[Walking Through Seoul] If There Were a Pedestrian-Only Bridge to Nodeul Island on the Han River...

Calls for Active Han River Management Have Grown,
But Fundamental Flood Issues Remain Unresolved
Time to Rethink the Relationship Between the River and the City
Road-Centered Development Is Now a Thing of the Past

Rivers have played a crucial role in the history of cities. Rome, one of the major cities in Europe, has the Tiber River; Paris has the Seine; London has the Thames. Cairo has the Nile, Delhi has the Yamuna, and Kyoto has the Kamo River.

Rivers not only supplied water to cities but also connected them to neighboring regions via boats traveling to the sea, making them pivotal to urban development. However, the relationship between cities and rivers is more complex than that. While rivers were essential for urban growth, they also posed threats through flooding that endangered lives and property, and served as pathways for epidemics, becoming objects of fear.

Seoul has the Han River. In Hanyang, which was confined within the Four Great Gates, there were several routes leading to the Han River, which was connected to various ferry terminals. As Hanyang gradually expanded beyond the Four Great Gates and reached the Han River, it eventually encompassed the area now called Gangnam, making Seoul a city embracing the Han River.

As the city grew and the population surged, development became inevitable. Many people began living around the Han River, and various infrastructures were established. However, one unresolved issue was flooding. Consequently, flood damage countermeasures were devised. Ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the ‘Han River Comprehensive Development Plan’ was initiated in 1982 and completed in 1986, which involved constructing concrete embankments on both sides of the Han River, building the Olympic Expressway, and sewage treatment plants. However, criticisms arose regarding limited access to the Han River and the destruction of natural ecosystems. To address these concerns, Seoul City implemented the ‘Han River Renaissance Project’ from 2006 to 2010, which increased green spaces around the river but faced criticism for leaving only flashy buildings behind.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

So, has the flood damage truly been resolved? Unfortunately, it has not. Although conditions have improved compared to the past, the fundamental causes remain unaddressed. Recently, in the summer of 2022, which saw the heaviest rainfall in over a century, severe flood damage occurred mainly in Gangnam. Flood damage had also repeatedly occurred in 2020 and earlier years.

Almost no city in history has been free from flood damage, but the Han River is particularly vulnerable due to the monsoon rains that visit the Korean Peninsula annually. When the Han River was outside Hanyang, that is, outside the city, flooding was a natural phenomenon. The damage was not severe, and over time, the damage naturally recovered. However, as people began to gather near the river and development intensified, the scale of damage reached unprecedented levels.

Until now, there has been a strong voice advocating for active management of the Han River, which is part of nature but also part of the city. However, if the root causes of the damage cannot be fundamentally resolved, it is time to reconsider the relationship between the Han River and the city from a different perspective.

From an environmental protection standpoint, some argue that nature should be left as it is, but this is an idealistic claim and not a practical alternative. Like rivers embraced by many cities worldwide, the Han River must be safely managed, and without management, flood damage would have been even greater. The key question is how to safely manage the Han River.

The ultimate goal of the ‘Han River Comprehensive Development Plan’ and the ‘Han River Renaissance Project’ has been to create a comfortable and safe Han River. In particular, the ‘Han River Comprehensive Development Plan’ was the first step toward ensuring safety. However, given the rapid climate change today, with projections that aggressive rainfall like that in 2022 could become common, finding answers for a safe Han River is not easy.

This risk is not limited to the Han River. Globally, cities are attempting technical methods to safely manage urban rivers, such as eco-friendly megastructure construction techniques utilizing water flow management technology. Examples include the flood prevention system ‘MOSE’ in Venice, Italy, which has been successfully operating since 2020 with a budget of about 8 trillion Korean won, and the ‘Maeslantkering Barrier’ in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where 26% of the land lies below sea level, built to prevent flooding. Although these require enormous budgets, the Han River, which faces increasing risks due to climate change, also needs long-term, safety-first measures and active investment with a future-oriented perspective.

In defining the relationship between the city of Seoul and the Han River, the focus is not only on safety and minimizing flood damage. Citizens should be able to access the Han River more comfortably. The past ‘Han River Renaissance Project’ also tried to address this, but it is difficult to expect solutions with the current car-centered roads and bridges along the river. Even now, Seoul citizens must cross roads filled with cars to reach the Han River, and public transportation access is limited. Yeouinaru Station is almost the only subway station connected close to the Han River.

In this regard, the absence of pedestrian-only bridges over the Han River is regrettable. Imagine if there were a pedestrian-only bridge leading to Nodeul Island. Citizens could enjoy the green spaces of Nodeul Island much more easily, and both sides of the river would be connected effortlessly, which is a delightful thought.

During the rapid urban growth period, the Han River was developed mainly for roads to expand traffic capacity and solve congestion, but that era has long passed, and now other approaches must be considered. Car-centered roads not only inconvenience pedestrian access but also negatively impact the environment and ecology.

Whether the Han River is managed for people or viewed ecologically may seem like opposing views, but upon closer examination, they are complementary. Resolving this boils down to how roads are managed. This requires a huge budget but is an essential decision for the coexistence of Seoul residents, migratory birds that move seasonally, and the vegetation living around the river. Without solving this issue, redefining the relationship between the Han River and Seoul seems difficult.

Robert Fauzer, Former Professor at Seoul National University