Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Great Toad]

http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20110322-the-futurist-koreas-travel-friendly-utopian-town

Anyone live here and see a lot of Green Space and bikes and elctro-cars all about? It sounds dynamic and could start a new wave for modern the eco-city of the future!

[ThingsComeAround]

Songdo isn't finished yet.

Even the picture shows a "rendering" of Songdo.

The BBC lost points

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I like your rambling, whimsical posts better, Toad. You've got that Bruce Banner/Hulk thing to your posting style.

[Konglishman]

Note that the author mistakenly refers to the Yellow Sea as the Yellow River. That is worse than a spelling error.

[MacLean]

When Korea starts these "new town" projects they are presented with a fabulous opportunity to get things right. All the objectionable things manifested in every Korean city should be outlawed from day one and strictly enforced. Just imagine if the police were given a budget and a license to impose the following punishments:

littering - 1 million won and a punch in the face
spitting - 1 million won and a kick in the groin
piling up bags of garbage at the base of trees � 1 million won and a punch in the neck
parking your car on the sidewalk � confiscation of said car and a Glasgow kiss
driving your motorcycle on the sidewalk � confiscation of said vehicle and a severe beating in the nearest back alley
blocking crosswalks with your car � window smashed with a baseball bat
flying through red lights � one year in prison (and a punch in the head)
failing to put your child in a seatbelt � loss of license for life
bongo trucks blaring their noise at 6am � death penalty (and a kick in the shins)

Alas, we can but dream.

[Setaro]

[Slowmotion]

[murmanjake]

Yah I got here to Dontang New City in August and I see signs of decline all around me.

The place is beautiful, but every day I see another manifestation of Maclean's list. Sidewalk barriers ripped out of the ground, bags of trash accumulating, sidewalks chunked up by cars.

On the nice semi-secluded, wooded path I take home from work I found a bunch of blaring red and yellow signs advertising officetels tied to the trees. I ripped a few down and the next day the rest were gone(guess the locals dont like that shit either).

Littering is the worst though. Everyone I mention it to says, "what a shame, but what can I do?" How bout educating your kids for starters?

[seoulsucker]

MacLean for mayor.

[The Great Toad]

It is not finished yet? I hope when they finish it they have some big park like the one island park in Seoul with the garden area and the path around it that compares well to the Lake area Parks of Chicago. The article did not explain how the buildings were going to be so very eco-ish though... I guess they could put solar panels on top of them and recycle the water or maybe use gutter channeled water to run the toilets? I once read about a plan to run a bicycle subway sytem where everyone used a bubble capsule to bicycle around in tubes but they never did fund it though...

[MacLean]

But all joking aside, it is truly an opportunity to do things properly from the very beginning. All it takes is willpower on the behalf of the city council, and a police force not afraid to do its job. This would mean retraining police officers in how to do their job. Driving around all day at ten kilometres per hour with your lights flashing, while ignoring every infraction you see, does not constitute policing. A police oversight body would be set up to monitor the police to ensure that they're actually doing their job. If they're caught not enforcing laws, they get fired. After a few pink slips I'm sure they'll develop a different attitude toward the virtues of law and order. It's really that simple.

The city could be kept attractive, and the police department well funded, by the millions of dollars brought in each year from fines. A publicity campaign about civic pride and social responsibility would help grab some attention. The school boards would include a '�ivic pride' section in social studies class, informing students of the vulgarity of littering and spitting.

Signs could be put up near the entrances to the city that read something like this: "You are now entering (city name). Please understand that laws are strictly enforced in this jurisdiction. Violations may result in heavy fines. Enjoy your stay and smile for the camera." The Korean government could promote the city as the Korean city of the future. The media could be encouraged to compare and contrast its cleanliness and orderliness with other Korean cities. Korean pride could even be appealed to, etc. etc. etc. The potential is enormous.

Alas, old habits die hard in Korea.

[Crockpot2001]

I can say with great confidense that that budget does not exist. All things on your list are alive and well here in Songdo. I've watched this place go from dirt roads to super paved Brazillia. Nothing new here really.

My wife was central to making this project what it was SUPPOSED to be. We are leaving in 6 weeks, well before the finish of the majority of the project.

[eamo]

If you want something to change in Korea I'd venture to say that one good way to do it is to get the celebrities to talk about it.

If that small but extremely influential set of celebrities were told to say how uncool littering was at every opportunity, or even do a sustained public information campaign, you would soon see a decline in littering until there's a tipping point, like in Singapore, where it becomes unthinkable to litter.

[MacLean]

Personally I have never littered in my life. Not bragging, but I'm saying that it is possible to go through life without throwing your trash on the ground. If I , and millions of others can do it, so can Koreans. If I have ever accidentally dropped a piece of trash on the street (say as I'm dashing for the last bus as its pulling away from the curb, and I can't stop to pick the trash up) I make a point of picking up two pieces of trash the moment I get off the bus. If you want to throw trash around your house that's fine. That's your space. But public areas are not your personal domain. They belong to everybody, and you have no right to spit or litter on other people's property.

Littering is simply disgusting. People with even a modicum of social decency will not do it.

[oldtrafford]

Aint going to happen Maclean, the only thing that's going to happen is thy blood pressure is going to hit the roof. I'll take litter and spitting any day of the week over two a penny smack heads, chavs, street muggers, graffiti, council housing estates, violent crime, moral decay, people spending a life time never working because it's their RIGHT and a racial melting pot. Oh, and I forgot to mention political correctness. Korea's ills somehow pale in to significance when compairing to what was once Great Britian!!