Urban forestry

In the desert in Arizona I once visited an enormous construction effort by Italian architect Paulo Soleri. It was his vision that we could reduce our impact on the earth by bulding entire cities as huge bulding complexes. Korea, however, is clearly several steps ahead of them. I'm fascinated by the seemingly endless forests of skyrise apartment-complexes that skirt the cities and seem to pop out of nowhere from the middle of the countryside. Together they form one of the most alien landscapes I've ever experienced - breathtaking, terrifying, and grand.

Adding to the 'hive effect' is the fact that, across the nation, they look almost identical. That's because their construction has been undertaken almost exclusively by a few companies, mist notably Doosan, one of South Korea's chaebol, or business conglomerates with sketchy government ties. After seeing several hundred of these forests though, it's hard to imagine constructing housing so quickly for so many people in any other way. I wonder about their effects on Koreans' sense of community and what their environmental impact might be.