1. " a king who utilized water well, ruled well"-why?
Water is a key and vital resource for human life. Historically, civilizations have formed and flourished around bodies of water, where it is used for drinking, irrigation, and trade. Essentially, to use this resource well is knowing how to govern effectively all in your domain.
2. mountains and water are key elements to Feng Sui-why?
Because it's a location theory where house goes in front of water and the mountains are in the back, enclosing the house and you feel safe.
3. 600 years ago, the stream passed through many biomes-name a few
Mountains, alpines, to temperate and all the way to the ocean. This is mainly due to changes in altitude as the river flows downstream.
4. "cover it up" was started in 1968-what happened to the city? Has this continued?
They buried the polluted stream under cement. Then a highway was built on top to help traffic problems. Building more roads led to even higher volumes of traffic (see below).
5. "induced demand" means what? How could you control this if you were emperor?
More traffic in response to increased road space. I would tell people that life is not fair and to wait their turn in line.
6. Noh Soo Hong says "they think I'm nut": what does this say about the public awareness about carrying capacity and sustainable development? Are there parallels to other urban societies? What sort of economic/social benefits might you experience?
The public thought he was nuts. They thought the stream would be nice but they were concerned about traffic. Public awareness is very low about the idea of carrying capacity and sustainable development; this is a similar case in many urban societies across the world.
7. Lee Myung Bak is now the President of Korea, what were his previous two jobs? What's the lesson here? There is an old saying: "only Nixon could have gone to China" What's the connection?
He was previously the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. The lesson is, create problems and solve them later when you become president to be hailed as a hero! The saying, "Only Nixon could have gone to China" is because only Nixon could have gone to China without being criticized as being "soft" on Communism as he was already known as such a hard-line anti-Communist.
8. What unique talents did Lee Myung Bak bring to the project?
Lots of influence!
9. What changes did they make to public transportation during construction, and what did they learn about traffic while doing this "experiment"?
They monitored traffic before and after, and they found that the traffic was actually better after construction!
10. Is traffic more like a liquid or a gas? Explain.
Traffic engineers are used to thinking about traffic as a liquid. Now they know it behaves more like a gas.
11. What is the heat island effect, and how did the restoration change this in Seoul?
The heat island effect is when the sun hits asphalt and makes a lot of heat which brings a wave of heat to the center. Water in the center of the city stops the heat island effect.
12. The two ladies are a crackup-they talk over each other, but what is their unique perspective on this?
The water is so clean, children can play in it!
13. Big picture: think of why the city was located there, how it evolved to cover it's reason for being there, then once it was uncovered and restored, the city re-discovered it's roots. Where else could you imagine seeing this?
The city was originally built on that site because of the presence of the river. As Seoul became increasingly urbanized, the river outlived its purpose and was covered over to support the city's new need for roads. Lee Myung Bak tore down the highway and restored the stream once he became president and realized the need for green space in the city. Other places where this could happen would be like Tōkyō; urban development in the post-war years have reduced any green space in the city to concrete.
14. Hawaiian society was based on the Ahupua'a concept. How is this similar?
Ahupua'a is common subdivision of land. "Kuleana" is "your business/responsibility." If you were a king, you would mind your own ahupua'a, or your land. It was a sustainable ecostystem that went from high altitude to the ocean; you were sustainable in your own ahupua'a. If you polluted your own stream, you were polluting your own people. Whatever you did to your land directly affected yourself.
15. Koreans plant 480,000 trees each year to offset the impact of the stream-why?
The trees are planted every year to offset the carbon dioxide that was produced in the burning of fossil fuels required to pump the water for the stream.
16. Many cities in Europe have strict urban planning policies-compare these with Seoul.
Seoul, typical of many Asian cities, tend to grow in a much more fluid and dynamic manner. Whereas European cities have strict urban planning to regulate their growth, Seoul evolved based on the movement of people; suburbs sprang up as the country became more urbanized, and we start to see patterns where the poor are concentrated in the less desirable parts of the city, such as the center.
17. Soon we will see a similar video about Alexandria Virginia, where pedestrian traffic has changed. How did pedestrian traffic change in Seoul due to the "road diet"
Reducing the amount of roads increased usage of public transportation, which led to the construction of more walking paths and bus lanes. Bus-only lanes have increased bus riders, and people are now also walking more.
18. The present mayor of Seoul says "sustainability is the key element to the survival of the city". Why?
He believes that sustainability equals survival for the city for it is what attracts people to want to live in the city. People living in the city will work in it, invest in it, and that is what keeps a city going.
hoang phong
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