wow.

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Comments

  1. I second your wow! That looks so very beautiful–must travel more.
    Gordon, thanks for all of the work that you do on this site and on your newsletter. I check in every day and look forward to each new posting. Please keep up the fantastic work.

  2. i was in cheonggyecheon last days ( from 24/07 to 29/07/2009)
    it is really nice place and there are much friendly korean poeple which you can easy to talk and have a discussion.
    and it is good place for walking and to make photos.
    i got nice time in that revier .and i found it comfertable .

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