I do love cities, especially, big unruly cities which never sleep, like Seoul, but I also believe human life cannot be complete without ready access to nature, a.k.a. naturally growing plants, naturally occurring landscape, and naturally flowing water. It may seem counter-intuitive: if nature is so important to you why not go live in the countryside instead of a city? But it is not: cities provide us with opportunities, connections, a variety of services and goods not readily found in the countryside. However, what is most basic to human life is: fresh air, pure water, fresh food, the sight of streams and trees. Without these, quality of life reduces considerably and the body and mind wither, as testified by the numerous physical and psychological pathologies of modern urban life.
Can the two be reconciled? In some measure at least, and cities vary in their success in reaching the right mix, usually leaning more towards urban dystopia unfortunately. If Seoul may itself be seen as a den of noise, flashing neon light, traffic congestion, frantic pace, all perhaps the inevitable flip-side of the aforementioned qualities, it is also one of the world's most fantastic cityscapes, thanks to its natural setting. Where else can you find a huge modern city strewn with rocky and jagged mountains covered in pine tree forests ? You can have the view of a scenic mountain view from behind skyscrapers and then also get the reverse view of the milling city seen from a mountain top, all within an hour. You can revel in the amenities of modern urban life and also access nature within minutes from a subway or a bus stop. And we're not talking about a tame urban park but real mountains with real forests.
I especially love the idea of walking in a dense urban neighborhood one minute and being on a forested mountainside the next - not a stretch of the mind in Seoul. Also it conjures a poetic scene of waves of urban growth lapping at the slopes of expanses of virgin nature (that's of course if you discount the hordes of middle-aged ajoshis and adjumas and the snack and soju carts which cater to them, but let's not go there). The so-called taldongnae (moon villages), former shanty towns which settled down where space was available and free, often higher up the slopes than the existing city, are good though vanishing places to have that experience. This NYT article has more about this including a few examples. The last time I went to Inwangsan (2007), I walked through a quaint perched-up taldongae before reaching the trees, but the appateu growth was looming just a little lower down.
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