A Surprise

I’m in Seoul and so far it has confounded my expectation of:

    >a choked and grimy city

       >swarming with people

          >racing in every direction

…in fact, the streets are clean, the air is fresh (with just a rumour of winter crispness) and the people walk slowly, infuriatingly slowly.  This global city, home to nearly 8 million people feels surprisingly spacious, in places desolate even.  Supernaturally tall apartment blocks hover at every turn, but it doesn’t feel like there are enough people to fill them…

This emptiness, a flooding of in-between space, is most apparent along the Han River.  Cycle paths, outdoor gyms, fishing platforms, water, grass, flowers have found capacious homes beneath massive concrete highways.  It is London’s Westway dreamily reimagined.  The voids of city infrastructure as a canvas for generous public realm.  Above, the city commutes, grinds, produces.  Here, it plays.