Cheonggeycheon Restoration Project Korea

Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project
PARK Kil-Dong, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea

1. Background
About the Cheonggyecheon Joseon Period Cheonggyecheon was a stream running through the center of Seoul from east to west. Its waters flowed down from Mt. Bugaksan and Mt.Inwangsang to the north, Mt. Naksan to the east, and Mt. Namsan to the south.The 600-year history of Seoul began when KingTaejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, moved the capital to Hanyang (today’s Seoul) in 1394. Ever since, the Cheonggyecheon has been inextricably linked to Seoul’s history. The stream overflowed every time there was heavy rain, and it was usually so polluted at all other times due to lack of flow that there was already talk of covering Cheonggyecheon during the early Joseon period. King Taejong(1400-1418) opposed this notion, reasoning that it was against nature to do so. In his 11th year of reign (1411), he ordered the construction of Gwanggyo Bridge. It was a stone bridge, and it was built of remarkable proportions for the time to make sure that it would not be swept away by floods. During the reign of King Sejong, the stream was occasionally dredged, and Supyogyo Bridge was builtover it. The water table was established at the mid-point of the stream to measure the height of water to give indication of possible floods. In 1760 (the 36th year of King Yeongjo’s reign), 200,000 people were mobilized to widen the stream and build stone embankments along both banks, and the waterways were straightened as it is today. Cheonggyecheon Stream was fed by 14 tributaries, includingBaegundongcheon Stream and Junghakcheon Stream. Records of the Joseon period indicate that 86 bridges were built over the stream. Today, only a few of these bridges remain, including Gwanggyo and Supyogyo Bridges. As Seoul’s sewage system, a laundry for women, and playground for children, Cheonggyecheon was an integral part of the common people’s lives. Various events, including bridge steppingfestivities, team events, and lantern festivals were held at the bridges of Cheonggyecheon. In the late Joseon period, the homeless made Cheonggyecheon their shelter as they gathered along its banks. Cheonggyecheon is an important historical cultural site that witnessed the difficult lives of the common people during the Joseon period. Japanese Occupation During the Japanese colonial period, farmers whohad been deprived of their farmlands migrated to Seoul. They flocked together along the banks of Cheonggyecheon and illegally built houses there. With the increase in the urban poor population, the stream became more polluted, earning notoriety as a breeding ground for infectious diseases and crime. Because yearly floods continued to take lives and inflict property damage, the Japanese usedCheonggyecheon as a sewage system. In order to protect the Japanese residences to the south of Cheonggyecheon, dredging of Cheonggyecheon and its tributaries began

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around 1913. - 1918~1924 : Dredging of Cheonggyecheon and improvement of tributaries - 1937~1942 : Covering of sections from Taepyeongno to Gwangtonggyo After Liberation from Japan From 1937 to 1942, the section of theCheonggyecheon from Gwanghwamun to Gwanggyo Bridge was covered for the first time. In the years immediately following the nation’s liberation from Japan and the Korean War, the construction to cover the Cheonggyecheon was abandoned due to social unrest and lack of funds until 1958, when full-scale work to cover the stream started. It took 20 years to complete the project. The construction of CheonggyeElevated Highway started in 1967 and was completed in 1976. - 1949 ∼1950 : Sewerage from Gwanggyo to Yeongmido improved - 1958 ∼1978 : The Cheonggyecheon covered - 1967 ∼1976 : Cheonggye Elevated Highway constructed

2. Description of the initiative or project (Cheonggyecheon before Restoration) Cheonggye Road Cheonggye Road was created by covering Cheonggyecheon Stream and is 50-80m wide and...