The City of Dangsan Namu: A Photo Essay
The City of Dangsan Namu is not a place, but a mindset and a state of being. In this way, it can exist anywhere that people and trees have a respectful relationship.
In this photo essay, we move visually through the urban landscapes of the four seasons in Korea and Japan. In each image, we enter a world where — at least in the moment where that image was captured — people and trees are in a relation that holds the city and nature together in relative harmony.
Though some of these images may seem lush and remote, they are all images of city parks. The text expands on these images, taking us deeper into possible futures that, although they may not be apparent in our cities right now, have always existed within us. These are all possible moments, perhaps only waiting for us to bring them into being.
SPRING
When spring comes to this city, the Plum blossoms are the first to excite the people, who go out in search of its intoxicating, luscious scent. From here, the relay begins. Next to dazzle us are the Apricot, the Magnolia, Sansuyu, Cherry, Azalea, and dozens of other trees and shrubs, each in turn. The act of spring is that of a wonderland gradually developing around us. Within this scene, humans collect herbs and blossoms, we make flower teas, sweets, and cocktails, all with the gifts that spring gives us.
There are weekends here, as there are most anywhere else, but they come with a twist. While our weekends are normally judged by a calendar, the weekend here is dictated by what the best days for a picnic happen to be. For what a tragedy it would be, if on the best days for a picnic, people were stuck inside buildings at their workdesks! The result of this policy, is that when the weather is fine, the entire city transitions into picnic mode. Political leaders, CEOs, school teachers, and shop owners alike, all carefully prepare food and drink, while children run out to find their favorite spot in the forests, fields, or riverbanks to enjoy the spring breeze and sunshine.
Admittedly, these picnics have been known to last several days on the occasion that the weather holds up. And why not? The new season has finally arrived after a long winter, and the entire city chooses to participate in the event with all of their being. This moment is a yearly rite of passage, full of vitality, a time where we all come back to life with vigor, ready for a year of growth. Celebrate it, we must.
SUMMER
Though it is hot outside, a cool natural breeze is coerced into action through transpiration and natural convection, making the air in the urban forest corridors feel more refreshing than that of an air-conditioned room.
After the city reduced the width and number of asphalt roadways, trails and parks sprouted up in their place. These have all been planted with trees, meadows, and gardens. Not only is the city far cooler than before, but flooding has been reduced, groundwater replenished, and countless species long absent from the city have returned.
What people may remark on most however, are the pedestrian and bicycle lanes that weave their way through these green spaces. Thanks to these green corridors, humans and friends of countless other species can travel anywhere in the city more conveniently, more efficiently, and in a more enjoyable, exciting, and healthy way than we did in the old days, when the city relied only on cars for transportation. This, the people feel, is the spirit of true freedom.
FALL
This is a time each year, when the entire city is alive with what seems like an endless string of festivals. Some years ago, gardens of all kinds and sizes were planted everywhere, in alleys, in parks, schools, and government offices. These gardens now produce an overflowing harvest of all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and even grains.
Yet the city does not look like a garden as we might know it. Thanks to the vast number of biodiverse, natural plantings, the city is a literal food forest.
Everyone shares in the generous bundle of edible gifts all year, but especially in Autumn, when the spirit of the Chuseok holiday — in which we express sincere gratitude to nature — is revived. Humans in this city celebrate wildly in this season, with music, dancing, singing, and playing. Yet in this celebration is also embeded a deep gratitude, for the fruits of this life that people and nature have accumulated together over the year. Giving thanks for this, seems a most appropriate order of business.
WINTER
The last of the leaves have fallen. Frost and snow pile up, covering the ground softly. The bare trees look as if their life has ended, although we know they are only slumbering. In this city, trees personally show us the necessity of taking time to slow down as we move through the seasons, and through our lives.
We are reminded in these urban forests, that the laws of nature apply to all without exception. Like the trees, people take time in this season to slow down. In small, south-facing rooms with large windows, people sit with blankets, their legs and feet underneath warm kotatsu tables, where cats are also known to nap. Here the people sip cups of hot beverages while a hushed silence comes over the lanscape and everyone watches the spectacle of the snow falling. In these moments, we humbly contemplate a more harmonious and beautiful life.
Yet the hush does not last, for people here are also filled with anticipation. Winter is a time when we focus, think, and prepare plans for action. In this time, the cool air is saturated with a glow, seeds of all the exciting things that people want to accomplish in the coming year.
A COMMITMENT
These scenes are real, if only for a moment, in a place, through the eyes of an individual. How can we encourage moments like these to happen more often where we live?
The more I picture the landscape of a city where people and nature are not in conflict, but in balance and harmony, the more my desire to live in a place where a more natural and beautiful life unfolds.
Therefore, I am committed to discovering and continuing my efforts to create such a future, piece by piece, starting from here and now. I will learn to follow the changes of the seasons, plant a garden wherever possible, plant trees and take care of them, and above all, actively imagine the life I want to live, and find like-minded friends of all species, to put that life into practice, together.
A city where trees are respected, is a city that embraces not only trees and forests, but birds, bees, flowers, weeds, all wild animals, and an abundance of beauty we can not imagine. In a city where we look after our trees, this beauty naturally becomes part of the lives of all people who live here.
Can we commit to move towards this beauty?
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This is an edited version of a photo essay by Patrick Lydon and Suhee Kang, originally commissioned by Kyobo and the Daesan Agricutural Foundation in Korea.
You can also read the original article here (in Korean).
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Thank you for reading, friends. We are in the middle of The Nature of Cities Festival, and in that festival is such a joyous spirit of learning and growing from people of all walks of life from all around the world. Such events give me hope that we can do this together.
If you enjoyed this writing, you might like reading the Bomunsan Forest Protocols, a collection of 5 thoughts on how humans and nature can thrive together.
As always, please keep sharing this work with others who you think might enjoy it. That is what keeps us going. See you next time.