Songdo becoming compact, smart and green city

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The G-20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies` Meeting, which starts its two-day run tomorrow, offers Songdo, its host city, a chance to promote its vision to become a "compact, smart and green city," city officials said yesterday.

Songdo, which was built on reclaimed land in the western port city of Incheon, hopes to transform itself into a self-sufficient city in which all necessary functions for the city can be implemented in close proximity.

To that end, the city will feature facilities for business, high-tech industry, health care, education, culture, shopping, tourism and leisure within a five-kilometer radius, city and industry officials said.

The wannabe futuristic city will allow its residents to work in the 68-floor Northeast Asia Trade Tower to be completed this year, or the 151-floor Incheon Tower to be completed in 2014; and take a stroll at Songdo Central Park, Korea`s first park to have a canal filled with seawater,; and send their children to "Songdo Global Campus," which will host foreign universities such as North Carolina State University and the State University of New York.



In the centralized city, residents will use bicycles or public transportation rather than cars to move from one place to another, city officials said.

Exemplary cases of compact cities include the Crossings, Mountain view in the United States and Roppongi Hills in Japan.

"(In the compact city,) all functions are located within the city center, unlike conventional cities which have a business complex in the center and the residential area in the suburbs," Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo said.

Songdo is located in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, 65 kilometers west of capital Seoul.

Information technology will be also applied to the planning, designing, building and operating of the city`s infrastructure under Songdo`s vision to become a "smart city."

"A tomorrow city" opened to the public last year, offering a glimpse into the high-tech future city. The city allows visitors to communicate through a variety of wired and wireless portals and devices based on ubiquitous technologies.

"The `smart` city means a city equipped with `ubiquitous` infrastructure that manages and control the city`s functions automatically at an optimal time. This enables the cost-effective management of the city," Ahn said.

The "Green City" is also one of the key strategies for the IFEZ. The IFEZ will have 32 percent of green area ratio, which is the highest among Korea`s new cities. Various lakes and parks including a 429,000-square-meter central park is being formed in the IFEZ. In particular, Songdo is designed to emit 30 percent less carbon dioxide than other cities, receiving the world-renowned `LEED-ND` eco-friendly development certification.

The IFEZ authority hopes to attract 1,200 companies here and overseas by 2014 as part of its bid to become a hub for "business and logistics," "IT and biotechnology," "education" and "tourism and culture."

The IFEZ, which opened in 2003, is the most successful of Korea`s free economic zones and consists of three areas; Songdo, Youngjong and Cheongra.

(hjjin@heraldm.com)









By Jin Hyun-joo