How can we create better, more sustainable cities?
Let's draw the 'big picture' of a happy city!

Clogged roads, skyrocketing housing prices, high costs, overflowing trash, pungent air, polarized housing conditions, shrinking green space…
The reality of a city where so many people live together is bleak.
Can't we transform this bleak, stifling, and ruthless gray city into something humane, vibrant, and kind? How can we ensure that everyone in the city can live safely and happily?

"Thinking of the City of Tomorrow" recommends a special city walk to those who will live in the "city of tomorrow."
The author dynamically interprets the changes surrounding the urban environment by directly visiting and observing structures and places that make up urban space, such as crosswalks, overpasses, apartment complexes, landfills, transmission towers, sound barriers, concrete land, urban rivers, greenbelts, reclaimed land, and abandoned factories.
I propose that we look at the other side of urban development, which sometimes takes a step forward and sometimes takes a step backward, and draw together the 'big picture' of a happy city.
The book's message is clear.
A city that is good to live in is in the hands of its citizens.
In an age where creative solutions to urban problems are desperately needed, this book is recommended for all citizens.

Even if something as extreme as blocking access doesn't occur, the construction of a single apartment complex can have the effect of creating a large, walled-off space in the surrounding urban area.
…while the interior spaces used by the apartment complex residents feature beautiful gardens, the landscape of the village where the apartment complex is located is bleak and monotonous due to the sturdy walls and long exterior walls of the buildings.
No matter what happens around you, as long as the dedicated space inside is comfortable, that's all that matters.
Imagine walking along the wall of this apartment building.
Do you want to walk? Streets once lined with shops and filled with social interaction are now reduced to mere "roads" with the rise of apartment complexes.
--- pp.48~49, 「#02 Apartment Republic: What We Gained and What We Lost」

There are some facts that have been confirmed through this process.
The thing is, no one wants to deal with someone else's garbage in their own area.
Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon City agreed to find ways to dispose of waste within their administrative districts during the period of use of the three landfills.
This does not simply mean designating the waste disposal area as ‘within the administrative district.’
The 'source-based treatment principle', which states that waste should be treated where it is generated, has emerged as a basic principle of waste treatment.
Now it's difficult to throw away the trash I create in someone else's neighborhood.
Waste disposal facilities will inevitably be pushed deeper into the cities we live in.
--- pp.63~64, "#03 Trash, will it be over if it disappears from my sight?"

The Convenience Solidarity, which has been working for the right to mobility for the disabled, changed its name to the 'Citizens' Solidarity for Barrier-Free Living Environment' (Barrier-Free Solidarity) in 2009.
There was a shift in thinking that rather than building a city based on the non-disabled and then later creating facilities for the disabled, it was much more important to create a city without barriers from the beginning.
The idea is to design cities from the beginning so that everyone can participate, without restrictions based on nationality, age, disability, or gender.
Then there would be no need to install separate convenience facilities.
This technique of creating a city centered on universality is called 'Universal Design'.
It is also called 'barrier free', meaning 'no barriers', meaning 'no obstacles', meaning 'no barriers', meaning 'no obstacles'.
--- pp.136~137, 「#07 Towards a City Where Disability Is Not a Disability」

Humans threaten the flora and fauna of the Earth in many ways, one of which is fragmenting the habitats where animals live.
First, let's consider roads. Roads, connecting people to people and cities to cities, have divided the natural world where animals naturally thrive.
Then, many wild animals crossing the road were hit by cars and lost their lives.
The word "roadkill" was coined.
What about dams and weirs installed at river mouths to prevent floods and utilize water?
The path of fish that migrate between the sea and river to spawn has been blocked.
And now, with the emergence of transparent soundproof walls and glass buildings, even the paths of birds are blocked.

--- p.165, 「#09 Sky Road, Water Road, Land Road, All Kill」

The increasing value of trees in cities is demonstrated by the outstanding trees that have emerged as landscape trees.
In an apartment complex in Seoul that began occupancy in 2009, a thousand-year-old tree was brought in.
…The construction company that planted the tree expected that the 1,000-year-old zelkova tree would positively impact the apartment complex’s image and sales, and as expected, the tree immediately attracted people’s attention.
However, although the 1,000-year-old zelkova tree survived the relocation to Goryeong, Gyeongbuk, which has a similar climate, it could not survive the relocation to the cold north.
After eight years in Seoul, news spread that the zelkova tree was dying.
… Will planting a thousand-year-old tree in a complex really increase the value of a house? It's deeply disheartening to see a tree that once enjoyed the love of its villagers in its hometown, relocated to the heart of the city and forced to the brink of death.
--- pp.184~186, 「#10 Stories of Plants and Animals that Became City Dwellers」

In 2019, Daejangdeulnyeok was included in the 3rd new town development plan and was renamed 'Daejang District'.
Amidst the policy need to increase housing supply, the vast expanse of Daejang Fields was selected as an ideal site for development.
This shows that the government's perception of Daejangdeulnyeok was limited to "a development zone that must be developed someday," rather than "a development-restricted area that must be well preserved."
Usually, when lifting development restriction zones, the target areas are development restriction zones of grades 4 and 5, which have already been significantly damaged and have low conservation value (development restriction zones are divided into grades 1 to 5, with grade 1 having the highest environmental value and grade 5 having the lowest).
Daejang District is a development-restricted area with 99.9% of its area being 84.5% of which is land with high conservation value of Grade 2 or higher.
If we include grade 3, the figure rises to 92.2%.
It is said that an 'eco-friendly new city' will be built in Daejang District, which is scheduled to be completed in 2029.
The number of people enjoying eco-friendliness will increase.
So where should the cranes go?
--- pp. 263-264, "#14 Greenbelt: Why Does It Keep Shrinking?"

In Gajwa-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, there is a complex cultural space called 'Cosmo 40'.
This place, which combines a cafe, performance hall, and exhibition hall, boasts a unique history as it was created by renovating an old chemical factory.
The building's location originally housed a titanium dioxide refining plant called Cosmo Chemical.
… The factory, which had been in operation for over 40 years since 1968, will cease operations at the end of 2016 as it moves to Ulsan.
And then we go into the demolition process.
The shutdown and demolition of the polluting factory was welcome news to local residents.
However, a local company, recognizing the historical value of the site, purchased one wing of the factory, opening a new chapter in the history of the area known as 'Cosmo 40'.
Among the 45 buildings, the 40th building, the only one that was not demolished, was the target for remodeling.
That's why this place is called Cosmo 40.
A wonderful space was created by preserving the existing old factory building as much as possible while adding new facilities and connecting them.

--- pp.290~291, 「#16 Breathing Life into Abandoned Urban Architecture」