The Greening of a City: Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project

With the ultimate goal of making Seoul a great city, then-mayor Lee Myung-bak made Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project—the most expensive river restoration to be undertaken in the world—a centerpiece of his administration in 2002. Not only was the project extremely expensive, but the massive scope of construction was expected to disrupt city life and commercial activities in the area. It was not a popular, nor an easy project to sell to the city’s stakeholders.