In Seoul, a Splash of the Past
SEOUL, South Korea -- In its rush to industrial development, South Korea's capital city in the 1970s buried a stream and built a highway over it. Now the city's mayor -- the former head of a company that helped to build the highway -- has launched a drive to tear down the highway and uncover the stream.
The route of the Cheonggye elevated expressway in downtown Seoul is "dirty, dusty, noisy, and polluted with bad air. Who wants to live or work along there?" asks Yang Yoon Jae, professor of environmental studies at Seoul National University. "We had to do something drastic to change the environment."
That something drastic: Rip down the expressway, dig up the road, and restore a once-famous stream -- the Cheonggye. The $330 million project is a symbol of a larger transformation in South Korea as its people, and their leaders, seek to rejuvenate the country's capital by making it more livable.
Mr. Yang came up with the idea a decade ago when he ventured into a sewage tunnel and saw that a 500-year-old bridge over the stream was still standing. One of Mr. Yang's articles caught the eye of Lee Myung Bak, a former head of Hyundai Engineering & Construction who had earned the nickname "Bulldozer" for his tenacity as he built bridges, roads and other projects around the world. When Mr. Lee became mayor of Seoul in 2002, he appointed Mr. Yang to spearhead the stream's restoration. Mr. Lee says he hopes downtown Seoul's new look will entice more international investors not only to put money in the city, but to work and live in it, too.
Seoul's Cheonggye Expressway is now being demolished, to be replaced by a waterway and pedestrian areas.
After decades of breakneck industrialization, many Asian cities are facing new challenges in urban development -- to imbue a sense of history and of nature, while still maximizing land value and keeping the city good for business. Because of the rising affluence and changing aspirations of city residents, these days improving a city's quality of life isn't just about building more shiny skyscrapers and roadways, but also about creating open spaces and greenery. City planners are also struggling to get back a sense of uniqueness after modernization left many of Asia's cities looking blandly alike.
Singapore found a way. Two decades ago, Singapore began cleaning up its river, upgrading bridges and walkways, and restoring nearby old buildings. The cleanup breathed new life into areas like Boat Quay, where dilapidated shophouses were turned into trendy restaurants and bars. "Today, people have realized the value of the river conservation," says John Ting, president of Singapore Institute of Architects. "It really revitalized the river bank -- it's a very natural instinct for people to gravitate toward water."
Seoul is hoping the restoration of the Cheonggye will have a similar impact. The city could do with all the help it can get. Left in ruins at the end of the Korean War in 1953, Seoul was rebuilt in a hurry, resulting in a sprawling city short on greenery and on history. Today, with 20 million residents in the metropolitan area, Seoul is the fourth-most populous urban area on the planet -- and one of the most polluted in the developed world.
And even though events like the 1988 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup helped promote the city on the world stage, Mr. Lee has bigger ambitions: "Seoul will take on a new role in the East Asian region, as a financial hub to compete with Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai." Mr. Lee also wants to transform the site of a U.S. Army base in downtown Seoul into something similar to New York's Central Park, and to renovate a host of palaces and shrines around the city.
Cheonggye stream before highway construction began in the 1960s.
For more than five centuries, the Cheonggye stream, fed by tributaries from surrounding mountains, was a key waterway in the heart of Seoul. An 18th-century Korean king listed the dredging and maintaining of the stream as one of his three great accomplishments.
The stream's fortunes declined following the Korean War, when its banks became a refugee shanty town. What was once the pride of kings had become a symbol of the country's poverty.
Later, as Seoul rebuilt itself, it steamrolled over the stream, which disappeared from view in 1978. In its place, Seoul had a new symbol of pride -- the four-lane Cheonggye Elevated Highway. Businesses selling everything from electronics to textiles, and machinery tools to antiques, mushroomed around the busy expressway.
In recent years, though, the expressway and its labyrinthine markets have been an eyesore. While neighboring areas, like the financial district, have been renovated over the years, the Cheonggye area fell into disrepair. The rumbling roadway was cracked and corroded.
