Creating the '2020 Best Travel Destination Purple Island' Utilizing the Bangjoje Embankment
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Shinan, Jeollanam-do, composed of islands, maintains its current form based on embankments. The 547 embankments of Shinan, constructed since 1728 (late Joseon Dynasty), protect against damage from seawater and safeguard farmland, allowing residents to engage in their livelihoods with peace of mind.
The embankments were first built in the late Joseon period to protect farmland that provided food for starving people.
Over time, the food shortage was resolved, and residents began to use the land based on the embankments for other purposes.
They converted the land into salt fields to produce salt, which was more valuable than grains, and as salt prices plummeted with the times, the land has been used as fish farms that generate high profits.
Currently, the embankments are also used as solar power generation complexes, an eco-friendly energy source. The use of the land on the embankments has naturally changed with the times.
Although the uses continue to change, the functional aspect of the embankments remains stuck in the past. They are still forced to serve solely as infrastructure to protect farmland and national territory.
Shinan County has created the ‘2020 Best Travel Destination Purple Island’ by utilizing the embankments. Bicycles run along the embankments painted purple, and tourists crowd the walking trails and Mosil trails.
Last summer, the number of tourists visiting Purple Island reached 100,000 over 100 days. The diverse ways of utilizing the island through the embankments have brought hope and joy to the residents.
A Shinan County official explained, “If the function of the embankments is further expanded and nearby land is used as fish farms, the embankments can be used as coastal roads for transporting goods. Especially with the recent opening of the 1004 Bridge, it could serve as a bypass road to disperse concentrated traffic.”
He also said, “It is possible to use the embankment as a management road to maintain the nearby solar power complexes, and like Anjwa Purple Island, it can be used as infrastructure for tourism resource development such as bicycle paths and walking trails.”
Under the Moon Jae-in administration, living S.O.C (Social Overhead Capital) has penetrated all over South Korea. The urban regeneration projects promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are representative examples.
Now is the time for so-called rural regeneration projects, and it is expected that combining living S.O.C with embankments can yield various effects with the same budget.
With the astronomical costs required for embankment repairs, it seems necessary to revise laws and guidelines in line with the times so that embankments can be used as tourism resources to attract tourists, bypass roads, walking trails, and bicycle paths.
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