Cheonggyecheon restoration and downtown revitalization

The Cheonggye stream restoration work is to remove the roads covering the stream and the elevated highway with four lanes of the total length of 5.84km, then to restore the urban stream, Cheonggye, which used to flow through the central part of downtown Seoul from west to east until mid 1970’s. Until now, no concerned traffic crisis was broken out, and the conflict with Cheonggyecheon merchants was settled. With this project, Seoul city aims at drastic change in its urban paradigm from development to sustainability. Therefore, this project is beyond a simple restoration work, rather can be a litmus test to see if Seoul can turn into a globally competitive world city.