A new wave of creative architecture and forward - thinking urban planning is finally putting people first in the South Korean capital.
Wherever you look in Seoul, there arc signs of urban regeneration. As the city physically wills itself to higher levels of livability,old sections are giving way to forward - thinking initiatives on the back of a rush of architectural creativity. Case in point: next to Dongdacmun Gate, a grand example of Joscon dynasty architecture, is an urban redevelopment centring on an ultra - modern plaza that gives more than a little nod towards Zaha Hadid.
In other parts of Seoul, car parks arc giving way to landscaped inner - city parks and people - friendly street furniture is appearing, including a wave of LED multimedia - screen bus shelters whose design has been saluted by the likes of iDEA, iF and Red Dot. It may seem odd that a bus shelter should become the centrepiece of a complete overhaul of the transportation system, but its emblematic of a new approach in social utility that views even the most quotidian object as worthy of a spruce - up. And while the concrete encasing Seoul is still very much in evidence, there is a clear whiff of potential in the air, a hint of the possibilities - in design, in smart urban planning, in an improvement of the quality of life - beyond the opaque windows behind which Seoul has, until now, hidden itself.