[Jo Yongjun's Travel Journey] Urban Regeneration, Travel Destinations Reborn

Korea Tourism Organization December Picks: 6 Upcycling Travel Destinations

The highlight of the cave tour is the lake formed by groundwater accumulated deep inside the cave. Visitors can also enjoy a ride on a transparent kayak for 2 to 3 people on the lake. Photo by Jo Yongjun, travel specialist.

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Yong-jun, Travel Specialist]Beyond simple regeneration, 'reborn travel destinations' that assign new roles to old spaces are gaining attention. These are places that have been transformed into eco-friendly travel destinations by adding better value to damaged nature and environment or by reviving areas that had negative impacts. Some have recently opened, while others have been around for a long time, proving anew the harmony between nature and the city. Coincidentally, the Korea Tourism Organization's theme for recommended places to visit in December is 'Reborn Travel Destinations (Upcycling Travel Destinations).' The intention is to look at urban regeneration travel destinations from an ESG perspective. The work of revitalizing and utilizing old facilities or buildings that have outlived their original purpose is meaningful in itself and has attracted the attention of the MZ generation, leading the trend of Newtro travel. Seoul Mapo-gu's Culture Tank transformed from an old oil storage facility into an eco-cultural park where culture can be experienced; Samtan Art Mine in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do, is a cultural and artistic complex where the scent of art blooms from a closed coal mine; and Hwalok Cave in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do, which mined talc, has been developed into a mysterious cave travel destination and healing spot. These travel destinations do not merely use the traces and history of old spaces as decoration. They reflect on the past harm done to the ecological environment and talk about a future where we must live in harmony with nature. Reborn travel destinations are a journey to find lost time and a process of seeking the reason for regeneration as coexistence between nature and humans. Looking back on 2021, these places are also meaningful year-end travel spots to recall precious things forgotten.

◇Seoul Seonyudo Park = A former water purification plant transformed into an eco-friendly ecological park, opened in 2002. Seonyudo Park is highly valued for regenerating a historic industrial heritage. The filtration basin, which filtered impurities by holding sand and gravel in water tanks, was reborn as the management office, and the chemical sedimentation basin that settled and removed impurities in the water became the 'Water Purification Garden.' The 'Garden of Green Pillars,' which retains only the pillars of the purification basin, and the 'Garden of Time,' where the structures of the old sedimentation basin remain, are popular photo zones. There are also an 'Environmental Classroom' and 'Environmental Playground' that reuse the concentration and regulation basins of the purification plant, and a caf? called 'Naru' remodeled from the water intake pump station.

Mapo-T1 T6 (Community Center) made of iron plate = Provided by Korea Tourism Organization

◇Seoul Mapo Culture Tank = The Mapo Oil Storage Tank, built in the late 1970s (photo), was abandoned after closure but was reborn as the 'Culture Tank' in 2017. The tank facilities (T1 to T5) that stored oil have become art spaces for exhibitions and performances, and Mapo Oil Storage Tank, including T3 which retains the original tank shape, was designated as a Seoul Future Heritage. T6, made from steel plates dismantled from T1 and T2, became a community center equipped with a caf?, lecture rooms, meeting rooms, and an ecological library called 'Eco Lounge.' The Culture Tank is an ecological cultural park in the city where past and present coexist, and history and culture blend.

Jeongseon Samtan Art Mine Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

Jeongseon Samtan Art Mine Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

◇Samtan Art Mine, Jeongseon, Gangwon-do = The Samtan Art Mine, a closed coal mine of Samcheok Coal Mine Jeongam Mining Office that started coal mining in 1964 and closed in 2001, was reborn as a complex cultural and artistic complex. 'Samtan' is an abbreviation of Samcheok Coal Mine. The former mining facilities were preserved while adding a unique design concept infused with the scent of art, winning the 'Korea Public Design Award' that year, and in 2015, it was selected as one of the 'Top 100 Korean Tourist Attractions' by the Korea Tourism Organization. It exhibits artworks themed on coal mines and miners, as well as a variety of astonishing collections.

◇Hwalok Cave, Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do = Developed during the Japanese colonial period, this mine where white jade, talc, and white limestone were mined and later closed was refined into a tourist facility and opened as a theme park in 2019. Various light sculptures are installed along the 2.5 km tunnel, and there are performance halls and health therapy zones. Most industrial facilities used for talc mining, such as hoists, remain intact. The highlight of the cave tour is a lake formed by groundwater pooling deep inside the cave. It is unusual to have a fairly large lake inside a cave, and visitors can enjoy a ride on transparent kayaks for 2 to 3 people on the lake.

Jeju Light Bunker - Provided by Korea Tourism Organization

◇Bunker de Lumi?re, Seogwipo, Jeju =Bunker de Lumi?re (photo) is an immersive media art exhibition hall. It utilizes a national infrastructure facility built in 1990 as an undersea optical cable management center. In 2015, the Jeju Coffee Museum Baum opened in the old office and dormitory buildings, and in 2018, Bunker de Lumi?re opened in the center. For its opening exhibitions, it held 'Gustav Klimt?Feast of Colors' in 2018 and 'Vincent van Gogh?Starry Night' in 2019. Currently, it exhibits works by Renoir, Monet, Chagall, Klee, and others as media art. Ninety beam projectors project images onto walls and floors, creating the images of masterpieces, offering a new interpretation of classics.

◇Ulsan Generation Empathy Creative Playground = This place, formerly a food waste treatment plant despised by residents, was reborn as a complex cultural space through an urban regeneration project. It aims to be a creative eco-friendly playground for children and a family-centered community and cultural arts experience space. Permanent net playgrounds and wooden playgrounds for infants and children operate, and there are many fun programs such as the 'Youth Architecture School,' where students design and build houses, and 'Earth Survival,' where survival skills are learned.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.