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Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul’s Experience in Demolishing Road

Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

Technical Report · January 2011

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27040.89600

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Division 44
Water, Energy, Transport

Reviving the Soul in Seoul:

Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure
and Improving Public Transport
A Joint Case Study by GIZ and KOTI
Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6
Acknowledgement
Special thanks go to The Korea Transport
Institute (KOTI) for its review and valuable
contributions to this paper. All remaining
errors are the sole responsibility of the author.
Reviving the Soul in Seoul:
Seoul's Experience in
Demolishing Road Infrastructure
and Improving Public Transport
A Joint Case Study by GIZ and KOTI
Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

Disclaimer
Findings, interpretation and conclusions
expressed in this document are based on the
information gained by the author and from
the contributors.
GIZ does not guarantee the accuracy or com-
pleteness of information in this document
and cannot be held responsible for any errors,
omissions or losses, which emerge from its use.

IMPRINT

Author: Santhosh Kodukula

Editor: Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
P. O. Box 5180
65726 Eschborn, Germany
http://www.giz.de

Division 44 – Water, Energy, Transport

Sector Project “Transport Policy Advisory Services”

On behalf of
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development (BMZ)
Division 313 – Water, Energy, Urban Development
P. O. Box 12 03 22
53045 Bonn, Germany
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40
53113 Bonn, Germany
http://www.bmz.de

Manager: Manfred Breithaupt

Editing: Jonathan Gómez Vilchez, Manfred Breithaupt,

and KOTI

Cover Photos: Seoul Development Institute, South Korea

Layout: Klaus Neumann, SDS, G.C.

Eschborn, October 2011

CONTENTS
1. Introduction  1

2. Conventional approach: Predict and Provide  2

3. Consequence of Predict and Provide: Induced Demand  3

4. Priming the public transport and flushing the flyovers  4

4.1 The problem  4
4.2 Restoring the river covered by asphalt  4
4.3 Public transport improvement  8

5. Ways to address the urban transport issue: Lessons from Seoul  11

6. References  12
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

1. Introduction
Cities in the developing world are facing numerous urban issues and one of them is provision of
transport to all the citizens in the city. As income levels increase in cities people tend to shift to
personal motorised transport and increase the burden on the existing road capacity. This often
results in a choked road, especially during peak hours.
To accommodate the increasing vehicular growth, city officials often provide more space for
the vehicles through road expansion projects such as road widening and, where space is scarce,
a flyover is built. The initial result of these projects may please the implementors, however on a
longer run, the situation again returns to the earlier state wherein the congestion prevails and, in
many cases, there is also a spillover on to the neighbouring areas and arterials. Thus, the vicious
cycle of provision for automobile in a city begins.
Many cities are yet to be convinced that the congestion problems persisting in their cities cannot
be solved by building more road infrastructure. Many of the developed cities in North America
have followed this approach and only resulted in creating cities that are widespread and cities
that consume immense area of land.
Some cities in the East that have earlier followed the unsuccessful path of the western cities have
realised that the provision of further urban road leads to nowhere and have started to “demolish”
the existing elevated road constructions and concentrate on other measures to combat the urban
transport problems.
This case study document is an attempt to bring forward to the conventional approach to
address congestion problems, the consequences involved in following the conventional path,
explain the experience of Seoul (South Korea) in demolishing an existing elevated highway and
the approach that Seoul took in tackling the urban transport problem.

1
 Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

2. Conventional approach: Predict and Provide

The “predict and provide” approach is the cornerstone for many conventional road planners and
engineers. Models and calculations for future growth in motorisation are “predicted” and neces-
sary road infrastructure is “provided” to meet the future growth. Many of the developed Euro-
pean cities have proven that this approach is no longer successful. The conventional approach
is a supply-oriented way forward. This approach also undermines the value of resources such as
fossil fuels, land availability and requires huge sums of investment from the government which
is transferred, often, also to the people who do not use the product, such as non-motorists.

