Gentrification in Seoul's Downtown - Cheonggyecheon

Abstract

Until the mid-20th century, the historic center of Seoul was divided by a stream in a west-east direction. By the 1950s, the water of the stream had become so polluted that only the full coverage of it could solve the resulting problems. An elevated highway was built in its place. At the turn of the millennium, as part of the rehabilitation of the district, the former creek was excavated, the road demolished and an artificial natural environment created. Although the reconstruction was intended to strengthen the historic character of the city center, the artificial watercourse and the emphasized role of tourism made the project discredited to social-centered critics. In this study, we present all of this, but we go one step further and interpret the socio-economic damage resulting from the disintegration of local communities in the working-class neighborhood that has developed over the decades as the cost of renovation.