by REERA YOO
Downtown Seoul will have its own grassy elevated park similar to New York’s High Line Park by the end of next year, said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.
A 17-meter-high motorway near Seoul’s main train station will be closed to motor traffic and converted into a park for pedestrians. The road has connected Seoul’s central business district with the city’s west since the 1970s, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Seoul said it drew its inspiration from New York’s High Line Park, one of the world’s most famous urban-renewal projects. The city expects to spend about $37.5 million on the project.
“The roadway is a historic heritage from the industrialization era, which means it is much more than a road,” Park told the Korea Times. “Once completed, it will be a tourist attraction. It will also help the regional economy around Namdaemun Market.”
Since 2000, Seoul has torn down more than a dozen elevated roads, stating that they are no longer useful in traffic management. At the suggestion of Mayor Park and a non-profit group, the demolition of the roadway in question was turned down in favor of preserving it as a public park.
“It is better to rejuvenate the city instead of destroying its cultural heritages for building something new,” Park said.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is currently collecting ideas for the renovation and plans to hold a contest around October, according to the Korea Times.
