Abstract

Seoul is an ancient city with a long history but there is hesitancy over referring to as a historic city due to the lack of traceable historic urban landscape elements which resulted from numerous invasions and general destruction. From a diachronic perspective, the nature which was survived the influence of development, could be the key element that links the past with the city's radically changed image in modern times. Although “old big trees” may be not a dominant influence with regards to the historical authenticity of the city, they are objects which contribute towards the historical authenticity by providing a sense of place in terms of connected narratives, as well as their natural image. However, the protection policy for an “old big tree” would place too much emphasis on the aspect of the ecological value rather than its cultural value. Generally, trees have been protected by installing a fence and a signboard around them as well as receiving additional care. However, it is difficult to find that surrounding space around the “law-protected tree” is connected with its original historical and cultural values. Even though the space around trees are no longer utilized in the same 216 정욱주.윤상준 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏 way as was so in the past, they still have high-potential in terms of cultural utilization. Therefore, the subject of this study is the “old big tree” as a natural object which contributed to the historical authenticity of Seoul. The current status of these “old big trees”, aged between 100 and 800 years old, currently indicate that there are 215 trees designated as “law-protected tree” by the Seoul metropolitan government. This study aims to investigate the status of protection and utilization of the existing “law-protected trees” in the city of Seoul and find a way to increase both ecological preservation and cultural utilization for the high-potential “law-protected trees” within the city itself. In order to achieve this, previously researched papers shall be reviewed and surveyed pertaining to present usage patterns of the 215 “law-protected trees”. In addition, five cases have been reviewed which focus on a few of utilizing the “protected trees” and their surrounding spaces. The results of the research indicate that 21 “old big trees” have high-potential in terms of cultural utilization as well as ecological value. However, it was revealed that there are limitations to pursue the value of preservation and utilization simultaneously throughout current regimental management. In order to cope with the current situation, it is pointed out that management facilities should be designed and installed by creative and flexible methods of organizing with consideration to the surrounding space and context. Even though in the case where there may not be a connecting history or legendary stories, the “old big trees” can serve as the fundamental features of small scale parks -dependent on their location, condition and environmentwhich will be of value to the local communities. This study could serve as a practical reference for the management and utilization of “old big trees” nationwide with numbers reaching 12,300 besides the city of Seoul.

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