River project to spur growth, fight climate change
Published : 2010-11-10 18:54:41
The government is pushing a major project to overhaul the nation’s main rivers in efforts to protect the environment, harness the economic value of water and prepare for future water shortages.
The four-river renovation is the centerpiece of President Lee Myung-bak’s green growth policy launched in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis to fight climate change and propel growth.
An efficient use of water has a significant potential for Korea. The nation is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with four main rivers: the Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan.
By using the distinctive geographical feature, Korea will enhance national competitiveness responding to the changes in global economic trends, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said.
The G20 summit in Seoul will be a timely opportunity for the nation to introduce the four-river project to the world’s 20 largest economies and show how Korea is at the forefront of seeking “green growth,” according to government officials.
Waterfront development, prerequisite for sustainable growth
Officials from Spain recently visited Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, to share Spain’s experience in restoring a major river to completely transform a formerly dying city to an internationally-popular tourism city.
“The city of Bilbao has become an international tourism city with an annual number of visitors exceeding $1 million, thanks to the restoration of Nervion River,” said Inaki Duque, head of communication and external relations at Bilbao Ria 2000, public company for the urban regeneration of Bilbao. He was participating in an international forum to discuss building a “green water-edge belt” around the Nakdong River.
“If Korea meticulously prepares for the four-river project, it will yield a successful result,” he said.
Bilbao, a port city situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, enjoyed a heyday in the mid 20th century with the boom of steel and shipbuilding industries. However, the city experienced a setback from the 1980s due to the slump in manufacturing and Basque nationalism. Hit by the worst flood in 700 years in 1983, 80,000 residents in Bilbao lost jobs and the unemployment rate shot up to 25 percent.
Bilbao’s dramatic transformation into an attractive cultural city in just 20 years all started with the restoration of the Nervion River, which was the major cause of the natural disaster.
The restoration work to undo the damage from the flood later expanded to restoring cultural assets, establishing districts for history conservation and reconstructing buildings within the districts.
In 1991, the city has spent 100 million to build Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a contemporary art museum, alongside the Nervion River. The museum has become a cultural icon since its inauguration in 1997.
Water resources, an index for national competitiveness
Not only Bilbao in Spain but other cities around the world have taken advantage of waterfront development as a way of preventing floods, pump-priming the local economy and ensuring sustainable growth.
Dallas, Texas, in the U.S., has become an ecological city through redeveloping the Trinity River. Pueblo in Colorado has also become a popular tourist site through redeveloping the Arkansas River. Glasgow in Scotland has been transformed into a digital media city by developing areas around the Clyde River and shaking off its image as a rusted industrial city.
Internationally leading cities’ development of waterfronts stems from its tremendous industrial impact in generating labor and capital, the essential factors of economic growth. With design, such projects can increase added values in tourism and boost service industries in urban areas.
Securing water resources is regarded as one of the most urgent tasks of the 21st century. Rather than pioneering a new water resource, cities find it faster and more effective to redevelop existing rivers to secure water resources. Numerous floods, resulting from global warming, have also prompted cities to accelerate waterfront development projects recently.
Experts said a waterfront development can also help a city become more eco-friendly by reducing air pollution through more transportation by water.
Nina Ahn, principal representative of Cuningham Group, said Korea’s four-river project can be an attractive investment target, if areas around the four rivers can be developed to become unique places to visit.
Four-river project to boost construction, IT industry
Government officials said the four-river restoration project is the largest state project in Korean history.
The government plans to spend a total of 22 trillion won ($19.7 billion) on dredging rivers, building barriers, fortifying levees, building dams and flood retention structures, constructing reservoirs for irrigation and improving water quality.
When the project is complete, the government proposes to store a sufficient amount of water to prepare for a possible water shortage as well as create measures for flood prevention.
As the four-river project is going to be conducted across the nation, its growth-boosting effect will spread out to regions impartially, government officials said.
An expert noted that the four-river project will boost the construction industry the most.
“The four-river project is expected to benefit not only the construction industry but other related industries including steel, cement, ready-mix concrete and heavy industries,” said Lee In-hyeok, researcher at the Hana Institute of Finance, in a recent report.
The four-river project is also closely related to the IT industry, which is one of Korea’s strengths.
The so-called “Ubiquitous-City” starts from managing water resources effectively. For example, the Hudson River is being monitored through ubiquitous sensor networks for the management, retention and supply of clean water. A 3-D computer simulation is being built at the basins of the Amazon River for effective water management.
The Korean government said it plans to invest 687.1 billion won in developing core technologies for water business by 2010.
The four-river project has especially gained momentum as the G20 Seoul Summit has approached.
Initially, G20 summit agendas have been centered on how to overcome the global financial crisis.
However, the major agendas recently have shifted to securing a sustainable global growth.
“Among the various agendas to be discussed at the G20 summit, the green growth industry will be one of the areas to receive keen attention,” said Lee Dong-hoon, a senior researcher at the Samsung Economic Research Institute.
“As Korean companies’ competitiveness in terms of eco-friendliness is not left behind other foreign companies, they will be able to lead the global market if they put the effort into green business in the wake of the G20 summit,” he said.
Pittsburgh, which hosted a G20 summit in September last year, has shed its old manufacturing image by promoting its green efforts during the summit. The city held an official G20 dinner at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, dubbed as the “green heart” of Pittsburgh, for the world’s 20 leaders and their spouses.
