The Songdo International Business District, located in South Korea, was constructed on an embankment on the Incheon waterfront, is a purpose-built ‘smart city’, designed for efficiency, sustainability and pleasant city living. The city is inspired by boulevards (Paris), a 100-acre (41 ha) Central Park (New York City), a system of pocket parks (London) and a modern canal system (Venice).
Songdo has a size equivalent to the central Boston area of the United States, it is projected to be the most sustainable city in the world capable of emitting a third of the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by any other local city on the planet.[1]
It’s described as the largest private real estate venture in history – a $35 billion development on 1,500 acres (607 ha) of reclaimed land[2]. Designed as a model for future, sustainable city-scale developments across the globe, Songdo International Business District (IBD) is among the first urban areas to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certification. In addition to the widespread implementation of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ standard, 40% of the city has been set aside as green public space[3].
Source: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/
Environmental responsibility is core to the concept of successful cities of the future. Gale and Posco are working closely with Cisco Systems to create a Smart+Connected Communities (S+CC) model for Songdo and for city development opportunities going forward. “We believe that a smart, sustainable city will have at its core a technology infrastructure that will enable a better life experience for the citizens, allow for more efficient city management and operations, while creating a significant return on investment for the local economy which the development will serve,” Tom Murcott said, vice-president of Gale International, company that constructed the city.
[1] www.thegrennestpost.bol.uol.com.br
[2] http://songdoibd.com/
[3] http://songdoibd.com/