On July 1, workers began demolishing the highway and exposing the stream. In two more years, the area is set to become home to a 3.5-mile stretch of restored stream, crisscrossed by paths and bridges for pedestrians. City officials hope that private investors will eventually redevelop the surrounding area -- currently, a mix of large office buildings, apartment complexes, street markets and industrial warehouses.
Not everyone welcomes the changes. For the more than 300,000 merchants working in the area, the project poses a threat to their livelihood. They fear that the construction will keep shoppers away, and that ultimately the area's gentrification will mean their days of doing business there are numbered.
"These street markets are a special part of Seoul, too. You have to save these markets," says Choo Han Young, a hawker in the area.
Lee Joo Yeon, executive editor of local architecture magazine Space, is concerned that the area -- while it needs renovation -- will be replaced by soulless shopping malls and office buildings. The Cheonggye area is "a place with a lot of the city's energy," he says. "It's in the middle of the city, and yes, it's old, but if you get rid of it, then everything in Seoul will be new and without character."
Space's Mr. Lee also believes it's wrong to refer to the stream project as a restoration; it will be fed by water pumped from a nearby river and water-treatment facilities, not its original tributaries. "This is just an artificial waterway being constructed in the city; this is not a historic restoration," he says.
City officials are undeterred. They say construction is weeks ahead of schedule, and talks have already begun with local landowners about redevelopment. The project has also garnered international attention, including a study by a group of students from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.
Many locals, too, seem keen on the stream's revival. Lee Pil Gu, 67, now spends his days hosing down the dust at one of the construction sites. He remembers playing in the dirty stream as he grew up in the shanty towns around it. "It was good for us back then to get rid of the stream and build the highway," he says. "And it's a good thing now to bring it back."
汉城：历史重"流"
