The Cheonggyecheon River linear park  that lies at the heart of Seoul is one of theworld's greatest urban designprojects. The Cheonggyecheon project is remarkable for its dramatictransformation from a seedy industrial eyesore to a nature-filled public space.

Relative to the land development andutilization of the industrial age, Cheonggyecheon’s reversing practice ischaracterized by pioneer and appears unusual. Usually high speed is consideredto be the city's economic development shaft, but with the advent of the era ofpost-industrial, ecological recovery will become the new normal as it relatesto the development of the economy. In addition, "creating space for citizens"is the future trend of urban space’s development.

In the 1940s, the Cheonggyecheon haddeteriorated into an open sewer and was thus paved over with concrete forsanitation reasons. Thirty years later, an elevated freeway was built overtopthe channelized river, further removing it from the public. Like many of theworld’s underpasses, the area beneath the freeway was mostly avoided by thepublic, which considered the space rife with criminal activity and illegaldumping.

However, from 2002 to 2005, the government ripped out the road and replaced it with a 3.6-mile restored and planted stream with parallel roadways. The mayor also won support for the project by framing the project as a major flood relief channel and marketing the restoration as a highly visible, sustainable development that would boost Korea’s image around the world. To alleviate fears of traffic congestion, the government also invested heavily in public transportation, such as a dedicated bus lane.

In just 29 months, the outmoded elevated highway was transformed into a multifunctional, contemporary linear park. TheCheonggyecheon is fed by heavily treated water pumped from the larger HanRiver, rather than recycled wastewater.Therefore, it also drawn criticism. Still, the advantages of the Cheonggyecheon design outweigh the cons. The project’s many benefits include a significant increase in overall biodiversity, a reduction inthe urban heat island effect and air pollution, improvement in public transitridership and the downtown quality of life, and greater economic development inthe surrounding area.The Cheonggyecheon flows east to west in theheart of Seoul, starting from the Cheonggyecheon Plaza, equipped with marketstands for food and craft vendors. The stream shape also changes as it flowswestward and becomes progressively more “natural” and marsh-like as it flowsdownstream. Open at all hours, the linear park is fully integrated into Seoul’surban fabric and is host to hundreds of events and art installations everyyear. The park is brimming with people, even late at night, making the space anattractive safe haven.