Traffic Study to
predict the
needs of future
motorisation

Study shows
The capacity
that the current
needs to be
capacity is
predicted
insufficient

Vicious cycle
of Predict and Roads are
More vehicular expanded and
traffic will lead Provide flyovers are
to congested “provided” to
road networks cater the future
demand

Public Roads
transport loses encourage
ridership and people to travel
NMT facilities more in
decline in personal
Figure 1 quality automobiles
Vicious cycle of
predict and provide.
Source: Kodukula, 2011

Unfortunately, many local governments still follow the conventional approach in addressing the
transport crisis in the cities. These cities continue to build roads and invest massive amounts
of resources into such projects. This results in cities with reduced liveability, reduced safety for
their citizens and an unprofitable public transport industry.

2
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

3. Consequence of Predict and Provide: Induced Demand

(Source: GIZ Technical Document “Demystifying Induced Travel Demand” by Roger Gorham,
for more information refer to the document available from http://www.sutp.org)

The consequence of excessive investments in road infrastructure leading to increased personal

mobility, reduced access to destinations and increased travel times is technically termed as
“Induced Demand.”
Induced travel demand is about time; specifically, it is about how people respond when the
amount of time it takes for them to go from one place to another is reduced. Traditional trans-
portation demand analysis assumes that speed improvements simply result in a reduction in the
time people spend traveling. “If I can travel faster than before, then I’ll simply get to my desti-
nation sooner, and reduce the amount of time I spend traveling.” In traditional economic analy-
sis, this “reduction” in travel time is assumed to be a benefit to all travellers, linked to the value
that travelers places on the amount of time spent traveling. That value can be measured using
Stated or Revealed Preference techniques of conjoint analysis.

Figure 2
Bangkok tried to build
its way out of traffic
jams and still is stuck
with heavy traffic jams.
Source: Karl Fjellstrom

In reality, however, people's reactions to a reduction in the time needed to travel from point
A to point B may be substantially more complex. To be sure, some travellers might reduce the
amount of time they spend traveling, but others might choose to travel farther, that is, to differ-
ent destinations, or more often. They might change the proportion of trips they make by differ-
ent modes, depending on how speed improvements affect the various modes differently. Over
time, they might even choose to locate themselves differently in an urban area. “If I can travel
faster than before, then I can get to a destination slightly farther away in the same amount of
time, or I can make more trips to the grocery store in the same amount of time, or I can live
or work somewhere else.” Similarly, production managers in industry might change the way
they value the trade-off between transport and warehousing, or in the longer run, might make
changes in where they site their production or distribution facilities, in response to particular
or generalised travel time changes. In aggregate, the details of the workings of induced demand
can be complex, and valuation controversial, but at its core, it is a straightforward concept:
people respond to changes in travel time by changing their behaviour.

3
 Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

4. Priming the public transport and flushing the flyovers

4.1 The problem
Seoul is one of the faster growing cities in the world. The population of Seoul increased consid-
erably between 1960 and 2002. The metropolitan area had 22 million residents in 2002 (Pucher
et. al., 2005). The increase in the population and the better living conditions and economy in
Korea has increased the ownership of personal automobiles. Between 1970 and 2002, the per
capita income of South Korea rose from USD 311 to 12 531 (Pucher et al., 2005). This rapid
economic growth enabled people to change their lifestyles rapidly and promoted car ownership.
In 1970, there were only 2 cars for every 1 000 persons in Korea, while in 2003 the car owner-
ship rose to 215 for every 1 000 people (Pucher et al., 2003).
This rapid growth in personal vehicles brought forward various issues such as traffic congestion
and air pollution (Hwang, 2001). The roads connecting the suburban parts to the city were
especially clogged. The arterial roads had speeds of only 20 km/h overall and the central busi-
ness districts (CBD) had only 17 km/h (Kwon, 2004).
The city administration of Seoul realised that they had to tackle the increasing crisis. The
administration had two main options: either to invest in road infrastructure and expand the
supply or to manage the demand by investing in alternative transport. However the city govern-
ment, with a new mayor in charge, made another choice of reclaiming the road space occupied
by an elevated road by tearing down the road and reviving the river covered by it.
This section of the document will explain the process of Seoul’s transformation by demolishing
the elevated highway and improving its public transport system. The section will also document
the results obtained after the transformation.