在70年代工业快速发展的时候，汉城曾填平一条河流，并在上面修建了高速公路。但如今，汉城市长正在发起一场"拆路复河"运动。他曾经也参与过填河修路项目。
位于汉城市中心的Cheonggye高架公路"又脏又吵，尘土飞扬，空气污染严重"，"谁愿意在那附近工作、生活呢？"汉城国立大学环境学教授Yang Yoon Jae提出这个问题。"我们必须采取强有力措施改变那里的环境。"
这个强有力的措施是：拆掉高速公路，让曾经著名的Cheonggye河重现眼前。这项耗资3.3亿美元的工程象征著韩国一场大规模的改建运动，老百姓和政府领导都在努力使首都恢复青春活力、是它更适合人们居住。
Yang十年前就提出这个想法。当时他冒险到一条下水道里勘查，发现河上一座500年历史的桥仍然健在。Yang的一篇文章引起了现代建设(Hyundai Engineering & Construction)前任总裁Lee Myung Bak的注意。Lee在世界各地修建的桥梁、公路和其他工程均以坚固耐用而享有盛誉。Lee 2002当上汉城市长后，任命Yang主持这项河流恢复项目。Lee说，他希望汉城市中心的崭新面貌能吸引国际投资者不仅在汉城投资，而且在汉城工作、生活。
汉城的Cheonggye高速公路目前正在被拆除，很快将被水道和行人区取代。
经过了过去几十年迅猛的工业化发展，目前许多亚洲城市正面临城市发展的新挑战：在扩大土地利用价值、保持城市商业发展利益的同时，让城市充满历史和自然的韵味。如今，随著居民的生活日益富足和期望值的提高，改善城市生活质量不仅仅是修建更多闪亮的摩天大楼和公路，还要建设开阔空间和绿化。城市规划者们也在努力使许多在现代化过程中变得乏味雷同的城市恢复独特的个性 。
新加坡找到这些方法。20年前，新加坡开始清理河流，改善桥梁和人行道，修复附近的老建筑。这些工作使许多地方充满生机，譬如在驳船码头(Boat Quay)，荒废的商店被改成时尚的餐馆和酒吧。"如今，人们已经意识到保护河流的价值，"新加坡建筑学院院长John Ting说，"这使河两岸恢复了生机──人们喜欢到有水的地方去，这是自然的本性。"
汉城希望Cheonggye河的恢复工程能取得类似的效果。这个城市需要任何能得到的帮助。1953年朝鲜战争结束后，汉城在一片废墟中匆忙重建，结果缺乏规划，绿化和历史意味非常缺乏。如今，汉城已经成为一个2千万人口的大都市，是世界上第四大人口密集城市，也是经济发达地区中污染最严重的城市之一。
尽管1988年的奥运和2002年的世界杯使汉城登上了世界舞台，但Lee有更加远大的目标："汉城将以金融中心的崭新角色出现在东亚地区，与东京、香港和上海竞争。" Lee还想把位于汉城市中心的美军基地遗址，改建成类似纽约的中央公园，修建城市周围的许多宫殿和神祠。
把Cheonggye河改建为高速公路的想法源于60年代。
Cheonggye河由周围山上的支流汇合而成，五百多年来一直是汉城市中心的主要水道。18世纪的一位韩国国王曾把挖掘和维护这条河流作为他的丰功伟绩之一。
然而朝鲜战争之后，这条河的命运每况日下，河两岸变成难民聚居的棚屋区。这条曾让国王们骄傲不已的河流却成了这个国家贫穷的缩影。
后来，随著汉城的重建，这条河被掩埋，1978年消失。取而代之的是汉城的新骄傲──四车道的Cheonggye高架高速公路。商家们很快就像雨后春笋一样出现这条繁忙公路附近，从电子到纺织，从机械工具到古董，各行各业都有。
然而，最近几年，高速公路和它附近迷宫似的市场成了一处碍眼的景观。附近的地区在过去几年中得到重修翻新，如金融区，而Cheonggye这一带却陷入绝望的境地。隆隆声不绝的公路出现了裂痕，侵蚀严重。
7月1日，工人开始拆路挖河，两年后，这个地方将变成一条长3.5英里的修复河，上面将有多条道路和人行桥穿过。市政官员们希望最终由私人投资者来重新发展周围的地区──目前，大办公楼、公寓楼、街道市场和工业仓库混合在一起。
并非所有人都欢迎这些变化。对于30多万在这个地区工作的商人来说，这项工程对他们的生计造成威胁。他们担心施工使顾客减少，而富人在这个地区生活和经商将意味著他们的经营日子不长了。
"这些街道市场也是汉城一个特别的部份。我们应该保留这些市场，"这个地方的小贩Choo Han Young说。
当地建筑杂志《空间》的执行编辑Lee Joo Yeon担心这个地区将被一些毫无特色的购物中心和办公楼取代，尽管它的确需要重修。Cheonggye地区"具有这个城市的许多活力，"他说。"它位于这个城市的中心。没错，它很老了，但如果拆掉了它，汉城所有的一切都是新的了，没有个性。"
《空间》的Lee也认为把河流工程称为一次翻修是错误的。它的水将来自从附近河流和水处理设施里抽来的水，不是原先支流的水。"这只是在城市里修建的一条人工水道，不是一次历史性的重建。"他说。
市政官员并不为这些言论所动。他们说，工程比原计划提前了几星期，并且他们已经开始跟当地土地所有者商谈恢复发展的事宜。这项工程还引起了国际社会的关注，哈佛大学研究生设计院的学生正在对这项工程进行研究。
许多当地居民似乎也对河流恢复工程表现出热忱。67岁的Lee Pil Gu现在每天花时间用软管给一个工地浇水降尘。他记得以前在河周围的棚屋区长大，在脏兮兮的河里玩。"对于那时的我们来说，填河修路是件好事，"他说，"现在让河又回到我们生活中也是件好事。"
