| Title |
Urban Planning Engineer Jeon Jae-ryeon and His Approach to the Street Planning of 1950s Pyongyang: A Comparison with Architects’ Perspectives |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2025.41.10.235 |
| Keywords |
North Korea; Pyongyang; Reconstruction; Street; Urban Planning; Engineer |
| Abstract |
This paper examines Pyongyang’s postwar urban planning through the 1950s writings of North Korean urban planning engineer Jeon
Jae-ryeon. After completing his dissertation at the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering in 1955, Jeon returned to Pyongyang and published
a series of articles on urban planning in the late 1950s. These writings, which have received little scholarly attention, provide valuable
technical insights into the reconstruction of Pyongyang’s road infrastructure and broaden scholarly understanding of the city’s postwar urban
planning process. In contrast to architects, Jeon approached reconstruction from an engineering perspective, emphasizing the technical
challenges encountered in practice. Urban planning engineers, including Jeon Jae-ryeon, viewed the city through normative criteria such as
classification, materials, safety, efficiency, and detailed measurements. They sought to resolve its problems and enhance its performance
through these standards. A comparison of engineers’ technical perspectives with architects’ aesthetic approaches reveals significant divergences
and highlights the often-overlooked role of engineers as significant contributors to the postwar reconstruction of Pyongyang. |