4.2 Restoring the river covered by asphalt

Figure 3
Chenggyecheon
River in 1965.
Source: Seoul Metropolitan Council
(kindly provided through Cornie
Huizienga)

4
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

While many cities in the region are addressing the urban transport crisis by investing immense
amounts of money into road construction, especially elevated roads, Seoul has initiated a “new
paradigm”. Following the footsteps of Latin American city leaders like Jaime Lerner of Curitiba
and Enrique Peñalosa of Bogotá, the then Mayor of Seoul and current Korea’s President Mr.
Myung-Bak Lee initiated a project in 2003 that would restore a river covered by an elevated
expressway (Cho, 2010; Cervero et al., 2009).

Figure 4
Chenggyecheon
River in 1968.
Source: Seoul Metropolitan Council
(kindly provided through Cornie
Huizienga)

Figure 5
Chenggyecheon, the
elevated highway
is already build.
Source: Seoul Metropolitan Council
(kindly provided through Cornie
Huizienga)

5
 Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

The Chenggyecheon River that once passed through the heart of Seoul was covered in mid-
60’s to provide space for the increasing automobile traffic. By 1978, the river was completely
covered by a road and an elevated expressway. Until the day the expressway was dismantled, an
estimated volume of 168 556 vehicles were catered by the highway and the elevated expressway
(65 810 going down the road and 102 747 going up the elevated road). In spite of its utility, the
Mayor’s vision to create a Seoul that was for people rather than for cars triggered the demolition
of the expressway and the elevated road (Park, n.d.).

Figure 6
Chenggyecheon River
covered by the elevated
road before restoration.
Source: Seoul Metropolitan Council
(kindly provided through
Cornie Huizienga)

Being the main and only responsible agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Government took on its
shoulders the entire responsibility (fiscal and personnel) in restoring the Chenggyecheon River.
The restoration was also given importance in a cultural context as 600-year old Korean artifacts
were revived with the river.

Figure 7
Restored
Chenggyecheon River,
a vibrant public place.
Source: kindly provided through
Cornie Huizienga

6
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

The citizens of Seoul were also informed of the safety issues that would persist due to the
elevated expressway. City officials discovered that the foundations of the elevated road were cor-
roded and beyond repair. Due to the sewer and the drain flowing below the elevated road, there
was an accumulation of gases such as carbon monoxide, methane and other underground gases,
and the corrosion of the foundation was thus accelerating. In addition to these safety hazards,
there was a high contamination of heavy metals. All these factors provided a strong case to
increase the safety of the citizens by removing the elevated expressway.

Figure 8
The restoration
of Chenggyecheon
improved the
liveability of Seoul.
Source: Hfamico, 2009,
https://picasaweb.google.com/
HFamico

The demolition of the expressway and the reconstruction was completed and opened to the
public by 2005. There was constant monitoring of the outcomes of the project. Studies con-
ducted by the Seoul Development Institute (SDI) show that the restoration of the river has
reduced the surrounding temperature by 3.6 °C (Donga, 2005), which was earlier caused by the
heat island effect. In terms of traffic, there was a 2.3 % reduction in the vehicles entering down-
town Seoul while there was a 1.4 % increase in the bus users and 4.3 % increase in the subway
ridership (Wikipedia, 2011; Shin and Lee, 2006). The improvement in the bus system will be
discussed in the next section of this document.

