Day 12

Today we traveled all over the Dongdaemun area. We went on a 3.5-hour walking tour, and we visited a lot of very different places. It was apparent that some places had a lot of money put into the area, while others were filled with small, dense buildings. The Dongdaemun design plaza was obviously one of the areas with a lot of money put into it, and the markets were areas with the older smaller buildings. Something I’ve noticed is that in Seoul, the use of green space and vegetation varies a lot depending on the wealth of the area. Wealthy areas are carefully thought out and designed according to typical Seoul design practices, which means creating lots of greens paces like small parks, lots of varying plants and flowers. In the less wealthy areas, they are not so carefully designed lie new buildings. Older buildings are packed together very tightly, and there is very little room for green space and parks. As I mentioned, similar to the mural village area, people occupying the area will still tend to use small potted plants in any available corner. In good news, Seoul has put a lot of money into urban regeneration projects, and creating beautiful green spaces that are accessible to anybody.

Pictured first is a densely packed area of town that has very little room for green space.

Second shows a green space beside the Dongdaemun design plaza.