By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)
The four-river renovation is the centerpiece of President Lee Myung-bak’s green growth policy launched in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis to fight climate change and propel growth.
An efficient use of water has a significant potential for Korea. The nation is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with four main rivers: the Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan.
By using the distinctive geographical feature, Korea will enhance national competitiveness responding to the changes in global economic trends, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said.
The G20 summit in Seoul will be a timely opportunity for the nation to introduce the four-river project to the world’s 20 largest economies and show how Korea is at the forefront of seeking “green growth,” according to government officials.
Waterfront development, prerequisite for sustainable growth
Officials from Spain recently visited Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, to share Spain’s experience in restoring a major river to completely transform a formerly dying city to an internationally-popular tourism city.
“The city of Bilbao has become an international tourism city with an annual number of visitors exceeding $1 million, thanks to the restoration of Nervion River,” said Inaki Duque, head of communication and external relations at Bilbao Ria 2000, public company for the urban regeneration of Bilbao. He was participating in an international forum to discuss building a “green water-edge belt” around the Nakdong River.
“If Korea meticulously prepares for the four-river project, it will yield a successful result,” he said.
Bilbao, a port city situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, enjoyed a heyday in the mid 20th century with the boom of steel and shipbuilding industries. However, the city experienced a setback from the 1980s due to the slump in manufacturing and Basque nationalism. Hit by the worst flood in 700 years in 1983, 80,000 residents in Bilbao lost jobs and the unemployment rate shot up to 25 percent.
Bilbao’s dramatic transformation into an attractive cultural city in just 20 years all started with the restoration of the Nervion River, which was the major cause of the natural disaster.
The restoration work to undo the damage from the flood later expanded to restoring cultural assets, establishing districts for history conservation and reconstructing buildings within the districts.
In 1991, the city has spent 100 million to build Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a contemporary art museum, alongside the Nervion River. The museum has become a cultural icon since its inauguration in 1997.
Water resources, an index for national competitiveness
Not only Bilbao in Spain but other cities around the world have taken advantage of waterfront development as a way of preventing floods, pump-priming the local economy and ensuring sustainable growth.
Dallas, Texas, in the U.S., has become an ecological city through redeveloping the Trinity River. Pueblo in Colorado has also become a popular tourist site through redeveloping the Arkansas River. Glasgow in Scotland has been transformed into a digital media city by developing areas around the Clyde River and shaking off its image as a rusted industrial city.
Internationally leading cities’ development of waterfronts stems from its tremendous industrial impact in generating labor and capital, the essential factors of economic growth. With design, such projects can increase added values in tourism and boost service industries in urban areas.
Securing water resources is regarded as one of the most urgent tasks of the 21st century. Rather than pioneering a new water resource, cities find it faster and more effective to redevelop existing rivers to secure water resources. Numerous floods, resulting from global warming, have also prompted cities to accelerate waterfront development projects recently.
Experts said a waterfront development can also help a city become more eco-friendly by reducing air pollution through more transportation by water.
Nina Ahn, principal representative of Cuningham Group, said Korea’s four-river project can be an attractive investment target, if areas around the four rivers can be developed to become unique places to visit.
Four-river project to boost construction, IT industry
Government officials said the four-river restoration project is the largest state project in Korean history.
The government plans to spend a total of 22 trillion won ($19.7 billion) on dredging rivers, building barriers, fortifying levees, building dams and flood retention structures, constructing reservoirs for irrigation and improving water quality.
When the project is complete, the government proposes to store a sufficient amount of water to prepare for a possible water shortage as well as create measures for flood prevention.
As the four-river project is going to be conducted across the nation, its growth-boosting effect will spread out to regions impartially, government officials said.
An expert noted that the four-river project will boost the construction industry the most.
“The four-river project is expected to benefit not only the construction industry but other related industries including steel, cement, ready-mix concrete and heavy industries,” said Lee In-hyeok, researcher at the Hana Institute of Finance, in a recent report.
The four-river project is also closely related to the IT industry, which is one of Korea’s strengths.
The so-called “Ubiquitous-City” starts from managing water resources effectively. For example, the Hudson River is being monitored through ubiquitous sensor networks for the management, retention and supply of clean water. A 3-D computer simulation is being built at the basins of the Amazon River for effective water management.
The Korean government said it plans to invest 687.1 billion won in developing core technologies for water business by 2010.
The four-river project has especially gained momentum as the G20 Seoul Summit has approached.
Initially, G20 summit agendas have been centered on how to overcome the global financial crisis.
However, the major agendas recently have shifted to securing a sustainable global growth.
“Among the various agendas to be discussed at the G20 summit, the green growth industry will be one of the areas to receive keen attention,” said Lee Dong-hoon, a senior researcher at the Samsung Economic Research Institute.
“As Korean companies’ competitiveness in terms of eco-friendliness is not left behind other foreign companies, they will be able to lead the global market if they put the effort into green business in the wake of the G20 summit,” he said.
Pittsburgh, which hosted a G20 summit in September last year, has shed its old manufacturing image by promoting its green efforts during the summit. The city held an official G20 dinner at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, dubbed as the “green heart” of Pittsburgh, for the world’s 20 leaders and their spouses.
By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)
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