Before & After Green: Seoul's Cheonggyecheon Stream

Image: Frame house along Seikei-Sen (Cheonggyecheon), circa 1910-1945 via Wikimedia Commons (source)

Cheonggyechon Stream in downtown Seoul was a free-flowing waterway before it was decked between 1958 and 1977 then topped with a freeway between 1967 and 1977.

Image: Seoul elevated freeway and decking above Cheonggyecheon Stream, 2003 via LAF (source)

Image: Cheonggyecheon Streambed restoration, June 24, 2005 via Erik Möller (source)

The elevated freeway and concrete deck covering the Cheonggyechon Stream in downtown Seoul was removed in beginning in 2003.  The project was initiated by former Mayor Lee Myung-bak. The 5.8 km stream restoration and infrastructure project was completed in 2005. The photograph, above, was taken from a bridge, shown below, looking west.

Resources:

Cheonggyechon Stream Restoration Project Case Study [Landscape Architecture Foundation]

Cheonggycheon [Wikipedia]

Cheong Gye Cheon Restoration Project [ICLEI World Congress]