청계천

Buzzwords these days include "sustainability", "eco-friendly", "green-infrastructure", etc. While this concept is not "new"...well,  it is still considered very new and innovative. The concept of promoting the natural hydrologic cycle (e.g., infiltration, evaporation, transpiration) in urban environments provides a plethora of benefits to our society, which can include:

• Water quality improvements
• Reduces stormwater runoff volumes and peak flows (part of a solution for flood mitigation)
• Reduces the demand on CSO's
• Groundwater recharge
• Energy benefits (e.g., urban heat island effect, rainwater harvesting for re-use)
• and plenty more...

Last Summer, I finally visited South Korea (for the first time since I visited back when I was a baby) and I walked into an amazing example of an eco-friendly environment - The 청계천 cutting across downtown Seoul.

It is a restored channel (miles and miles long) in the middle of a highly populated city. From what I researched online, the stream dates back to the Josun Dynasty originally dredged to provide drainage. However, after decades of neglect (heavily polluted and ultimately filled), it was restored in 2005 under the ambitious "Cheonggyecheon Stream Restoration Project".

Now, it is a very popular recreational area that provides multiple benefits to society, which include: flood protection, increased biodiversity, recreational space, reduction of urban heat island effect and economic benefits. This is a classic case of integrating ecological principles in a highly urbanized environment.

Here are some photos I took:

Cheonggyecheon in Seoul, South Korea

Enjoy!