I like this idea of having elevated bike paths, much safer than sharing the road with cars, especially in a congested city like Seoul:
The computer generated image of “UNDER the C,” a cycling path attached to an elevated expressway between Seokgye Station and Jeongeung Station in northeastern Seoul, which won first place in the Eco-Bike Line design competition hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul has announced the winners of an architectural design contest for elevated bike paths that can provide cyclists a more continuous and safer ride around Seoul.
The first prize went to a submission titled “UNDER the C,” which drew up plans for a bike path beneath an elevated expressway in northeastern Seoul. If built, this elevated bike lane will connect cyclists in the Jeongneung Station area to the Jungnang stream, whose bike paths eventually connect to those along the Han River in the south.
Is it just me or is Gwanghwamun Square seem like it is in a state of constant redevelopment?:
An artist’s rendition of a bird’s-eye view of the Gwanghwamun area in central Seoul after it is redeveloped both above ground and below. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]
In two years, Gwanghwamun Square may be grander above ground and more complex below as the Seoul city government plans to remove structures on the square and build an underground plaza connecting at least five different subway and train lines.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday that it selected a blueprint to renovate the square in central Seoul located south of Gyeongbok Palace by 2021.
“The announcement today is about more detailed plans to a project that was proposed last April with the Cultural Heritage Administration,” the city government said in a statement Monday.
“We have decided on a winning design for the square that will focus on bringing back the historical value of the square and making it more pedestrian-friendly.”
It is going to be interesting to learn in the future if all this yellow dust is going to have adverse health affects on Koreans:
Seoul was hit by a record-high level of ultrafine dust, known as a class one carcinogen, on Monday, as most of South Korea was blanketed by extraordinarily heavy levels of choking dust particles for the fourth consecutive day. The Ministry of Environment has decided to extend a set of emergency measures aimed at reducing fine dust in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province through Tuesday. It would be the first time for the government to implement the system in the metropolitan area, which has around 20 million residents, for three consecutive days. Under the step, vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers and used by public offices, will be restricted from operating on Tuesday. And the operation of 2.5-ton diesel cars or bigger ones, registered with metropolitan governments before 2005, will be limited. The daily average level of ultrafine particles, smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, in Seoul surged to 118 micrograms per cubic meter as of 3 p.m., the highest figure since the government began taking such measurements in 2015, according to the state-run National Institute of Environmental Research.
The more the native English-speaking waygook thinks these (admittedly horrible) slogans are horrible the more it’s apparent the waygook in question doesn’t know what he’s talking about, because he obviously thinks that if it’s in English he’s the target audience. https://t.co/RJYm35kr6n
On the 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement, may I say: It was a good thing that Neville Chamberlain had the good grace not to hoist a giant picture of Adolf Hitler on London's City Hall in 1938. https://t.co/4Lr9On1Y4K
More apartment construction is coming to the greater Seoul area:
The former site of the Seongdong Detention Center in Songpa District, southeastern Seoul, on Friday. [YONHAP]The government named 17 sites where 35,000 apartment units will be built in the greater Seoul area, one of its attempts to cool off the overheated real estate market.
This is the first batch of sites the government announced. An additional 13 sites and 265,000 units will be announced later, including four to five “new cities” to be built next to the first generation of new cities such as Ilsan and Bundang in Gyeonggi.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday said it plans to supply 10,000 apartment units in Seoul on 11 sites. However only two areas in Seoul were disclosed as it is still working with the Seoul city government. The ministry said the Seoul government will announce the nine remaining sites.
The ones that were disclosed were Songpa District, southeastern Seoul, where the relocated Seongdong Detention Center used to stand, and Gaepo-dong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The two sites that were named are located on the edge of the nation’s capital, contrary to previous speculation that they would be located in the center of the city. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but Uijongbu has been selected as a suburb of Seoul that will also have more apartments constructed. The government has not released where the apartments will be built, but with the closure of Camp Red Cloud in the near future, the old USFK military base could become yet another area in Korea covered in apartments.
Fortunately this happened when no kids where in school:
A kindergarten building in southern Seoul has tilted after a retaining wall at a nearby construction site collapsed. No casualties were reported but the incident led to the evacuation of some 50 people at one point.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
Report: According to local authorities, the three-story Sangdo Kindergarten in the southern district of Dongjak tilted about ten degrees after the wall designed to prevent subsidence caved in at around 11:20 p.m. Thursday.
There were no casualties as the building was empty at the time but some 50 local residents had to evacuate and take shelter at a community center and hotel on Thursday night before returning home on Friday morning. [KBS World Radio]
There is so little green space around Seoul as it is and it appears there may soon be even less:
The Korean government is mulling the option of developing regions in Seoul designated as greenbelt areas to increase apartment supply in the city.
According to local media reports in Korea, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure is looking into securing land in Seoul that could be developed into residential areas. Options on the table for the Land Ministry includes greenbelt areas with relatively less conservation value compared to other areas as well as abandoned land in the city.
Greenbelt zones are protected areas of land where building is not permitted to protect the environment.
Lawmakers and top officials, including ruling Democratic Party Chairman Lee Hae-chan and Blue House policy chief Jang Ha-sung, have said that the government wants to significantly increase the supply of apartments in Seoul. The stance indicates an about-face in the government’s real estate policy.
As recently as last week, top officials, including Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee, said that the supply of housing in Korea is sufficient. Up until now, government measures focused on tight control over speculation on existing apartments. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but does anyone still think that all of Yongsan Garrison once it is vacated will become a city park?