7
 Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

4.3 Public transport improvement

As it was mentioned before, other than demolishing an elevated expressway, Seoul has also
invested in renovating its public transport system as a means to provide alternative transport
solutions for its citizens. The improved
public transport system, also known
as the Seoul Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
system, includes regular and special
service buses that run on exclusive
median lanes. More than 400 different
bus routes were rationalised, where bus
routes were colour-coded in the new
system. The colour coding of the buses
enable the citizens to easily identify the
routes the buses operate on. The colour
codes are as follows (Pucher et al., 2005;
Calimente, 2011):

Blue buses: Long routed buses that

connect the outer suburbs of the
city to the city centre;
Green buses: Local service buses that
are feeders to the metro system and
the express bus stops;
Red buses: These buses connect the
newly planned satellite cities to the
city centre;
Figure 9 Yellow buses: These are buses that
Colour coded buses provide local services in the metro-
of Seoul, S. Korea. politan area.
Source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/gtk/
news/reports_view.php?idx=1109

In order to manage the operation of the above mentioned services, Seoul has invested in a
Bus Management System (BMS) and an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). The buses are
equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) that enable the control centre to pin point the
bus’s location and provide information on the arrival of the bus to the passengers. The control
centre is also able to measure the speed of the buses, thereby enabling the control centre to opti-
mise the arrival and departure of the buses, depending on the demand on a route. This system
ensures better service delivery to the passengers.
Seoul had already invested, in the past, in extensive suburban rail and a metro rail system. The
city government felt that it was necessary to utilise the rail infrastructure to the fullest. In order
to do so, the city government invested in integrating the bus system with the rail system. The
integration was both physical, by providing feeder services –the green buses– and through fare
integration. The new fare structure is based on the distance travelled and with free transfers
between the metro and bus and vice versa. The city government introduced a multipurpose
smart card system called “T-money”. The new smart card enables the users to pay for the trans-
port fares and also use the card for various other utility services. Frequent users of the transport
system have now access to a monthly ticket, which offers discounts to them.

8
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

Figure 10
A Junction before the
bus reform in Seoul.
Source: Kim, 2009

Figure 11
The same junction
transformed after the
bus reform in Seoul.
Source: Kim, 2009

9
Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

Initially after the restructuring of the bus reforms, there was an initial disagreement from the
users. This disagreement arose from the lack of adequate information about the bus routes, the
fare increase and driver behaviour. The administration took immediate action to reduce the dis-
satisfaction, starting with the driver behaviour. Driver training schemes were implemented to
improve the behaviour and immediate results were observed. Over time, the customer satisfac-
tion increased and one reason was the increase in bus speeds. On many corridors, bus speeds
doubled. An interesting fact is that the car speeds have also improved after implementing the
median bus lanes. It is found that the buses on the median lanes carry 6 times more people than
the other lanes in the corridor.
It is found that the average daily ridership on the buses has increased from 4.6 million in 2003
to 4.9 million in 2009. Also, during the same period, the total subsidy for bus and subway oper-
ations has dropped by USD 421 million. This fall in subsidy is due to the increase in ridership
and system efficiency (Calimente, 2011, http://regardingplace.com/?p=11085).

