Exploring the Walled City of Taegu: Is It too Late to Save a Unique Historical Area?

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 계명대학교 한국학연구원
· 수록지 정보 : 한국학논집 / 41호 / 155 ~ 178페이지
· 저자명 : 제임스 그레이슨

초록

No other country in eastern Asia has undergone such rapid and deep-seated socio-economic change as had the Republic of Korea during the final half of the twentieth century. Emerging from a devastating civil war, from the 1960s onward the nation experienced unprecedented continuing levels of economic growth which was matched by concomitant socio-cultural change. Symbolic of this socio-cultural change was the extensive use of the motor car as a principal means of transport for many people, the change from living in houses with defined walled gardens to living in tower-block apartments, and the change from a floor-sitting culture to a chair-sitting culture. The first two of these new cultural features are inter-connected with the large-scale construction projects which have been the driving force behind the development of and the sustaining of the ROK economy. The third feature is related to a changing sense of the use of space where extensive use of space is seen as ‘modern’.


It is a well recognised fact that since the 1960s, major buildings and groups of buildings in the ROK are well preserved. This reflects a nationalistic need to preserve major elements of the historic built culture. Thus, the Government has spent large sums of money on the refurbishment of Pulguk-sa temple in the 1960s, and the Kyŏngbok Palace since the beginning of the new century. Generally, ordinary buildings – ordinary homes or workshops, are not preserved, and certainly – with the exception of places such as Samch’ŏng-dong in Sŏul, whole neighbourhoods and villages are not preserved.


It should be a principle of ‘preservation/conservation’ that the preservation of the historic built environment is not separated from the conservation of the natural environment. In the last decade, through the implementation of large-scale construction projects an appalling attack has been made both on the human-scale and historic character of the Korean urban built environment, and simultaneously on the natural environment. One only need think here of the 10-lane streets slashing their way through central Taegu, and the continued desecration of P’algong-san by constructing more tunnels through it and road systems around it. Natural and cultural preservation must be linked together when planning for urban and regional development.


This paper will examine the idea that the whole area of the former walled city and its surrounding areas should be preserved, and not just a few scattered buildings. In this examination, we will look at slides of examples of the 230 buildings within the walled city which are worth preserving. I will argue that the inner core of the old city should be preserved in entirety as a ‘cultural village’. Simultaneously, there should be redevelopment within the old city which will create a lived environment and not a theme park which closes at night. The area of the walled city of Taegu is unique in Korea for its size (the third city in terms of area during the late Chosŏn period) and the number of ‘relics’ of the old city which still remain. Within and around the walled city, undoubtedly a thousand years of archaeological evidences of urban life remain. Therefore, it is proposed that the entire area of the walled city be redeveloped both as an area of cultural industries and a renewed residential neighbourhood with modern and restored walled houses with gardens. It should be a principle of inner city preservation and redevelopment that cultural preservation and small scale businesses should be encouraged simultaneously.

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