Cheonggyecheon Promises
to Be Seoul's Int'l Attraction
- Restoration scheduled for completion on Oct. 1


The elevated road built over the Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul was once a subject of safety concerns among the motorists passing over the road, one of the symbols of modernization for the capital city as well as the nation whose economic strides have been summed up as the Miracle of the Han River.
The Cheonggyecheon Stream will have a new lease of life as an environmentally friendly, human-oriented urban space as work on removing the Cheonggye Elevated Road and restoring the stream is scheduled to be completed on Oct. 1, for its facelift debut to the public.
The renewed stream promises to be one of Seoul's landmarks with a renowned resting place for not only Seoulites and visiting foreign and Korean tourists, featuring a combination of tradition of a 600-year-old metropolis and modernity.
The project on restoring the stream was thrust to the global limelight as it won an architect award in the 2004 Venice Biennale. Organizers of the biennale have apparently placed more weight on the idea of restoring the stream than the restoration work itself. The restoration idea is the work of the current Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak, dubbed as a prominent CEO mayor. The mayor envisages renowned installations of art, decorated with the starting point of the restored stream, a probably magnet for visiting foreign tourists. His idea might originate from the concept that the Guggenheim Museum, built on the formerly shipbuilding yard site along the Nervion River, Bilabo, northeast of Spain, has changed the gray city into the one imbued with artistic scents.
Some experts in foreign countries have begun to look into determining how the restored stream will affect social changes, including the sentiment of Seoulites.
Chang Suk-hyo, assistant mayor for the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project, said, "The restored Cheonggyecheon Stream flowing into the Han River would complete Seoul's dream drive to form the so-called green line linking Mt. Bukhan and the river".
"The project to restore a 5.8-km-long stream is progressing without a hitch with restoration work 87 percent complete," said Assistant Mayor Chang during an interview with NewsWorld. The Cheonggyecheon Stream is shaping up as a refreshing refuge with the skeletons of 22 bridges and riverbed completed.
One of the streams a feature differing from that of the past is a restored stream one to two meters deeper and wider designed to endure the worst flood that could hit the river. Historical records show that the river was inundated with floods, the worst in a few hundreds.
Laying stones will be finished by the end of February, fringe trees will be planted along the refurbished stream by March, and promenades will be created by April as planned. The new stream will undergo a test operation to take precautions against possible flooding during the period between July and August, the nation's monsoon season before its formal opening to the public on October 1. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of Korea's precipitation is concentrated during the summer.
Chang emphasized that Seoul City has made its utmost to restore Cheonggyecheon to its original state as much as possible, except some inevitable changes, in accordance with historical study by cultural property experts. Controversy has flared up over some people's demand that Gwangtong-gyo Bridge, one of the 22 bridges spanning over the stream, should be restored to its original place. Historical and culture property experts have devised a replica designed for pedestrians to be moved about 150 meters away from its original place, where the reproduction would be otherwise unfit in consideration of passing traffic volumes.
The restored stream will stretch from a point in front of the vernacular daily Dong-A Ilbo to the Ttusom area via Jungnyangcheon Stream before reaching into the river.
A large amount of water, about 120,000 tons, being drawn from the Han River will flow into along the restored stream per day. The stream will be an average of 40 cm deep, 24 meters to 80 meters wide and it will flow at a speed of 25 cm per second.
The renovated stream will be dotted with diverse facilities and attractions ranging from nine fountains, promenades on both embankments, forested arenas, resting places, to artificial ponds and waterfalls and even wooded fences for growing a specialty of flora at the center of the stream. The quality of the stream water will be maintained to the second grade level so that the stream could be a habitat for returning fishes and birds in a short time period.

Large-sized plaza
The starting point of the new stream will feature a sprawling Cheonggyecheon Plaza encompassing 21,000 pyeong or 69,300 sq. meters, being built in front of the daily Dong-A Ilbo building. The plaza, paved with stones, not with asphalt, will be normally used for a motorway, but an open space for holding a variety of events during holidays and special periods. The plaza, to be connected with the Mojeon-gyo Bridge, the first one of the Cheonggyecheon Stream, will house lawn grounds of diverse types, two-tier artificial waterfalls, octagonal stone structures, all symbolizing Seoul's history and culture and environmental restoration.
There will two paths running 61 meters from the plaza to the Cheonggyecheon Stream - one made with stairs and the other with a ramp. The 18-meter tunnel section of the ramp is a kind of a space specially designed for visitors who can get a glimpse of the darkness of the scovered Cheongyecheon of the past and enjoy a sense of liberation of the stream of the current time. Historical facts on the developments of the Cheonggyecheon Stream will be put on the wall of the ramp on top of patters and colors of the traditional Korean wrapper "bojagi" and exciting pictures, including some with goblins and a miniature of the Cheonggyecheon Stream.
Shin Hyun-don, president of Seoan Landscape and Architecture Co. said, "The Cheonggyecheon Plaza is designed to give a familiarity to us lacking in open space culture. You can walk along the lake and reach the Han River even though it takes time, and you may commute by walking along the stream", he noted.
The nocturnal illumination of the plaza is made in light blue, an image of water, Ko Kyung-ju, president of a landscape and architecture company in charge of lighting of the plaza. A miniature of the Cheonggyecheon Stream will have waterways with optical fiber that make a fantastic night view after sunset. The floor of the waterways will change colors every hour, adding to a festive mood on weekends or holidays, he said.
The restoration project is proceeding with citizens' voluntary participation. A case in point is two walls made with 20,000 tiles, being built in the Cheonggyecheon restoration project's section between Hwanghak-gyo and Biudang-gyo bridges. The walls, covering 220 sq. meters, are called "The Wall of Participation of Cheongyecheon Restoration and Harmony," a symbol of people's get-together, harmony, and yearning for peace and unification of the Korean Peninsula.
Seoulites are encouraged to put their own calligraphy or drawings on the restored walls, including ones containing such memorable moments of the past as swimming at the River. Voluntary participants are required to pay 20,000 won for the cost of manufacturing each tile.
Seoul Assistant Mayor Chang said Seoul City took extraordinary steps to buttress the restored Cheonggyecheon Stream as the subway lines Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 criss-cross the underground of the stream.
Chang said the Seoul Metropolitan Government is considering building a cultural hall at a point of the restored stream in Majang-dong, in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Installation Management Corporation.
The assistant mayor has been at the helm of the Cheonggyecheon restoration project since July last year. A native of Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Chang has a strong feeling of attachment to the project due to the memories of his campus life at Sudo Electric Technology High School, including his walk along the stream. A graduate of Seoul National University, he has been with civil engineering and construction on the road for nearly 30 years since 1976 when he started his public servant career at the SMG. He passed the state-administered technology examination. nw