Minnie’s Journey Through South Korea
With many of my colleagues jetting off on their summer holidays, I was reminded of my own last trip abroad. In November, I had the opportunity to explore South Korea, and as a flood risk professional, I couldn’t help but notice how thoughtfully water and nature have been integrated into the country’s infrastructure, particularly in the capital.
Like many major cities, Seoul is shaped by a significant river system. The Han River, a defining geographical feature, cuts through the city and divides it into northern and southern sections. Yet beyond this broad watercourse, there is another feature that is impossible to ignore: the Cheonggyecheon.
South Korea experiences a humid monsoon climate, with heavy downpours during the summer months. These intense rainfall events often result in excess surface water runoff and overloaded culvert capacity (Ro & Garfin, 2023). As a densely populated urban area that has undergone rapid development, Seoul is particularly at risk. Recent floods have caused both casualties and significant economic damage, underscoring the city’s vulnerability to extreme rainfall (Lee et al., 2023).
Climate change is only exacerbating this issue, with shifting weather patterns driving more extreme and frequent flood events worldwide (Allias Omar et al., 2022). In response, Seoul has developed flood risk management (FRM) and urban resilience schemes, investing heavily in flood defences, large-scale engineering schemes, and increasingly, more nature-based solutions. These efforts have earned the city recognition as a “Role Model City” by the Making Cities Resilient campaign (Ro & Garfin, 2023). One of the most striking examples of how Seoul has approached these challenges is the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon, a project that demonstrates how flood management can be combined with urban regeneration.
The Cheonggye stream runs eastward through the heart of Seoul and has long been an important part of the city’s history. However, in 1958 the stream was covered with concrete, and by 1976 an elevated highway was constructed above it. By the early 2000s, concerns were mounting over the ageing free-way and concrete deck, which posed growing safety risks. Beyond structural issues, covering the stream had also taken a significant environmental toll. Polluted water, worsening air quality from traffic, a shortage of open space, and a declining urban environment all contributed to a reduced quality of life for local residents.
In 2003, the Seoul Metropolitan Government launched an ambitious project to dismantle the elevated highway and restore the Cheonggyecheon as part of a wider urban renewal initiative. What followed was an excellent demonstration of how flood management, ecology, and urban design can be combined to reshape an area.
The restoration has provided greater connection between the north and south of Seoul, which had long been divided by concrete infrastructure. A total of 22 new bridges were constructed, many of which were designed for pedestrians and cyclists, alongside rapid bus lanes to encourage car-free travel. The stream itself has been “renaturalised”, with efforts having been made to improve the water quality and restore the riparian ecosystem. By 2020 species richness had increased significantly (Lee et al., 2020), highlighting the ecological value of the project.
Today, the Cheonggyecheon provides a 3.6 mile continuous green corridor through central Seoul, offering safe, shaded routes for walking and cycling. It also contributes directly to urban resilience: the restored waterway provides flood protection for up to a 200-year flood event by safely conveying stormwater through the city (Hwang, 2004), while its presence helps mitigate the urban heat island effect and reduces air pollution ((Kang & Cervero, 2009), (Revkin. 2009)).
As a flood risk professional I am well aware of the positive impacts river restoration can have on flood protection and ecology. However, witnessing the Cheonggyecheon project in person had a different impact on me. Seeing the finished stream restoration first-hand, it wasn’t the flood conveyance capacity or the ecological data that struck me most, but the way the space was being used by people.
Walking along the stream with a friend who also works in sustainability, we both remarked on how seamlessly it had become a social space as well as an engineered one. We knew the facts of the project, often cited as a case study in sustainable urban development, but being there in person brought it to life. Children ran along the water’s edge, pointing excitedly at fish darting between the stones. Teenagers gathered in groups, enjoying a safe and lively place to spend their evenings. Local residents strolled the shaded pathways, finding a moment of calm in the middle of a dense metropolis. It was clear to us both that this was far more than a piece of infrastructure, it had become a living part of the city.
Having worked behind the scenes on flood risk management projects, often only involved at the planning stage, it was a new experience for me to witness the full social and environmental impacts of a completed scheme. For me, this highlighted a powerful lesson: flood risk management projects don’t need to exist in isolation from daily life. When designed thoughtfully, they can provide resilience and safety while also creating places that enhance wellbeing, strengthen communities, and reconnect people with nature. The Cheonggyecheon is a reminder that flood risk management is not just about defending against water, but about shaping the way people live with it.
This message was re-enforced at the recent TUFLOW User Conference that Edenvale Young hosted in May, with the theme of “The Human Element”. Talks from the keynote speakers, Professor Anusha Shah and Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, much like my experience in Seoul, underlined that communities and people must sit at the heart of the solutions we create. As consultants, we often focus on models, risk mapping, and design standards, but it’s important to remember the people behind the data. Seeing how a city has reimagined its relationship with water left me inspired to carry these lessons into my own work, helping clients explore solutions that are not just protective, but also enriching for the communities they serve.
References
Allias Omar, S. M., Wan Ariffin, W. N. H., Mohd Sidek, L., Basri, H., Moh Khambali, M. H., & Ahmed, A. N. (2022). Hydrological Analysis of Batu Dam, Malaysia in the Urban Area: Flood and Failure Analysis Preparing for Climate Change. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(24), 16530. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416530
Hwang, K.Y. 2004. Restoring Cheonggyecheon stream in the downtown Seoul. Seoul Development Institute. Seoul, South Korea.
Kang, C.D. & Cervero, R.. 2009. From elevated Freeway to Urban Greenway: Land value impacts of the CGC project in Seoul, Korea. Urban Studies 46 (13) pgs. 2771-2794.
Lee, S., Choi, Y., Ji, J., Lee, E., Yi, S., & Yi, J. (2023). Flood Vulnerability Assessment of an Urban Area: A Case Study in Seoul, South Korea. Water, 15(11), 1979. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15111979
Revkin, A. 2009. “Peeling back pavement to expose water havens.” New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/world/asia/17daylight.html?_r=1
Ro, B., & Garfin, G. (2023). Building urban flood resilience through institutional adaptive capacity: A case study of Seoul, South Korea. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 85, 103474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103474.
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