Renaissance of the Han River

Seoul City on the way to restore nature, build culture and leisure facilities along the river

"Hangang Renaissance” is the title of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s huge undertaking to turn the Han River into a showcase of tourism and leisure in not only Seoul, but also in the world.
The project that got underway involves the beautification and renewal of the areas along the river that crisscrosses Seoul, the age-old capital of Korea, including such well-known spots as Yeouido, Banpo River Park, Gwangnaru, Ttuksom and Nanji Island, among other places, the city said.
Work on Yeouido, Banpo, Ttuksom, Gwangnaru and Nanji Island, the first stage of the mammoth renovation project, are finished and were opened to public on Oct. 24, 27 and 29, respectively. The vast sand dunes along the Han have been turned into the Yeouido Han River Park, a global resting place where dreams are unfurled. Nanji Island has been turned into a biological garden with thousands of plants in a natural setting with drastically upgraded accessibility. The Ttuksom Hangang Park, a water park and X games venue also opened its facilities to the public.
In May this year, the Banpo Hangang Park opened to the public. Seoul City decided to take on these projects in a bid to allow citizens in Seoul to enjoy the natural beauty of the Han that flows through the city at a low cost by building amusement facilities along the river banks.
“Recovery and Creativity” is the motto for the undertaking which involved repairing and renovating the natural surroundings of the river destroyed in the process of various development projects in the city, recover its communications with humans, reviving the natural beauty surrounding the old capital and preserve it as it has been from time immemorial, upgrading accessibility and supplementing special features that fit each spot, ranging from culture and leisure facilities, all specially designed.
The city felt that the parks on the banks of the Han lacked specialized programs good enough to attract the residents to enjoy their facilities and they were also not good enough to be resting spaces for them.
The city wanted to provide room for its residents to enjoy cultural, leisure, arts and other activities through a space called parks, not just by installing hardware in the Hangang Parks, but by creating a living style and cultural environment around the Han River that flows through the heart of Seoul.
The city will move on to the remaining part of the monumental project in such areas as Ichon-dong, Yanghwa-dong and Jamsil Hangang Park whose main concept will be “an ecological space in the city,” which will kick off at the end of the year and be completed in 2011, now that the first stage of work has all been completed.
The Yeouido Hangang Park has a watercolor plaza, a walk by the river surrounded by a beautiful landscape, a floating stage in the middle of the river, and a remodeled pool by the river. The park will also have a large marina where 120 yachts can be anchored in 2011 to be ready for an international passenger terminal which will be a base for tourism and water transportation when Seoul will become a central city of Northeast Asia in the near future.
The Yeouido Hangang Park includes a broad sand dune, which has been reformed as a green pasture 29,000 square meters in area. But the park has a space to show that it was the country’s first airport in the early 20th century where Korea’s first pilot, Ahn Chang-ho, made a historic flight in a small plane in 1922. The airport was built in 1916 and closed in 1971 and it will be marked with a sculpture made by sculptor Kim Seung-hee backed up with a wind con and a taxiway sign to give the park truly global ramifications.
The floating stage off the Yeouido side of the Han will be the first such stage which can be removed and set up for the first time in the world, jointly designed by designers Yoon Chang-ki and Zhang Xiaoyi from China. The structure will have an arch type performance stage with forms of water drops with seats for 2,200 viewers along the edge of the water.
The Nanji Hangang Park is 3.2 km long and 770,000 square meters in area and includes the Hongje Stream that flows into the Han, thus becoming the only place in Seoul where people can enjoy nature with various leisure and cultural facilities. The accessibility to the park has been drastically improved to allow more people to come to the park with a bridge and other access roads to be built.
The most attractive facility in the park would be an ecological garden 33,600 square meters in size with a variety of trees, flowering plants and wild animals, which will facilitate high school students to study ecology firsthand. The garden will always have fresh water for the plants and animals residing there.
The Ttuksom Hangang Park, completed on Sept. 29, also has cultural and leisure facilities for people to enjoy. The city wanted to retain the popularity of the Ttuksom area as a resting place from way back in the Joseon Dynasty, as even kings came to the area during the summer for a cool breeze that comes through the willow trees. The park has a number of viewing stands to look over the Han and cultural facilities that include an outdoor stage and a musical water spring 30 meters in diameter and 15 meters tall that can shoot water up high with the rhythm of music.
The most famous facility in Ttuksom will be a rollercoaster-like viewing stand, named “jabullae,” which was to be completed at the end of October. People can enjoy the scenery of the riverside, drinking coffee served at the coffee shop in the viewing stand, located close to the Ttuksom subway station.
The X Game Rink at the park is also a crowd attractor with seven super-large facilities and six medium-sized facilities good enough to facilitate international extreme sports competitions.
Seoul City announced its Hangang Renaissance project aimed at restoring nature and boosting accessibility to the Han River on Aug. 12, along with seven mid-and-long-term strategies for the project.
The project includes 33 smaller projects to be completed by 2030, with the first stage to be finished by 2010 along the lines of three major sectors. First is to specialize the parks along the Han and the related business areas; Second is improving and renovating viewing stands along the Han with repairs on the existing bridges and the construction of bridges for pedestrians for easy access to the Han; Third is supplementing existing roads leading to the Han.
“Urban Terrace” is to be built along the space between the Mapo Bridge and the Wonhyo Bridge, 35 meters wide and 1,300 meters long with a total space of 18,000 square meters, linking the Yunjung-ro and Yeouido Hangang Park so that residents along the areas and those using the Yunjung-ro can have easy access to the Han. The terrace, accessible on the No.5 Subway Line, is likely to be a famous stop in the Yeouido Hangang Park as roads will be wider with viewing stands so that people can enjoy nice views of the river. nw

A slew of dignitaries led by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon clap hands at the dedication ceremony for the Banpo Hangang Park along the Han River in Seoul early this year.

A variety of photos showing the kinds of sports and leisure activities available on the Han River under the Hangang Renaissance Project. They are (from far left, top) a view of yachting,; a view of water skiing,; a riverside bicycle path,; water pipes installed at the Banpo Grand Bridge over the Han River in Seoul spew water as part of Seoul City’s Hangang Renaissance Project to renovate the river sides by installing cultural and leisure facilities to make the river more accessible for Seoul residents.