A river runs through it

This was a busy weekend in Seoul for festivals. The Cheong Gye Cheon Festival celebrated the grand opening of the Cheong Gye Cheon Restoration Project. A project of Seoul's ambitious mayor, Lee Myung-bak, the project transformed an elevated highway and long ago paved over stream into an attractive, vital green space in the centre of the city.

The Chonggyechon stream once flowed for about 10 km through the centre of Seoul, from mountains behind the presidential Blue House and was central to life in the city. Work to restore about 6 km of the stream began in July 2003 at a cost of around US$350 million. The revitalized stream now flows through a narrow park that celebrates the history of Seoul. There are 22 bridges across the waterway.

Environmental experts and urban planners from around the world are watching what is happening in Seoul with the restoration of the stream as an interesting case study to see if a city that rushed to become a major urban centre without proper planning can replace concrete jungles with green spaces.


To see more pictures from the Cheong Gye Cheon Festival click here. Or, to view them as a slide show click here.