Editing Pyongyang (section)

==Cityscape==
{{Wide image|Pyongyangpanoramic.jpg|2000px|Panorama of Pyongyang, as seen from the ''Juche'' Tower in April 2012|alt=A panoramic view of Pyongyang from atop the ''Juche'' tower}}
After being destroyed during the Korean War, Pyongyang was entirely rebuilt according to Kim Il Sung's vision, which was to create a capital that would boost morale in the post-war years.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=91,93–94}} The result was a city with wide, tree-lined [[boulevard]]s and public buildings with terraced landscaping, [[mosaic]]s and decorated ceilings.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=91}} Its Soviet-style architecture makes it reminiscent of a [[Siberia]]n city during winter snowfall, although edifices of traditional Korean design somewhat soften this perception. In summer, it is notable for its rivers, willow trees, flowers and parkland.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=91}}

Since the end of the [[Korean War]] the city was planned strictly according to [[Socialism|Socialist]] principles.<ref name="Dongwoo">{{cite web|url=https://www.archpaper.com/2017/08/pyongyang-urban-planning-development/|title=A brief urban history of Pyongyang, North Korea—and how it might develop under capitalism|author=Dongwoo Yim|publisher=The Architect's Newspaper|date=2017-08-24|accessdate=2024-02-29}}</ref> According to the 1953 masterplan designed Kim Jung-hee the city was planned to reach one-million residents stretching from the [[Taedong River]] to the [[Pothong River]]. The city center was planned as the main administrative district with  main landscape structures constructed in between districts and are used as buffer zones so that they cannot expand freely.<ref name="Dongwoo" /> The city center was planned with wide avenues and streets and monumental structures and forms the central administrative district where many government and public buildings are located including the [[Government Complex No. 1, Pyongyang|Government Complex No 1]], which houses the headquarters of the ruling party. Together with various monuments and memorials, it forms an important axis of symbolic places which promotes the [[Ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea]] and [[North Korean cult of personality]] around [[Kim family (North Korea)|Kim family]] with the epicentre and [[Kilometre zero]] of the central district located at [[Kim Il Sung Square]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lonely highways: On the road in Kim Jong Un's North Korea |last=Talmadge |first=Eric |website=[[Associated Press]] |agency=AP |date=20 November 2017 |access-date=5 December 2021 |url= https://apnews.com/article/republic-of-kim-a-road-less-traveled-1589490035 }}</ref>

The 1953 masterplan set the basic layout from which the city's development was derived in the next decades with a unit district system which mixes residential and industrial zoning. Those districts are spread around the central administrative district and together with it they form the key axis of directionality for the city expansion. While in the 50s the major emphasis was placed on the reconstruction of Pyongyang from its ruins as carefully a socialist city in strict line with the masterplan, the 60s and 70s saw new wave of development which included expansion of the central boulevards, construction of high-density apartment buildings along the central boulevards, grandiose civic and cultural buildings and monumental statues and squares. This tendency included also the inclusion of traditional [[Korean architecture]] for some buildings. While the development generally followed the 1953 master plan, it diverted from it in some aspects, such as the construction of high-rises along the central avenues, a step conflicted with the 1953 plan which called for more even distribution of the residential construction throughout the city in several multi-cores.<ref name="Dongwoo" /> The 90s saw a relative slowdown in the development of the urban structure due to the deep economic crisis and [[North Korean famine|famine]] which swept through North Korea and led to the [[Songun|diversion of resources to the army]]. The 2010s and 2020s saw renewed efforts in urbanization and increasing density with the reconstruction of streets and avenues located further from the center and transformation of former rural parts of the city into high density residential districts.

[[File:Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum and Ryugyong Hotel (11342673725).jpg|thumb|right|[[Ryugyong Hotel]] and part of the [[Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War]]]]
[[File:Pyongyang-Highrise-Buildings-2014.jpg|thumb|Apartment buildings with green areas]]

The streets are laid out in a north–south, east–west grid, giving the city an orderly appearance.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=91}} North Korean designers applied the Swedish experience of self-sufficient urban neighbourhoods throughout the entire country, and Pyongyang is no exception. Its inhabitants are mostly divided into administrative units of 5,000 to 6,000 people (''dong''). These units all have similar sets of amenities including a food store, a barber shop, a [[tailor]], a public bathhouse, a [[post office]], a clinic, a library and others. Many residents occupy high-rise apartment buildings.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=97}} One of Kim Il Sung's priorities while designing Pyongyang was to limit the population. Authorities maintain a restrictive regime of movement into the city, making it atypical of [[East Asia]] as it is silent, uncrowded and spacious.{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|pp=91–92}}

