Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kurtz]

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/can-seoul-become-the-worlds-most-beautiful-city-20100422-tf3o.html?rand=1271920263697

Move over Paris and Rome, Seoul is going to conquer you with designer concrete and neon water fountains.

[AsiaESLbound]

It's a great city, but freshening up the air would be starters. Of course, many Western cities aren't so smokey and polluted due to having outsourced manufacturing to Asia and scaling back on those sorts of things as well as putting better sanitation infrastructure in place, but there was a time when America and Europe were having the same similar problems as Asian cities are having today. They are developing into great cities, but not fully iconic yet. Building with solid stones like granite would be more permanent as Europe and many cities in the Eastern US did. Car traffic seems to be the main problem in Seoul and other cities despite having one of the best public transit systems. Ugggggh, the pollution and pushy masses...

[dalem]

Flashy fountains and neon lights are okay, and i'm glad that there seems to be a bit more green space going up (like in the new Dongdaemun plan), but what about the loss of history? That's what lifts up a city from being just 'nice' to being truely something special. And it's the special that tourists come from. Given the choice, i'd much rather visit the Samcheongdong area, up north, with the traditional houses, than visit an area like Gwanghamun square.

Also, are the citizens ready for this? If you want to sell your city for it's beauty to tourists, that means not piling it's garbage on the street and not spitting. It means taking care of your own city... are they ready for this?

[v88]

While I think Seoul deserves to be made beautiful and there is the possibility I thik the two arguments against it in the article are pretty bang on.

Very little planning and fore thought actually goes into policy and many projects end up being rather poor compared to what they could be. Ideas get handed down with little consultation and pushed through despite what other countries would call human rights violations. The assaults by government and developers on the poor over the last....50 years, should be proof of that. Development in Korea hasn't changed much and plans are often big (often silly) have rather poor quality of design (The Cheogyecheon...sorry, it is great for Seoul, but rather second rate) and forcefully displace many people while ignoring the wants and needs of the people.

Historically, Koreans know how to plan and they have built wonderful places. Recently Korea has become one of the ugliest places in the modern world. Revisiting Korea's past while learning from their neighbour (Japan) will help their efforts. Focusing on big name architects and flashy modern building will not bring about the kind of change that suits Korea. It can't be any worse, but to really give Seoul a name among the great cities of the world, smart design and planning that shows some thoughtful insight into the past and is able to blend that into todays modern frame work while being great at street level is what will make Seoul as great as it can be. That's not easy considering the density of Seoul, the extremely poor planning of the past (much worse than other countries due the speed of development), the outright destruction that occured in the past (The Japanese occupation, the war and the vast replacement of Korea's remaining past with concrete) and the currently poor state of planning and design departments in Korea today.

[ThingsComeAround]

Best transportation system I think not
Japan, with its limited space, has a vastly superior metro and express rail.

Seoul becoming the "most beautiful city"??

Only if you have never left Planet Korea

[orosee]

[GoldMember]

According to an Arirang program I saw years ago Seoul is not just a beautiful city but a stunningly beautiful city. Why change a "stunningly beautiful" city? Is it possible that the people at Arirang were telling porkies?


I like the Korean solution to beautifying ugly buildings. Cover the buildings with bright colorful neon.

[jiberish]

I thought Korea was over the whole flashing neon lights everywhere thing. You don't tend to see them in new areas. Guess not.

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

Never happen.

[oldfatfarang]

[VanIslander]

if Seoul is moved to where there is cleaner air, nice mountain and sea views and people who don't throw trash away and city planners who don't think of concrete as a stylistic enhancement then Seoul has an outside chance to be the world's most beautiful city

the Korean obsession to be #1

[DeMayonnaise]

I laughed out loud when I read the headline of the article. Seoul isn't even the most beautiful city in it's own country...that would be Busan.

[nautilus]

What they need to do is improve their attitude to foreigners, to make the country more welcoming.

They also get some idea of what proper customer service is.

You can have all the glitzy fountains and tacky theme parks in the world but tourists will still feel uncomfortable if they have to put up with rude behaviour. I mean half the time they make you feel unwanted even if you're paying for hospitality and accomodation.

I've met loads of tourists in seoul over the years. The complaints are always the same.

* Service staff come across as agressive or uninterested. Apparently they regard it as a special favour to do even the basics of what you've paid for.
* Taxis: rip-off artists, wierdos, dangerous drivers all rolled into one.
* Hiring a car? Way too expensive.
* Stares.. are full on. The foreigner is always left in no doubt that they are out of place.
*Lack of english extends even to accomodations designed to serve foreign guests.
* Restaurants: foreigners do not expect to be told or manhandled how to eat the food they have paid for.
* Shop assistants and waiters: always crowd, follow and hover over customers. Offputting.

[ThingsComeAround]

[Kurtz]

I think they are doing the right things for the wrong reasons.

Surely you'd pump money into a city for it's citizens as the number one priority?!

The cynic is me reading between the lines says the mayor (who wants to be president) is trying to feather his own nest and bank on maybe more tourists and businesses coming to Seoul as a result of his grand scheme, and that people can walk away saying, "wow, what a beautiful city!" (yes, it's very beautiful) to stroke the ego of this insecure nation.