COLUMN: Daring to dream on the New Westminster waterfront

For a few New West city staff and councillors, it was a chance to dream last week.

It came courtesy of a visit from Dr. Kee Yeon Hwang, president of the Korea Transport Institute.

In the urban planning and transportation world, Hwang is a rock star.

City councillor Jonathan Cote, who’s taking urban studies at SFU, convinced Hwang to come for a tour of our city’s Downtown and to see our challenges, particularly when it comes to connecting the Downtown to the Fraser River.

But first a little about what Hwang achieved in his hometown of Seoul, Korea.

It may sound familiar.

As the age of the auto took hold after the Second World War, a highway was built through the centre of the city, over top an old stream bed. It was seen as a good thing, progress, because the old watercourse was an eyesore, polluted and surrounded by shanties. Later, the highway became an elevated expressway so everyone could see this progress for miles.

But changing times and values set the stage for an idea that Dr. Hwang and some colleagues came up with, and Hwang found a mayoral candidate, Lee Myung-bak, willing to make it the centre of his campaign. Elected in 2003, Myung-bak launched the project immediately, and it has since transformed Seoul’s heart in a staggering way.

A master plan for the US$380-million Cheonggyecheon stream restoration project was created in just six months—a mind-boggling speed. And within two years, the entire expressway was removed, 5.8 kilometres of river was restored, and 22 bridges built.

Dr. Hwang is an analyst by training, so it wasn’t just a dream built on whimsy, but one that looked at how to do it in a way that didn’t send the 168,000 vehicles that travelled the expressway into surrounding neighbourhoods.

Check it out—the images are incredible. A game-changer in the truest sense, the restored river is said to draw thousands to its banks daily to enjoy walking paths, fountains, trees, public art and at night, gorgeous lighting. The stream also moderates temperatures; on hot days the area is 3.5 C cooler than other parts of Seoul.

It’s the stuff of Jane Jacobs, wresting a city from the grips of the almighty auto and giving it back to the people.

The project has inspired cities across the globe. But what of New West?

Dr. Hwang saw our Downtown, and our confused waterfront. Rail lines, Front Street, a multi-tiered parkade. He learned the company Larco owns the large parking lot between Westminster Pier Park and the Fraser River Discovery Centre, and has rezoning to build five towers. Some day. He learned Front Street could soon be four lanes as part of the North Fraser Perimeter Road.

Particularly with that in mind, he may have wondered whether we were actually heading in the right direction, and be skeptical we might one day achieve the city’s stated goal of better “connectivity” between Columbia Street and the river.

Our jewel. The original purpose for being here.

After the tour, he told the city folks about his project in Cheonggyecheon.

Then he was asked for his advice.

There was nothing concrete, of course.

But the handful of city staff and politicians he spoke to said he had some important messages.

The city must take the lead and articulate its vision.

Make your decisions carefully, because it will determine the city’s future.

And the last: Dare to dream.

It worked in Seoul. The project has shown people that great things can be done. And for the would-be mayor who saw the sense in Hwang’s pitch and took a risk?

He’s now the country’s president.

• Chris Bryan is editor of the NewsLeader and a New Westminster resident. editor@newwestnewsleader.com

Here are some other cool links if you want to read more

• New West blogger Patrick Johnstone's take on Dr. Hwang and Cheonggycheon

• Another game changer, the High Line in New York, where they've converted an old elevated freight rail line into a linear park. Amazing views! Check out the galleries for pics and videos.

• Here's a project in Paris, the Promenade Plantée.

• See the city's ideas about how to mitigate Front Street and connect the Downtown to the river.