Byen, der gravede en flod frem

Midt i Seoul ligger en flod, der tilbragte et halvt århundrede i mørket. Cheonggyecheon løb engang åbent gennem hjertet af byen, men i årtierne efter krigen blev den forurenet og omgivet af skure, så byen begravede den. Beton lagde sig over vandet, og i halvfjerdserne buldrede en forhøjet motorvej hen over betonen. Floden blev et rygte under trafikken.

In the middle of Seoul, there is a river that spent half a century in the dark. The Cheonggyecheon stream once ran openly through the heart of the city, but in the decades after the war it became polluted and crowded with shacks, so the city buried it. Concrete went over the water, and by the 1970s an elevated highway roared above the concrete. The river became a rumour underneath the traffic.

Så, i to tusind og tre, gjorde Seoul noget, der virkede næsten bagvendt: byen begyndte at rive motorvejen ned for at grave floden frem igen. Ingeniører fjernede vejene, genskabte næsten seks kilometer af åen og byggede gangstier, trædesten og broer langs bredderne. Kritikere sagde, at byen ødelagde nyttig infrastruktur for en pynt. Projektet fortsatte alligevel, og åen genåbnede i to tusind og fem.

Then, in 2003, Seoul did something that seemed almost backwards: it began demolishing the highway to dig the river back out. Engineers removed the roads, restored almost six kilometres of the stream, and built walkways, stepping stones, and bridges along the banks. Critics said the city was destroying useful infrastructure for a decoration. The project pressed on anyway, and the stream reopened in 2005.

Resultaterne overraskede selv optimisterne. Fisk, fugle og insekter vendte tilbage til vand, der ikke havde set sollys i halvtreds år. Sommertemperaturerne langs åen målte flere grader koldere end på de parallelle veje i nærheden, et naturligt aircondition, der løb gennem den tætteste del af byen. I dag går millioner af mennesker langs bredderne hvert år, mange af dem for unge til at huske, at deres yndlingssted i Seoul engang var undersiden af en motorvej.

The results surprised even the optimists. Fish, birds, and insects returned to water that had not seen sunlight in fifty years. Summer temperatures along the stream measured several degrees cooler than on the parallel roads nearby, a natural air conditioner running through the densest part of the city. Today millions of people walk the banks every year, many of them too young to remember that their favourite place in Seoul was once the underside of a highway.