Why it looks like this

Daegu sits in a natural basin, ringed by mountains that trap summer heat, which is why Koreans joke about 'Daefrica'. The old core grew around the Yangnyeongsi herbal medicine market and the site of the vanished town wall, whose line survives in the ring of streets around the centre.

As Korea industrialized, the city's textile mills and factories filled the basin floor with grids, and apartment districts now climb toward the mountain edges.