The Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project - A case study of cultural and natural asset revival
- ArAmar Kulkarni
- Jun 1, 2025
- 7 min read
Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project sets a perfect example of sustainable urban
development. The restoration project has successfully revived a cultural and natural asset of Seoul, the Cheonggyecheon stream. The Cheonggyecheon stream used to be a cultural landmark of Seoul. It played a vital role in the cultural history of Seoul and for the people of Seoul. Around 1958 people started settling near Cheonggyecheon without any drainage and sanitation systems. As shanties and pollution became a major issue, Cheonggyecheon’s pollution was buried under the concrete road. To accommodate more traffic from North to South of Seoul, the 6 lanes elevated expressway was built on the existing road. In 2003, this expressway carried around 180,000 vehicles per day. Cheonggyecheon region had 200,000 shopkeepers and 60,000 businesses. The
Cheonggyecheon served to almost 1 million floating population. Soon, there was a point of saturation and Cheonggyecheon region started declining at faster rate. This gave rise to multiple issues and challenges.
Challenges
Around the year 2000, the freeway started becoming outdated and showed many structural problems. Foundation was being corroded due to the concentration of various gases. Also, there was a significant amount of air pollution around the Cheonggyecheon region due to heavy vehicular activity. The noise and air pollution levels kept increasing, which exceeded standards, making residents vulnerable to various respiratory diseases. Saturation of all the issues led to a declining in the overall growth of the region. Many companies moved to Gangnam. Many businesses closed down due to loss of competition. Hence, there was a steep decline in the population and employment. Following that, the idea of demolishing highway seemed unpractical for many locals and business owners. There was a strong opposition from the shops and local businesses to remove the expressway, as they thought it will block the consumer access. According to transport experts, removal of the highway would create traffic concerns and choke the traffic (ITDP, n.d.).
Solutions
As a solution to the array for present challenges, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to take down the highway. As traffic congestion would remain one of the important issues, the government decided to provide 10 pedestrian bridges and 10 automobile bridges for better connectivity. Simultaneously, the government focused on the improvement of public transport and discouraged the use of private vehicles. One of the key challenges was to convince and resolve the issues associated with the local shop owners. The Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted more than 4000 meetings with the shop owners and have economic supports to many of them. The government also consulted with a variety of stakeholders and explained the importance of the restoration project. Further, 96% of the concrete and asphalt generated while demolition was again used for the landscaping of the Cheonggyecheon restoration. The restoration of Cheonggyecheon has some long term and indirect benefits. The cultural and natural revival through restoration has successfully contributed to climate resilience.
Analysis of restoration project in terms of climate resilience -
The ecosystem of Cheonggyecheon was restored with the strategic implementation of grey and green infrastructure.
The following table shows the relationship between ecosystem services, restoration project and the climate resilience.
Urban Ecosystem Services | Cheonggyecheon restoration | Contribution to Climate resilience |
Urban Temperature Regulation | Introduction of water body and vegetation as a natural capital in the urban region of Seoul | Introduction of water and vegetation has reduced the ambient temperature in the Cheonggyecheon area from 36.3 Degree C to 32.7 Degree C. Temperature has been reduced by almost 4 to 5 degree C. Paved expressway replaced by vegetation and water body helps reduce surface and air temperatures through evapotranspiration, urban-breeze cycle, and by providing shade. Similarly, water bodies in urban areas absorb heat in summertime and release in wintertime. |
Noise Reduction | Removal of expressway has reduced the amount of traffic and the introduction of vegetation and water body. | The studies show that noise levels have been reduced after the restoration project. Reduction in vehicular traffic and increase in vegetation and water surface has negatively affected noise levels. Vegetation acts as an important ecosystem service, which works as a barrier against noise pollution. Soil and leaves help in absorbing sound energy by thermo-viscous effects. |
Air Purification | Introduction of Vegetation | After the restoration project, the air quality has been significantly improved in the Cheonggyecheon region. Particulate Matter pollution has been severely reduced. Reduced number of vehicles and increase in vegetation has played important role in reduction of air pollution. There has been a 34% reduction in NO2 and a 19% decrease in PM10. |
Moderation of Climate Extreme | Removal of expressway, restoration of various ecosystems, such as riparian ecosystem. Reopening and repair of Cheonggyecheon corridor. | The restoration project itself acts as a climate resilient infrastructure against extreme climatic events such as temperature increase or heavy rainfall. Together, various ecosystems and ecosystem services rendered by them will help mitigate the negative effects of extreme climate events. For example, marshy areas will slow down the water flow and untimely help to mitigate flooding effect |
Run off mitigation | Impervious land to previous land, restoration of waterbody and water corridor, Introduction of Softsscapes and vegetated areas. | The reopening of stream acts as a corridor for water to flow without obstruction. The current cross-section of the stream can sustain flooding event for the next 200 years as well as sustain a flow rate of 118mm/hr. Vegetated areas along the Cheonggyecheon can reduce stormwater runoff by interception and redistribution. Additionally, it can help in groundwater infiltration. Extreme rainfall events can disrupt the urban system and can damage socio-economic activities. In such cases, ecosystem service provided by the restoration project will act as a resilient infrastructure. |
