Mississppi Tributaries / Han Tributaries (Part II)

Since talking about the tributaries of the Han River in Seoul some time ago, I've been meaning to go back over them in detail.  I think I can do that visually now.  Let's start with my subway station, Noryangjin, which lacks any sort of nearby tributary, but has a nice park nearby.

That green box is a big fish market.  To the left of it is the subway station, and to the left of that is the wonderful little boulevard where I catch buses.  Getting from that station to Yeoiudo, that 'island' on the other side, requires lots of walking.  The highway blocks access for several miles sadly.  Yeouido is a business and biking oasis.  It's quite different from the rest of the city.  It used to be an airport and was recreated as something of a finance and government island.  Here it is from the other side.

The island is home to the national assembly building and has a lovely park around it.  Yeouido's greenway are quite nice.  The problem is that only people in Yeoiudo have access, not the millions living on the other side of the highways.  The island doesn't really have any tributaries of the Han, but it is important because it is the place where the Han River Park is most developed.  The Han River Park is important because it's the main way a bicycle rider gets around in Seoul.  It's the spine of the greenway system.

Near Yeoiudo is the botanic island of Seonudo.

Off to the left, you can see a tributary carrying water and citizens to the river.  Way off to the right, you can see World Cup Stadium park in the far distance.

It's hard to see because of the giant elevated highways, but two streams are converging there and heading off to the Han.  The one on the right will take a person far north of Seoul towards the DMZ bike trail that's slowly being made.

Another event-made park is Olympic Park, which you can see here from above and from the Han.

It too has a stream that heads to the Han.  The high-rise apartments there are pretty well connected by a number of access bridges and paths. 

If you're going to live in a tall building by a stream though, the best choice is Tower Palace in Dogok, which is next to Yangjaecheon,

Yangjaecheon joins the Tancheon and flows into the Han.

North of there, on the other side of the river is Seoul Forest, which is relatively new,

It too is criss-crossed by highways.


These pictures are meant to compliment what was said and shown in Part I under this title.  The main points to take away from this are that rivers can be wonderful places for recreation, highways can be huge barriers, and St. Louis could make a lot better use of its waterways. 

Check out the border between St. Louis City and South County,

A bike path is emerging that's heading towards the Mississppi.  Will it connect in time to Jefferson Barracks and the arch grounds?  Can it be connected to the confluence?  Time will tell.