10
Reviving the Soul in Seoul: Seoul's Experience in Demolishing Road Infrastructure and Improving Public Transport

5. Ways to address the urban transport issue: Lessons from Seoul

From Seoul’s experience, developing cities can learn some important lessons in promoting sus-
tainable transport.
Firstly, transform cities to be people friendly. Cities are the centres of activity, when such activ-
ity is social and human centred the liveability in cities increases. The scales of the buildings, the
location of various activities like shopping, working, and recreation need to be clustered. This
kind of mixed development increases access to the destinations and reduces motorisation. Creat-
ing public parks instead of excessive car parking promotes a sensible use of land. As in the exam-
ple of Seoul, the elevated expressway was dismantled to create a public space, a water stream,
where people can come for recreation and spend time with their loved ones. The new public
place is a haven for children to play far from the moving vehicles and smoke filled roads. In an
ecological sense, public spaces give a chance for the city to promote its environmental steward-
ship by having various flora species in the new public space.
Studies reveal that the ecosystem along the Cheongyecheon has improved greatly. The number
of fish species increased from 4 to 25, while the bird species increase from 6 to 36. The incest
species also increased from 15 to 192.
The air quality along the project site has also improved. Particulate pollution dropped from 74
to 48 micrograms per cubic meter and, as previously stated, the temperature in the project site
has also reduced 3.6 degrees.
The second factor that can be learnt from Seoul’s experience is that a bus system is a crucial
means of transport for a city. As it was mentioned earlier, Seoul has invested a lot in its sub-
urban rail and metro system. Seoul could have invested more money into a rail-based transport;
instead the city government invested in prioritising its bus system. The city officials acknowledge
that bus-based transport will cost less money; at the same cost of providing a fraction of cover-
age on a metro, a bus-based system will have much larger coverage at a high quality of service.
The city invested in having state-of-the-art technology for bus information and guidance.
Median bus lanes were exclusively provided for the system. More than 400 bus routes were
restructured and classified into 4 simple colour coded buses. Initially, passengers were befuddled
with the new system in the city. Immediately, the city government realised the need for infor-
mation. Campaigns informing people on the bus routes were helpful. Though the satisfaction of
the passengers was initially low, it rose within a few months of operation.
After launching the new bus system, the bus speeds almost doubled in many areas and the cars
were also moving at a faster pace, as the buses did not interfere. The buses on the median lanes
were carrying 6 times more people than the vehicles on mixed traffic lanes.
Thirdly, a strong political will is required. All this transformation was possible when Seoul
shifted its focus from providing roads to demolishing them. In other words, the visionary goal
of then Mayor and current President Mr. Lee, in creating a city for people rather than for cars
is the key to transformation. Many cities with strong political will showed that it is possible for
any city to get out of the clutches of automobile dependency and embrace people centred life.
Some other leaders who demonstrated political will are: Mr. Jaime Lerner from Curitiba, Mr.
Enrique Peñalosa of Bogota, and Mr. Ken Livingston, London.
Even in the developing world, leaders like Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujrat, India,
has proven that it is possible even for Indian cities to have a world-class transport system by
commissioning the bus rapid transit system in Ahmedabad which won the Sustainable Trans-
port Award in 2010.

11
Case Studies in Sustainable Urban Transport #6

6. References
Calimente J, (2011), Colourful buses of Seoul, re:place Magazine,
„„
Available at http://regardingplace.com/?p=11085 accessed on 27 August 2011
Cervero R, Kang J and Shively K, (2009), From elevated freeways to surface boulevards:
„„
neighborhood and housing price impacts in San Francisco, Journal of Urbanism, Vol. 2
No. 1, March 2010, pp. 31–50
Cho M, (2010), The politics of urban nature restoration, International Development
„„
Planning Review (IDPR), Vol. 32 No. 2/2010
Donga, (2005), Stream restoration will cool down Seoul, Available at
„„
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2005081210798
accessed on 25 August 2011
Gorham R, (2009), Demystifying Induced Travel Demand, Sustainable Urban Transport
„„
Technical Document #1, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GmbH, Germany
Hwang K, (2001), Transportation policy in Seoul. In Kwon, W., and K. Kim
„„
Eds., (n.d.), Urban Management in Seoul: Policy Issues and Responses. Seoul, South Korea:
„„
Seoul Development Institute, 107–124
Kwon Y, (2004), New direction for the sustainable urban transportation in Korea. Prepared
„„
for the International Workshop on the Asian Approach toward Sustainable Urban
Regeneration. Tokyo, Japan: Center for Sustainable Urban Regeneration, University of
Tokyo
Park K, (n.d.), Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project, Seoul Metropolitan Government,
„„
Korea. Available at http://www.wfeo.org/documents/download/Cheonggeycheon%20
Restoration%20Project_%20Korea.pdf accessed on 25 August 2011

Pucher J, Hyungyong P, Kim M H, and Song J, (2005), Public Transport Reforms in

„„
Seoul: Innovations Motivated by Funding Crisis, Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 8,
No. 5, 2005
Shin J and Lee I, (2006), Cheong Gye Cheon restoration in Seoul, Korea, Civil Engineering
„„
159, pp. 162–170, Institute of Civil Engineers, November 2006
Stein A, (2009), Urban waterways: Seoul peels back the pavement and reveals a river, The
„„
Terrapass Footprint, Available at http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/seouls-river
accessed on 30 August 2011
Wikipedia, (2011), Cheonggyecheon, Available at
„„
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonggyecheon accessed on 25 August 2011

12
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