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Cheonggyecheon (, ) is a stream and public space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. A natural stream sourced from the Suseongdong Valley in Inwangsan, it was historically maintained as part of Seoul's early sewerage until the mid-20th century, when post-Korean War rapid economic development and deteriorating conditions prompted the filling of the stream with concrete and the construction of an elevated freeway, the Cheonggye Expressway, in its place. In 2003, the city government began an urban renewal project to remove the expressway and restore the stream, which was completed in 2005 at a cost of over (approximately US$281 million).
The Cheonggyecheon restoration project initially attracted significant public criticism, but since its opening in 2005 it has become popular among residents and tourists.
Gaecheon was renamed to Cheonggyecheon, its current name, when Korea was under Japanese rule. During this time, financial difficulties disrupted and prevented Japanese forces from covering up the stream despite several attempts to do so.
After the Korean War, more people migrated into Seoul to make their living and settled down along the stream in shabby makeshift houses. The accompanying trash, sand, and waste, and deteriorating conditions resulted in an eyesore for the city. The stream was covered up with concrete over 20 years starting in 1958, and a , elevated highway was completed in 1976. The area became an example of successful industrialization and modernization of South Korea.
To address the consequent traffic problem, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project Headquarters established traffic flow measures in the downtown section affected by the restoration work and coordinated changes in the downtown traffic system based on the research of the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Research Corps. The restoration of two historic bridges, Gwangtonggyo and Supyogyo, was also a contentious issue, as several interest groups voiced opinions on how to restore historical and cultural sites and remains and whether to replace the bridges. The Cheonggyecheon restoration project preserved the unique identity of the natural environment and the historic resources in the CBD of Seoul, and to reinforce the surrounding business area with information technology, international affairs and digital industries.
Creating an environment with clean water and natural habitats was the most significant achievement of the project. From 2003 (pre-restoration works) to the end of 2008, biodiversity increased by 639%; the number of plant species increased from 62 to 308, fish species from 4 to 25, bird species from 6 to 36, aquatic invertebrate species from 5 to 53, insect species from 15 to 192, mammals from 2 to 4, and amphibians from 4 to 8.
The stream helps to reduce the urban heat island effect: along the stream, temperatures are 3.3° to 5.9 °C cooler than on a parallel road 4-7 blocks away.
The number of vehicles entering downtown Seoul has decreased by 2.3%, with an increasing number of users of buses (by 1.4%) and subways (by 4.3%: a daily average of 430,000 people) as a result of the demolition of the two heavily used roads. Between 2003 and the end of 2008, use of buses increased by 15.1% and use of subway by 3.3% in Seoul.
With air pollution reduced by 35% from 74 to 48 micrograms per cubic meter, respiratory diseases among the residents of the area have been considerably reduced; before the restoration, they were more than twice as likely to suffer from respiratory disease as those in other parts of the city.
The project sped up traffic around the city when the motorway was removed. It has been cited as a real-life example of Braess's paradox.
Some Korean environmental organizations have criticized its high costs and lack of ecological and historical authenticity, calling it purely symbolic and not truly beneficial to the city's eco-environment. Instead of using the restoration as an instrument of urban development the environmental organizations have called for a gradual long-term ecological and historical recovery of the entire Cheonggyecheon stream basin and its ecological system.Cho, Myun-Rae. (2010). " The Politics of Urban Nature Restoration".
The cost of managing Cheonggyecheon has risen annually. From October 2005 to the end of 2016, maintenance and management cost of Cheonggyecheon totalled , which averaged out to per year.
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