Incheon transforms into city of the future

In the city of the future, children make friends with robots and suffer less from environmental pollution than in today`s cities.

With green areas covering more than 30 percent the city, residents enjoy an environment in harmony with high-tech facilities.

Luxury shopping malls and premium services and cultural facilities cater to both wealthy visitors and local residents. Free use of the internet is available anywhere with ubiquitous wireless network systems installed throughout the city.

The west coast of Korea becomes more international for foreign students coming to global campuses in Incheon Free Economic Zone to attend classes in English as well as foreign workers and their families starting new lives there.



This is the vision of Songdo, Yeongjong and Cheongna, the three planned cities in the IFEZ.

The IFEZ, an hour`s drive from Seoul, will transform the region from a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge-based one and foster a value-added industry by establishing a service-oriented infrastructure, according to the IFEZ Authority.

With the first phase of its development project scheduled to be completed this year, Incheon is taking steps to become a new global financial and logistics hub in Northeast Asia and also the center of the country`s green growth.

Each of the three major districts takes on a special function. Songdo will focus on the biomedical field and global education institutions; Yeongjong will function as a transportation and logistics hub; and Cheongna will host a robot-themed amusement park, officials said.



Songdo



Songdo has been selected by the government to be developed into a state-of-the-art medical and welfare complex by 2020 -- a project worth 4 trillion won in government investment. Songdo is aiming to build top-notch infrastructure that would make it a people-friendly and health-oriented district.

Songdo sits on more than 13,047 acres and it is expected to be developed into six main clusters: international business center, knowledge-based industry complex, biotech complex, information technology cluster, international academic complex and the Incheon new port.

The sustainable construction design and technology discussed in the United States is practiced in the Songdo International Business District.

A significant reduction in the use of potable water and the construction of an extensive network of dedicated bicycle lanes will help the city significantly cut its carbon emission footprint when compared to conventional cities of a similar size, according to Gale International, co-developer of the Songdo IBD. The project features open green space taking up 40 percent of its total area.

Underground trains have already started to connect Songdo and Incheon. Songdo International School, which will run kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools is scheduled to open in September. Operated by Boston-based Milton Academy, the school will offer world-class education with state-of-the-art facilities such as a sports center and theater.

A 405,000-square-meter central park located in the center of Songdo International Business District will be completed next June.

A global university campus that could help transform Korea into an educational hub for Northeast Asia will be built in Songdo.

Incheon University will start to move into Songdo to offer higher education in the new city. The new Songdo campus will offer 25 new buildings on 460,000 square meters of land.

The university will also form an industrial-academy cluster with Yonsei University, which reached a final agreement with Incheon Metropolitan City government to break ground for a global academic complex in Songdo by 2010.

In addition, with the 12.3-kilometer bridge to be completed in October this year, the IFEZ will be only 15 minutes away from Incheon International Airport. The Incheon Bridge currently being built by a construction unit of Samsung C&T is to be the world`s fifth longest cable-stayed bridge. The construction will cost 2.5 trillion won, officials said.



Yeongjong



Yeongjong, another district of the IFEZ, is expected to become the third city in the world after Nagoya, Japan, and Shanghai, China, to operate a municipal-scale magnetic levitation high-speed train system. About 450 billion won has been put into building the 110-kilometer unmanned high-speed train system. Completion is eyed for 2011, with trial runs to begin in 2012.

Woonbook Leisure Complex, a city both for leisure and tourism, is planned by a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Lippo Group, and Incheon Urban Development Corporation.

On 820,000 square meters land, various facilities for leisure, residential and cultural activities will be built. Construction of the complexes will be finished in 2014, the year when Incheon hosts the Asian Games.

Yeongjong Sky City, an international city designed to support logistics for Yeongjong, will be built. It will house 45,000 apartment units on its 19.12-square-meter land as well as "Incheon Milano Design City" that facilitates exhibition centers, design school and music school.



Cheongna



Cheongna, located closer to Seoul than the two other regions, is receiving attention for its planned international business district focused on financing. It also plans to attract people with sports, leisure-related facilities and the world`s first robot theme park.

The district plans to build Robot Land between 2009 and 2013. The central and the municipal governments are each putting up 60 billion won ($43.6 million); Korea Land Corporation is investing 79.4 billion won; and private investors will spend a total of 587.2 billion won.

Robot Land will feature a number of attractions, entertainment facilities, exhibition halls, research and development centers, education buildings and industrial support facilities. It is expected to generate 2.8 trillion won in industrial output and create 18,000 jobs, boosting the regional economy, officials said.

(christory@heraldm.com)





By Cho Chung-un