South Korea's city of the future

If I were to tell you a new metropolis is being built with state-of-the-art technology and is digitally connected, what do you visualise? If you are like me, you think of a concrete jungle with tall buildings connected by flyovers, bridges and a profusion of concrete. Yet, the ‘City of the Future,’ which is coming up in  South Korea is an environmentalist’s dream.

This city which has already been over a decade in the making is being described as one of the world’s greenest cities; quite an impressive claim given its vision of being totally connected. It is achieving this vision of digital connectivity while being totally
environmentally sustainable. It is self-sufficient with a modern hospital and international standard school besides fulfilling all the needs of its residents, businesses and government. The Songdo International Business District (IBD) will have residences for over 65,000 persons and almost 300,000 people will work there.

Songdo city is being hailed locally as the ‘Gateway to Northeast Asia.’  It is a 100 million sq. ft. city located in the Incheon free economic zone. The city is linked to Seoul by subway and is connected to the Incheon Airport (fast becoming one of the world’s busiest international airports,) by a bridge that is almost 12 kms long! The city will have a green park at its centre which is modelled after New York City’s Central Park and it has waterways like Venice where water taxis ply.