By Mary Velan
Gov1
The following question was recently posted on Quora:
“What are some very successful examples of city transformations by a city mayor’s leadership?”
Read the responses below from a variety of experts:
Christian Bergland, urban planning autodidact:
You may have heard of Lee from his time as Korea’s president, but he started his political career as Seoul’s mayor. His transformations were both physical and economic.
The most visible project from Mr. Lee’s time as mayor was his pet project,Cheonggyecheon:
Cheonggyecheon was originally a stream running through central Seoul that had been covered by a highway (see above). Prior to the highway it looked like this:
Suffice it to say, it had been a long, long time since this stream had been a place of beauty, and the highway might have actually represented something of an improvement. Moreover, there was immense public pressure against removing the highway, as it was an arterial road that was arguably critical to moving people around Seoul. To address potential traffic problems resulting from the highway’s removal and to solve chronic problems with Seoul’s buses, Lee made public transit reform a priority. From Seoul Boosts Transit Ridership with Color-Coded Buses and Other Reforms:
Prior to the reforms, 60 percent of all commuters in the city complained about bus operations. In response, Mayor Lee Myung-Bak formed a committee to overlook the restructuring of 600 bus routes and bus lines, which were eventually separated into four categories, depending on destination. The buses and routes were color-coded—red, blue, yellow and green—for ease of understanding. As John Calimente of re:place magazine recently wrote, it “goes a long way towards solving the bus legibility problem.”
The restructuring involved redesigning the routes to complement the subway system, creating a comprehensive route identification system. It allotted designated lanes for buses, separating them from vehicular traffic to improve road safety and ease congestion. After the program was implemented, the level of complaints decreased to only 15 percent of commuters and transit ridership increased by 30 to 40 percent.
- Blue buses travel long distances on major arterial roads.
- Green buses operate as feeder buses to the eight lines on the subway system.
- Red buses are express routes with limited stops connecting major suburban towns to the central city.
- Yellow buses are circular routes that travel between the major destinations in the central city.
The increase in ridership resulting from public transit reform actually resulted in a reduction of traffic in the area surrounding the highway, and allowed it to be demolished without issue. In the meantime, Cheonggyecheon has become one of Seoul’s most visited destinations for locals and tourists alike, a ribbon of green in a city that is often overwhelmingly grey.
Moreover, it’s not just a summer destination. Between the Seoul Lantern Festival at various points throughout the year and Christmas Lights in the winter, Cheonggyecheon is a year round draw:
Mayor Lee had the vision to push through the project despite stiff public resistance towards the expense and its effect on traffic in central Seoul. Flash forward ten years, and Cheonggyecheon is a central gathering place that has sparked initiatives to create like spaces elsewhere in the city, most notably the Seoul Skygarden:
The Seoul Skygarden, MVRDV’s proposal for the 938 metre long former elevated highway next to Seoul’s Central Station, hopes to build on the city’s ambition to be greener, more attractive and more user-friendly so as to inspire a process of change for the entire neighborhood. The design populates the overpass with 254 species of trees, shrubs and flowers to create an arboretum of local species, a library of plants that can be enjoyed by Seoul’s public.
David S. Rose, urban planning professional:
Without question, both Michael Bloomberg, and, before him, Rudy Giuliani, had demonstrable, transformative effects on New York City. Prior to them, the only mayoral equivalents in New York were Fiorello H. LaGuardia and John V. Lindsay.
(Ed Koch was a superb mayor of and for the city, but he did not transform it physically or psychically the way the other four did.)
Don Johnson, urban planner and economist:
When he became mayor Curitiba was just one of scores of rapidly urbanizing cities in Latin America facing a horde of challenges; in 2010 it was named by Reader’s Digest as the most liveable city in Brazil.