Area characterisation:
Urban
Objective:
Removing the expressway to improve the city's air quality and noise levels, and replacing it with a new waterfront to enhance biodiversity, creating a serene stretch for city dwellers and reducing the urban heat island effect.
Reducing pollution by upgrading the city's public transportation system and prioritising its use over private vehicles.
Financing:
Government funded, multi-partner project to deliver large-scale urban regeneration.
Potential impacts/benefits:
• Urban renewal and revitalisation.
• Economic growth and tourist attraction.
• Public access to the river – fishing and bathing.
• Educational resource.
• Historical and cultural values reflected in design.
• Significant ecological improvement.
• Air and water quality improved.
• Reduction in air temperature (cooling effect) in surrounding area by an average of 3.6°c demonstrated by thermal imagery.
Actions:
1. The Seoul Metropolitan Government established the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Centre to act as a focus for research, development and planning.
2. The Cheonggyecheon Restoration Citizens' Committee helped to gauge public opinion, communicating the projects goals through information sessions and conveying concerns.
3. The highway was de-commissioned.
4. The new river channel was excavated.
5. Works were undertaken to the river corridor.
- Underground waterways redirected to create a new stream bed with landscaped banks; former bridges used as decorative elements; seating to encourage the public to use the space.
- Created a park in the centre of the city with recreation areas, waterfront decks and stepping stones; designed using environmentally friendly materials, with artwork and maps on walls along the river corridor.
- Designed to look natural and overgrown; sections of the pier and overpass left as industrial mementoes; wetland designated as an ecological conservation area.
Lessons learnt:
• Hailed as a global best practice example of successful urban greening in a densely populated city.
• Provided a template for planning across South Korea and wider afield.
• Example of a metropolis scale, multi-partner project benefitting a population of 25 million people
Contacts:
Partners: Cheonggyecheon Restoration Centre, Seoul Development Institute, Cheonggyecheon Restoration Citizens Committee, Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The Cheonggyecheon stream project revitalised a dilapidated expressway in downtown Seoul to create a green waterfront park with improved public transport, and citizen access.