Cheonggyecheon

As Erma mentioned, one of the things that Korea's new president-elect, Lee Myung-bak, was known for when he was mayor of Seoul was daylighting Cheonggyecheon 청계천 (淸溪川), the stream that runs through the center of Seoul.

This is what the stream looked like in 1903:


By the 1950s, the area had become an eyesore and a health hazard. Squatters' shacks crowded the shores, and local residents used the stream for bathing, laundry, and sewage. In an attempt to clean up the area and modernize the city, the government paved over the stream. Some years later an elevated highway was built above it.

In 2003 Lee Myung-bak initiated a project to uncover, or "daylight", the stream, turning it into a public recreational area and providing a respite from the concrete and steel that dominate the city. The project was completed in 2005. Now it looks like this:


(The picture was taken when we visited in mid-October, before the weather turned cold.)

Underneath one of the overpasses of the stream is a small historical museum displaying photographs of the area dating back to the turn of the century.

History goes in cycles. When the stream was covered over it was viewed as an improvement to the city. Now the stream is uncovered as an improvement to the city.