Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Opened in 2005, the Cheonggyecheon Stream Restoration Project transformed a once dilapidated business district into a modern public urban space in the heart of Seoul, South Korea, a global economic hub. Sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Cheonggyecheon Stream Project is a multidimensional undertaking routinely hailed as an example of a successful urban renewal project, serving as a model for various large-scale urban regeneration initiatives across the globe. My research uses the Cheonggyecheon as a case study to answer the greater question of how globalization affects urban design decisions. How does Cheonggyecheon’s influence manifest itself across the globe? Does the project’s influence differ from region to region? My research focused on extracting coverage on the Cheonggyecheon from major newspapers across five global economic capitals—New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, New Delhi—in order to understand which regions chose to focus on which components of the Stream, and how each city’s reception and language links to and reflects its own values as a city. My analysis shows that Cheonggyecheon’s global reception and discourse—and thus, influence— differs by region, presenting the paradox of cities taking from the same projects to emphasize their own unique, distinct metropolitan identities. As the built form’s influence pervades the social, political, and economic facets of urban life, this paper further examines the implication of this trend on the future of urban design, and, by way, urban society as a whole.