of a cow and cozy as a mother`s arms. But one day a public housing complex rose up nearby and the atmosphere was destroyed. That`s not all. Along the banks of Yangjae Stream, where the water plants waved in the wind, apartment blocks cast their long shadows and block the view on one side, creating a stifling atmosphere.
Housing prices are high. Therefore, the supply must be increased. Under the simple logic that by building as many apartments as possible supply will halve prices, there was no room to consider the beautiful curves of Mt. Umyeon or the sunset and the water plants at Yangjae stream. Of course, the simple logic prevailing over fair distribution also plays a part. However, these housing projects have only served to disrupt the distribution order, and it does not appear that the homes have gone to lowincome earners as originally intended. The age-old beauty of the natural environment has just been damaged once again.
This kind of thinking seems to have spread tacitly with great speed from the Seoul metropolitan government to the whole nation. While it can be argued that Lee Myung-bak at least knew what he was doing, having spent his life working for a construction company, when the heads of local governments with no knowledge of the industry try to produce visible results through engineering and construction projects the results are inevitably awkward, like an ill-fitting outfit.
In any case, Lee Myung-bak`s restoration of Cheonggye Stream triggered a whole string of ambitions to build something grand. That’s right! Construction is the only way to make a mark! Then build! Build something and then something else. Then after making a good impression, you can be elected a second time and even a third! Forests? Get rid of them! Trees? Cut them all down!
As if the world were to come to an end after the present generation, we carelessly cut up and dig up the land. As a result, the natural resources we have inherited are ailing, the land is groaning, and the water is rotting. It was all done for individuals and the nation to earn money to survive, but when we went beyond survival and sought to live well, the land on which we live began to fall ill.
This is the land where our children and our children`s children will live, but nobody seems to give this a second thought. Let’s build as quickly and as much as we can! Beauty? That`s just big talk from those who have nothing better to do. Erase the lines of the mountains and fill up the sky! Not just the mountains and the sky. The quietly flowing rivers are nothing more than inefficient space like empty land. Build something or float something on the rivers as well! Floating Island? Put cafes on the river and on the sea as well!