Seoullo 7017 (), also known as the Seoul Skygarden or Skypark, is an

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and Esplanade, shorelines. Examples o ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, built atop a former highway overpass (Seoul Station Overpass, ). The path, which is about in length and lined with 24,000 plants, is similar to New York City's

High Line The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Op ...

. Skygarden was designed by

MVRDV MVRDV is a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1993, with additional offices in Berlin, New York, Paris, and Shanghai. It is currently regarded as one of the world's finest architecture firms. MVRDV is ...

, a Dutch firm, and opened in May 2017. The path also improves walking times around

Seoul Station Seoul Station () is a major railway station in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The station is served by the Korail Intercity Lines and the commuter trains of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Services KTX Seoul Station is the terminus of m ...

. The disused overpass closed in 2015 and cuts diagonally across Seoul Station at above street level. The "70" in the name comes from 1970, the year the flyover was dedicated, while the "17" is a reference to both the number of walkways connected to it and its opening in 2017. The park includes gardens, terraces, and exhibitions, and was promised to "feature over 24,085 plants representing 228 species of trees, shrubs and flowers found in and outside Korea."

History

In the 1960s, a decade after the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Seoul constructed dozens of elevated highways to keep traffic flowing through the capital. Over time, the overpasses came to be seen as a blight on the landscape, and their deteriorating condition posed a safety risk." As they were gradually removed, city planners begand to repurpose some as pedestrian green spaces. Seoul mayor

Park Won-soon Park Won-soon (; February 11, 1955 or March 26, 1956July 9, 2020) was a South Korean politician, activist, and lawyer. He was the longest-serving mayor of Seoul, from 2011 until his death in July 2020. A member of the Democratic Party of Kore ...

pushed for the US$52 million skypark to be completed as a complement to Seoul's

Cheonggyecheon Cheonggyecheon (, ) is a stream and public space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. A natural stream sourced from the Suseongdong Valley in Inwangsan, it was historically maintained as part of Seoul's early sewerage until the mid-20th century, when ...

river restoration project, organized under previous mayor

Lee Myung Bak Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...

. The park's plans faced early controversy over fears of traffic congestion and concerns from market owners in nearby Namdaemun.

Location

The Skypark begins at

Malli-dong Malli-dong () is a legal ''dong (neighbourhood), dong'' (neighbourhood) of Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It is governed by its administrative dong, Jungnim-dong. See also * Administrative divisions of South Korea References * * External ...

and continues northeast past Seoul Station, ending 1,024 meters later near Namdemun at Hoehyeon Station. The park is visible from Seoul Station but the nearest stairway is across the street from the front of the station, or subway exit 1 of the

Seoul Metro Seoul Transportation Corporation, branded as Seoul Metro (), is a municipal-owned corporation owned by Seoul Metropolitan Government, and one of the two major operators of Seoul Metropolitan Subway with Korail. History On May 31, 2017, ...

References

External links

* * * {{Seoul parks Parks in Seoul 2017 establishments in South Korea Linear parks Urban public parks Elevated parks Geography of Jung District, Seoul