Seoul’s Experience and Inspiration from the Governance of Cheonggyecheon

Cheonggyecheon is a 10.84-km-long stream that runs through downtown Seoul, South Korea, with a total basin area of 59.83 square kilometers. With the rapid economic growth of Seoul in the 1850s and 1860s, Cheonggyecheon was once covered into a culvert and built into a main avenue of the city. Its water quality was severely degraded due to the discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater. Traffic congestion, noise pollution, etc. became prominent “urban diseases”. Launched by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on 1 July 2003 and completed in 2005, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project led to the creation of a modern urban stream. This has not only improved the production and living environment for the residents in Seoul but also promoted the city image as an international green city where people and water coexist harmoniously. Moreover, it serves as good practice and provides reference for other countries in the governance of urban water environment.