Waste Treatment | Introduction of various ecosystems in the Cheonggyecheon. | The process of bioremediation, depending on the species planted can help reduce waste and filter water. This helps the climate, as waste is treated by natural processes and help regulate the circular metabolism of ecosystems, |
Global Climate Regulation | Restoration and protection of natural ecosystems | Even at its scale, the restoration project becomes an effort to support global climate regulation. Micro-level climate together affects global climate changes. Even if this project acts as a fraction of global scale climate strategy, such small changes affect the global climate in a positive way. At the landscape level, these changes become crucial as the stream is a part of the drainage basin of Seoul and indirectly affects the entire basin. |
Recreation (Cultural service) |
Landscape design of Cheonggyecheon’s restoration | Cheonggyecheon used to very significant part of Seoul's culture. The new restoration project has successfully created an urban space for people to interact with the natural landscape. Cheonggyecheon offers a variety of activities and public spaces along the entire stretch. |
Aesthetic benefit, Cognitive development, and Social Cohesion (Cultural service) |
Landscape design of Cheonggyecheon’s restoration | Cheonggyecheon public space helps people connect with each other through festivals, activities, interactions etc. As part of the Social Cohesion, It can bring people together for social and environmental causes. Green space around Cheonggyecheon can help improve psychological health, reduce stress, blood pressure and pain. |
Habitat Provision(Habitat Service) | Restoration of ecosystems | The Cheonggyecheon restoration has helped to revive the biodiversity. There has been a rise in the number of species. |
Advantages and disadvantages of
approaches .
• Not only it received cultural and natural beauty but also changed the overall cityscape of Seoul.
• Opportunities for several businesses to grow in the region thus the improvement in economic growth.
• Promoted to sustainable transport planning by improving better public transport.
• Contribution to climate resilience.
• Conservation of ecosystems and enhancement of ecosystem services.
Disadvantages
• The approach would have been more holistic in terms of the entire drainage basin, it did not look at the revival of sub-tributaries.
• According to some organisations, the restoration was not authentic interns of historical and the natural context.
New approaches for the revival of cultural and natural assets within urbanareas. Schematic concepts -
Urban ecological filters
Around the world, urban growth has impaired the ecological network. The increase in the impervious surfaces and decrease of vegetation has negatively affected water infiltration and positively influenced stormwater runoff. Urban runoff causes topsoil erosion, carries pollutants from impervious surfaces to the streams, causes erosion of stream banks and allows less water to infiltrate into the ground. The strategy proposes the concept of Urban Ecological Filters to restore stream network and to improve the quality of stream-water in the catchment area or drainage basin. Urban Ecological Filters can be defined as an integrated system of various ecological components. The strategy aims to use ecosystem services provided by ecological infrastructure through the implementation of the filters into existing land use cover. Planning and design of Urban Ecological Filters will change according to the context. Urban Ecological Filters have biotic components and hence it will evolve over the period of time and will help build a resilient infrastructure to combat the changing climate. The filters can be applied to streets, natural ecosystems, and open spaces in the city.
Bio-urbanism
The concept of bio-urbanism can be implemented throughflow model system, i.e.
Urban Ecological Corridor. The model can bring social community, ecology, and architecture together to form an ecologically sustainable society. Development of this model will be based on 4 R’s; reduce, reuse, recycle & regulate. Urban ecological corridors can help to rejuvenate and restore natural systems by replacing artificial ones. Accordingly, they will accelerate the recovery of ecosystems with respect to health, integrity, and sustainability. The concept will be implemented through socio-ecological models integrated with the built environment. They can deal with the planning of green infrastructure through the development of energy, waste, transportation models etc. Also, it will help to regulate biophysical processes based on natural capital which generates ecosystem services such as recreation, nutrient and water regulation, soil formation and retention, waste treatment, biological control, habitat and biodiversity conservation, climate regulation
(micro- level) and carbon sequestration.
Urban ecological corridors are important to connect habitat patches for the exchange of materials and energy in the form of the food web, dispersal, and genetic exchange. It will support architectural growth based on bioclimatic and ecological parameters along with social landscapes. Flowing through the urbanized areas it will try to tackle most problems faced by today’s urban lifestyle such as heat island effect, air, and water polluiton and waste generation etc. The concept of interconnectedness and interdependencies between community, ecology, and the built environment can be achieved through the concept of Urban Ecological Corridors.
Conclusion
Both theory and case studies suggest that, revival if cultural and natural assets can help to mitigate the effects of climate change. A combination of old and new approaches can be merged to rejuvenate the urban spaces with respect to preservation of heritage, conservation of natural resources and climate resilience.
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