For South Korea’s Gyeongbu highway to be a symbol of industrialization and modernization the view from the road mattered. Before the highway opened, farming villages were compelled to replace traditional grass roofs with modern-looking tiled roofs-at least on the side facing the highway. Farmers were encouraged to harvest their barley and plant rice to furnish verdant scenery. The desire to create magnificent scenery may have affected the design of the highway itself. One journalist guessed that, despite the general principle that a highway should follow the shortest path, it had been designed to detour through an area with access to Gyeongju, a historic capital and tourist destination, and a distant view of Ulsan, a rising industrial city.