ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the forces and representations of the urban metamorphosis in Pyongyang. It traces how the transitions of the various political epochs from early history to the present have influenced the urban planning and development of the city. The North Koreans, with the support of some East European countries, had made every effort to create an ideal socialist city. Nonetheless, Pyongyang has inherited many features of urban planning and architecture from the feudal and colonial periods. Further, since the marketisation in the early 1990s, Pyongyang has witnessed the emergence of all the features of a post-socialist city. It is undergoing revolutionary change from a city of industrial workers into a city of service consumers. This chapter shows that the canvas of urban planning of contemporary Pyongyang was made by the Japanese colonial administration. Moreover, not only elements of traditional Korean architecture but also some patterns of urban planning, which were implemented during the feudal period, are still employed today. Therefore, the urban planning and architecture of the North Korean capital have strong connections with both feudal and colonial periods, in addition to the profound influences of dynamic marketisation.
