Seoul's overpass park: new landmark or eyesore?

Visitors walk along Seoullo 7017 sky park, May 21. / Korea Times photo by Sohn Yong-seok

• Published Jun 8, 2017 4:30 PM KST
• Updated Jun 8, 2017 4:30 PM KST

By Baek Byung-yeul

Having opened about three weeks ago, the Seoullo 7017 urban sky park seems to have already been an iconic spot for city dwellers in Seoul.

To make the megalopolis more pedestrian friendly, the Seoul city government planned to make its own version of the High Line park of New York. The Seoullo project cost 59.7 billion won ($53 million) and took about a year and a half after closing down the outdated Seoul Station Overpass on Dec. 13, 2015.

Seoullo means “Seoul Road” or “going to Seoul,” and the number 7017 comes from the years 1970 when the overpass was first constructed and 2017 when it was reborn as a public park. The 1,023-meter-long and 17-meter-high walkway is decorated with more than 24,000 trees and plants, plus benches, rest areas and eateries.

Though there has been a backlash for shutting down the overpass that carried 40,000 vehicles daily, it has been received well since its opening on May 20 as it took only 14 days to surpass the 1 million visitors mark.

The city government said the public park averages 40,000 to 70,000 visitors on weekdays and 100,000 to 120,000 during weekends. The number peaked at 151,000 on the opening day, followed by 131,230 on May 27, 112,678 on May 28 and 104,440 on May 21.

Given that the city-run Seoul Institute expected the annual number of visitors to the elevated public park would be 4.37 million, Seoullo 7017 has established itself as the city’s top attraction.

Taking an hour-by-hour look, it appears to see the most visitors during the lunch hour between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. in the 14 days since its opening and the majority of them are office workers. The park’s popularity also peaked in the closing hours between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

An office employee working nearby said strolling along Seoullo 7017 has become part of his daily routine. “Though it is still crowded with visitors who are curious to see it firsthand, it is nice to have this place in the midst of the bustling city.”

A pedestrian in her 60s said she likes the idea of making the city friendlier for walking.

“As I live in southern Seoul, I rarely visit the downtown area, but I came here to take a walk from Namdaemun Market to Seoul Station. At first, I was against the idea of building another big pedestrian overpass, but after walking through downtown on Seoullo in the sunshine, I feel okay with the idea,” she said.

Another pedestrian in his 70s also expressed his hope that the city can garner more overseas tourists with the overpass-turned-park. “I thought Seoul needs more attraction for overseas tourists. Like Cheonggye Stream, I hope this place could be a landmark for them.” The city government said 60,000 overseas tourists have visited Seoullo 7017 in the 14 days since its opening.

Safety concerns

Though the new public park is still fresh, a safety issue arose as a Kazakhstani man jumped off it and died on May 29, just 10 days after its opening.

According to the city government, the man in his 30s climbed over a 1.4-meter glass barrier at a point in front of Seoul Station and fell onto Cheongpa Road at around 11 p.m. Sustaining an injury to his head, he was hospitalized but died the following day at around 7:50 a.m. After the deadly accident, the city government promised to install more safety guards to prevent further accidents.

An expert in construction site safety said the height of the glass panel is already 20 centimeter higher than regulation and having more safeguards would be best at this point, adding that raising the height more could cause other safety issues.

“If we raise the height more, the wind-exposed panels would be breakable. If the panels are pushed over by the strong winds, it would cause another safety issue. Thus, assigning more guards would be proper to prevent future accidents,” the expert said.