[Editorial]Downtown stream restoration
Seoul citizens, especially those living and working north of the Han River, will suffer worsened traffic congestion for the next three years until the Cheonggyecheon stream restoration project, which starts today, is complete. The city project to remove double decks of road built over the creek three decades ago means a devastating blow to the business of the thousands of shops lining both banks of the stream.
For those directly affected by the capital city's "quality of life" project, we have only one piece of advice: It's worth enduring. Also, we ask Mayor Lee Myung-bak, literally the architect of the $300 million project - it is probably unparalleled in world metropolises - to fully consider Cheonggyecheon merchants' livelihoods and to minimize their losses.
As for the capital's citizens, we suggest that they recall the difficulties they experienced when Seoul subway lines No. 1 and No. 2 were constructed. They run under Jongno and Euljiro, respectively. As engineers used the open cut method instead of boring underground, traffic on the two main streets was severely hampered and local shops suffered heavily for almost the entire 1970s. Now we cannot imagine Seoul without these and other important subway lines.
Many argue that Cheonggyecheon's restoration is a luxury, incomparable to the benefits of subway construction. While subways immediately and tangibly improved city life, sufficiently compensating people for years of suffering, the critics are asking what good the artificially restored 50-meter-wide and 30-centimeter-deep waterway will do.
Yes, Cheonggyecheon from 2006 onwards will hardly offer instant economic gains like, say, reduced traffic costs or a quick elimination of the development gap that divides the old city north of the Han River and the new city south of it. But the "re-creation of nature" along the 6-kilometer stretch in the capital city's very center, along with the construction of 20-odd bridges, restoration of many historical sites, fountains, public squares and promenades, all envisioned by City Hall, will certainly make Seoul a better place to live in.
Cheonggyecheon, known as a show case of Korean ingenuity because it is home to thousands of tool and hardware stores, has truly been one of Seoul's unique features largely because the area's type of commerce has not undergone the same modernization seen elsewhere in the city. One walking along the street - actually concrete slabs laid over the stream - will realize that the elevated road deterred the area's development; otherwise, it would have turned into a posh central business district with high-rises and various urban amenities.
The elevated road over Cheonggyecheon represented the national development drive of the early 70s. After three decades, the concrete structure poses a significant safety problem. The restored Cheonggyecheon, it is hoped, will symbolize public administrators' new endeavor to offer more space and facilities so citizens can relax amid the hectic city. 2003.07.01
-http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/
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