Mji uliofichua mto

Katikati ya Seoul, kuna mto uliotumia nusu karne gizani. Mto Cheonggyecheon zamani ulipita wazi katikati mwa moyo wa mji, lakini katika miongo iliyofuata vita, ulichafuka na kuzungukwa na vibanda, hivyo mji ukauziba. Zege liliwekwa juu ya maji, na kufikia miaka ya sabini barabara kuu iliyoinuliwa ilianza kunguruma juu ya zege hilo. Mto ukawa tu uvumi chini ya magari.

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.

Kisha, mwaka wa elfu mbili na tatu, Seoul ilifanya jambo lililoonekana kinyume kabisa: ilianza kubomoa barabara kuu hiyo ili kuchimbua mto tena. Wahandisi waliondoa barabara, wakarejesha karibu kilomita sita za mto huo, na kujenga njia za kutembea, mawe ya kupitia, na madaraja kando ya kingo. Wakosoaji walisema mji ulikuwa unaharibu miundombinu yenye manufaa kwa ajili ya mapambo tu. Mradi uliendelea hata hivyo, na mto ukafunguliwa tena mwaka wa elfu mbili na tano.

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.

Matokeo yalishangaza hata wale walio na matumaini makubwa. Samaki, ndege, na wadudu walirejea kwenye maji ambayo hayakuwahi kuona jua kwa miaka hamsini. Joto la kiangazi kando ya mto lilipimwa likiwa baridi zaidi kwa digrii kadhaa ikilinganishwa na barabara zinazofanana karibu nao, kiyoyozi cha asili kinachopitia sehemu yenye msongamano mkubwa zaidi wa mji. Leo, mamilioni ya watu hutembea kando ya kingo kila mwaka, wengi wao wakiwa wachanga mno kukumbuka kwamba mahali pao pendwa zaidi Seoul zamani palikuwa chini ya barabara kuu.

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.