WORLD CUP PARK
public space optimism re-use landfi l l reconciliation
waste management south korea by ina kwon
waste, re-natured
‘The Landfill Recovery Project is extremely meaningful as our first effort to create a new history of Seoul. The project consisted of treatment of landfill gas and polluted water discharged from waste and the stabilisation process of reclaimed land. Starting with a master plan in 1994, we completed facilities for extraction and disposal of gas and contaminated water and covered up the unstable slant through August 2001.’ 2
A one hour trip by car through the city, Saturday with heavy traffic on the street. I didn’t know what to expect of the former garbage dump I’d seen a picture of when it was still in use, about 30 years ago. In a few short decades South Korea has transformed itself from an agricultural to an industrialised country, from dictatorship to democracy. Visual traces of the country’s recent past and its struggles are difficult to find. Unlike a building, the garbage dump in north-west Seoul could not be torn down and removed; instead it was isolated, covered and transformed into an elaborately designed park: the World Cup Park. When I arrived nothing let me realise the hill’s origins – not because I couldn’t tell, but because it is not of importance anymore. Wooden stairs lead the way up to the artificial landscape with a fully developed infrastructure: a bus service, wide paths, waste separation, resting areas, information booth and speakers with music spread all over the top platform. It seems to be a popular spot on weekends, crowded with families and couples. Most attractive were the lookout points from which the city could be seen. The constriction of the city was gone, for a while. n
‘But nowhere was the cheering more apparent than in Korea. As the games progressed the Korean team kept advancing, and the television audience viewing these games worldwide saw something very special, beyond the games themselves. The stadiums were filled with cheering crowds of Korean men and women, young and old, all dressed in red, cheering frenetically not only for their own Korean team, but making sure that some in the stands were cheering for the opposite teams, especially if the opposite team represented a country which had sent troops to Korea during the Korean War.’ 3
‘Prior to 1978, the year the island was changed into a landfill, Nanjido was a peaceful island where various flowers, cabbage, radish and peanuts were widely cultivated. In particular, the size of the spotted cantaloupe grown on Nanjido was so big that an adult could not wrap their arms fully around their diameter. As well, Nanjido’s peanut crops were considerable enough to occupy 30 percent of the nation’s total peanut production. Nanjido was converted into a landfill in the middle of the rapid urbanisation of Seoul in 1978. From that time to 1993, 92 million tons of garbage including household, construction and industrial waste were dumped on the island, resulting in two massive mountains of garbage measuring over 90 metres high.’ 1
1 Story of Nanjido. Creating Nanjido’s New History of Co-existence Between Humans and Nature , Seoul Metropolitan Government, 2002. http:// worldcuppark.seoul.go.kr/worldcup_eng/nanjido/2_01_nanjido.html, retrieved on: 28.3.2011 2 Story of Landfill Recovery Project , Seoul Metropolitan Government, 2002. http://worldcuppark.seoul.go.kr/worldcup_eng/project/3_01_project. html, retrieved on: 28.3.2011 3 T.Youn-ja Shim, Min-Sun Kim, Judith N. Martin, Changing Korea. Under- standing culture and communication. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. p107
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