The Relocation and Spatial Ironies of the Daegu Line

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the construction, relocation and abolition of the old Daegu Line, and to reveal material and spatial ironies which have appeared in the process. For this, the second section explains a rail-system in terms of nexus system and panoramic landscape which John Urry suggests as the characteristics of the rail-system which is a kind of mobility system. The third section reviews the historical process of construction and relocation of the Daegu Line, and suggests its spatial implications. The fourth section explains a spatial fix from the old Daegu Line to Daegu Line Park in terms of changes from rail (nexus) to pedestrian (series) system, and from panoramic to balcony view. Significantly, the article argues that while being dependent on the elements of the rail-system space of the old Daegu Line, the new pedestrian system space of Daegu Line Park is constructed. That is, the mechanical elements of the rail-system which had connected places were transformed into material and symbolic elements constructing the identity of place in the pedestrian spaces.