Structures in Pyongyang are divided into three major architectural categories: monuments, buildings with traditional Korean motifs and high-rises.<ref name="LCCS93">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kp0053) |title=Architecture and City Planning |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=24 April 2015 |archive-date=9 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109103302/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kp0053) |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of North Korea's most recognisable landmarks are monuments, like the [[Juche Tower|''Juche'' Tower]], the [[Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang)|Arch of Triumph]] and the [[Mansu Hill Grand Monument]]. The first of them is a {{convert|170|m|ft|adj=on|sp=us}} [[granite]] spire symbolizing the ''[[Juche]]'' ideology. It was completed in 1982 and contains 25,550 granite blocks, one for each day of Kim Il Sung's life up to that point.<ref name="LCCS93"/> The most prominent building on Pyongyang's skyline is [[Ryugyong Hotel]],<ref name="LCCS93"/> the [[List of buildings with 100 floors or more|seventh highest building]] in the world terms of floor count, the tallest unoccupied building in the world,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Guinness World Records 2014 |last=Glenday |first=Craig |isbn=978-1-908843-15-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/144 144] |year=2013 |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/144 |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited}}</ref> and one of the [[List of tallest hotels in the world|tallest hotels in the world]]. It has yet to open.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8306697.stm |title=Will 'Hotel of Doom' ever be finished? |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=15 October 2009 |access-date=24 April 2015 |archive-date=7 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807204224/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8306697.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=bloom>{{cite news |last=Yoon |first=Sangwon |title=Kempinski to Operate World's Tallest Hotel in North Korea |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/north-korea-gets-world-s-tallest-hotel-as-kempinski-opens-tower.html |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=1 November 2012 |access-date=24 April 2015 |archive-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114010721/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/north-korea-gets-world-s-tallest-hotel-as-kempinski-opens-tower.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pyongyang has a rapidly evolving skyline, dominated by high-rise apartment buildings. A construction boom began with the Changjon Street Apartment Complex, which was completed in 2012.<ref name="CityLab">{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Nolan |title=The Improbable High-Rises of Pyongyang, North Korea |url=https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/10/whats-behind-north-koreas-building-boom/573142/ |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |access-date=19 October 2018 |language=en |date=16 October 2018 |archive-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019121919/https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/10/whats-behind-north-koreas-building-boom/573142/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Construction of the complex began after late leader [[Kim Jong Il]] described Changjon Street as "pitiful".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Seok Young |title="Pitiful" Changjeon Street the Top Priority |work=[[Daily NK]] |date=25 August 2011 |url=http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=8100 |access-date=30 August 2011 |archive-date=27 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827075552/http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=8100 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other housing complexes are being upgraded as well, but most are still poorly insulated, and lacking elevators and central heating.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/pyongyang-glitters-most-nkorea-still-dark-050645191.html |title=Pyongyang glitters but most of NKorea still dark |publisher=Yahoo News |date=29 April 2013 |access-date=24 April 2015 |archive-date=2 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702102506/http://news.yahoo.com/pyongyang-glitters-most-nkorea-still-dark-050645191.html |url-status=live }}</ref> An urban renewal program continued under Kim Jong Un's leadership, with the old apartments of the 1970s and '80s replaced by taller high rise buildings and leisure parks like the [[Kaeson Youth Park|Kaesong Youth Park]], as well as renovations of older buildings.<ref name="Makinen">{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-north-korea-architecture-20160520-snap-story.html |title=North Korea is building something other than nukes: architecture with some zing |last=Makinen |first=Julie |date=20 May 2016 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=12 July 2016 |archive-date=7 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207201443/https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-north-korea-architecture-20160520-snap-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, the city was described as unrecognizable compared to five years before.<ref name="Salmon"/>

===Landmarks===
{{Main|List of tourist attractions in Pyongyang}}
[[File:Views from Yanggakdo International Hotel 10.JPG|thumb|The [[Rungrado 1st of May Stadium]] by the [[Taedong River]] is the [[List of stadiums by capacity|second-largest mass-sports/athletic stadium]] in the world by capacity.]]
Notable landmarks in the city include:
* The [[Ryugyong Hotel]]
* The [[Kumsusan Palace of the Sun]]
* The [[Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang)|Arch of Triumph]] (heavily inspired by, but larger than, [[Paris]]'s [[Arc de Triomphe]])
* The birthplace of Kim Il Sung at [[Mangyongdae]] Hill at the city outskirts
* [[Juche Tower|''Juche'' Tower]]
* Two large stadiums:
** [[Rungrado 1st of May Stadium]]
** [[Kim Il Sung Stadium]]
* The [[Mansu Hill Grand Monument|Mansu Hill complex]], including the [[Korean Revolution Museum]]
* [[Kim Il Sung Square]]
* [[Yanggakdo International Hotel]]

[[Pyongyang TV Tower]] is a minor landmark. Other visitor attractions include the [[Korea Central Zoo]]. The [[Reunification Highway]] stretches from Pyongyang to the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone]] (DMZ).

<gallery widths="200" heights="150" class="center" caption="Monuments and sights of Pyongyang">
File:Juche Tower (7399212056).jpg|[[Juche Tower|''Juche'' Tower]] Monument to the philosophy of ''[[Juche]]'' (self-reliance)
File:PyongYang-Arch of Triumph.jpg|[[Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang)|Arch of Triumph]]
File:Party-Foundation-Monument.jpg|[[Monument to Party Founding]]
File:Kumsusan Memorial Palace, Pyongyang.jpg|[[Kumsusan Palace of the Sun]]
File:Tomb of King Tongmyong, Pyongyang, North Korea-1.jpg|[[Tomb of King Tongmyong|Tomb of King Tongmyeong]]
File:Ryugyong Hotel - August 27, 2011 (Cropped).jpg|[[Ryugyong Hotel]]
File:Ryomyong Street.png|[[Ryomyong New Town]]
File:Mirae Scientists Street - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang (22971791331).jpg|[[Mirae Scientists Street]]
File:Rungnado May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea (2910089252).jpg|[[Rungrado May Day Stadium]]
</gallery>