Written by Maxwell F.
One of the world’s fastest growing cities, Seoul experienced rapid growth during the 70’s that has largely continued to this day. However, like any large city, Seoul was eventually confronted with its growing environmental footprint. In the face of rising pollution, the city had to adapt to preserve the environment in and around it for the benefits of all its future inhabitants. Seoul has a particular focus on waste management, and the city has an extensive recycling program in place. The city has also begun to find ways to dispose of waste in a way that keeps it out of landfills, and that can actually help to power the city. Finally, Seoul is heavily practicing and promoting upcycling, with more and more of its aging infrastructure being turned into public spaces, alongside an initiative to show citizens how to upcycle on a smaller scale. With all of these waste management programs and public awareness initiatives, Seoul is truly a city focused on sustainable urban living.
Image credit: Seoul Solution
Mapo Resource Recovery Facility
Seoul, like any other major city, generates large amounts of waste. Not only is waste produced by the 9.6 million residents of the city, but also by the countless commercial businesses that operate in the city as well. Recognizing the need for a more efficient way to dispose of waste without creating more landfills, the city of Seoul constructed the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility to turn the city’s waste into energy. When waste reaches the facility, it is incinerated at 850 degrees celsius, and the high temperature gasses from the combustion are turned into steam. From there, the steam passes through a series of four filters that remove dust, heavy metals, dioxins, and other contaminants from the steam, before it is captured by a steam turbine generator. This energy is applied as more power is needed by the facility, while surplus power is sold to the Korea Electric Power Company. The steam and electricity generated by this facility reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 21,405 tCO2 and serves as the equivalent to 34,070 barrels of crude oil. There are four other similar facilities located throughout Seoul, and with these five facilities, Seoul can process over 2,850 tons of waste each day.
Seoul AI Smart City Center
AI is increasingly becoming more and more prevalent in day to day life. And Seoul wants to capitalize on it to make the city even more efficient and sustainable. The Seoul AI Smart City Center is a newly opened public exhibition highlighting how AI operations help the city of Seoul The exhibition consists of an AI administrative innovation zone, an AI innovation company zone, AI studio, AI lecture room, and a networking lounge. The different zones expose citizens to the actual AI technology now being implemented across Seoul, and gives them a one on one experience with this emerging technology, to learn and better understand how it affects their day to day lives.
Image Credit: Korea Tourism Organization
Mapo Oil Tank Culture Park
Located just a short distance from the resource recovery facility and Smart City Center, the six tanks that form this park were originally constructed in 1976 to hold a month’s worth of oil for the city of Seoul. However, the facility was deemed unsafe and shuttered in 2000. In 2013, it was decided to turn the unused space into a culture park. Now each of the tanks have a distinct purpose, with one being turned to a glass roofed pavilion, one turned into an outdoor stage, one preserved as an artifact of the facilities past usage, one repurposed as a culture complex, one that now serves as an exhibition hall, and finally, a tank constructed from the metal of dismantled tanks that has become a community space. The facility is an excellent example of upcycling on a grand scale, as the facility has become a valuable focal point for the community.
Image Credit: Korea Tourism Organization
Seoul Upcycling Plaza
Upcycling is the idea of taking unwanted or otherwise useless items and turning them into new materials, products, or even art displays. Seoul Upcycling Plaza is one of if not the largest public space dedicated entirely to upcycling. The plaza has recycling workshops, material banks where upcycling materials can be collected, exhibition halls, training centers, and stores, all dedicated to upcycling. The plaza also gives visitors the opportunity to try upcycling for themselves, by making items such as bookstands, cat trees, or a wooden tray. The space is dedicated to raising citizens’ awareness about the importance of upcycling, and how being environmentally conscious has the ability to be both fun and rewarding.
Seoul has shown a strong desire to be a sustainable city, and facilities and spaces such as these demonstrate that desire in action. Not only has the city implemented measures to reduce landfill waste, they are also a leading city in demonstrating the virtues of upcycling. The existence of a dedicated public space to show citizens how to upcycle shows the city’s commitment to encouraging all its residents to be sustainable citizens in the future. And the city demonstrates upcycling in action with the repurposing of a former oil storage site into a community gathering space. Seoul strives to be a leading sustainable city, and the plethora of new and repurposed facilities appearing throughout the city proves this.
