Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is developing into a sustainable city with efforts from the government, NGOs and citizens. 35 students of Environmental Management and Technology Program (EVMT) and MSc in Environmental Science and Management (EVSM) under Division of Environment, led by Prof. Alexis LAU and Dr. N. T. LAU, visited Seoul from 11 to 16 January 2016 to understand the latest sustainability development of Seoul.    

Students visited a metropolitan landfill site and a waste incinerator to understand how Koreans manage huge volumes of waste produced by the city every day. They explored the control of traffic pollution by visiting the Transportation Pollution Research Centre in the Institute of Environmental Research and a NGO specializing in traffic related environmental problems. They also spent time at the National Institute of Biological Resources to learn about preserving, managing and researching of biological resources.

Students were impressed in the visit to Cheongyecheon, an excellent example of sustainable urban planning project in Seoul. It is a historic stream located at downtown Seoul which caused serious flooding in the past and different regimes have been tried overhauling it since the 15th century. Seoul Government once built a massive transportation system with highways and flyovers over the stream to cover up the polluted water and meet the transportation need.

In 2003, Seoul Government started a restoration project to remove the massive structures, clean the water and rebuild a natural habitat for plants and fishes as well as the people live around the area. Switching a transportation system back to a natural habitat is hardly imagined in metropolitan like Seoul but they did it. By restoring a polluted stream with historic importance, it not only gains back the clean environment and enhances living quality but also recall people’s pride of the nation's long history. This project has inspired the students to handle pollution problem from a new perspective and think up how it can be applied to Hong Kong.

The achievements on sustainability made by Seoul could be the direction of Hong Kong’s environmental movement. What we need is the support of Hong Kong Government, the private sector and also the general public including you and me. We hope our students can act as the catalyst and drive Hong Kong towards the right track of sustainable development.