Korea builds city of the future - today

Songdo International City in Incheon, South Korea, is the world’s newest city. It was created to establish a new standard of smart urban development that is environmentally sustainable, blessed with parks and open spaces and networked in the latest communication technology.

I just visited the place and it is not just another hyped-up destination. These audacious Koreans, working in tandem with American developers and a world leader in networking technology, Cisco, have made what seems like a futuristic dream on paper into a pulsating reality.

Korea has built itself up from the ravages of war into one of the world’s leading economic powers. One of the original Asian Tigers emerging in the 1980s, it has since kept pace with the rest of the globe. It has also not rested on its substantial laurels. From cell phones to cars and LCD screens and telenovelas, Korea leads the way.

My visit to Songdo City made me realize that it also wants to lead the way in other areas of innovation. Understanding that the future of the world lies in cities and their interconnectedness, authorities here embarked on an experiment in cutting-edge city building.

Songdo City is an expansion of the city of Incheon, which itself is part of the large metropolitan conurbation of Seoul. It is already the site of the country’s premier new airport, a complex that rivals similar facilities in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Songdo International City is part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (1FEZ). In 2000, authorities realized that the existing city of Incheon, 40 kilometers from Seoul, did not have enough land area to accommodate expansion, so over 200 hectares of land was reclaimed from the sea — over 200 square kilometers or about half the size of Metro Manila!

Three clusters of development are being planned: Yeongjong Aeropolis (138.3 square kilometers) containing the airport, an industrial, design and logistics center; Cheongna Leisure City (17.7 square kilometers), which will house eco-friendly financial and high-tech centers along with tourism facilities that will be a portal to 150 islands off the coast, and Robotland, a giant theme park, featuring, you guessed it — robots; and finally Songdo International City, which is the first of the three clusters to be started and is now partially complete and operational.

I went to the city to attend the Sustainable Cities of the Future Conference, jointly organized by the City of Incheon and Cisco. The conference highlighted the amazing technologies being embedded into the city to address urban needs like safety and security, healthcare, intelligent buildings and green energy.

The Philippine delegation stayed, along with other country representatives in the central Songdo Business District. The district is a masterpiece of urban design currently being developed by Cisco and its partner, the American real estate giant Gale International, in cooperation with the Songdo, Incheon government. Gale’s planners and architects were the multi-awarded American firm of Kohn Petersen Fox (KPF).

Cisco toured us around the new city (which was all just water a few years ago), visiting the city’s iconic convention center, residential complexes, international schools and the metropolitan civic center along with the Incheon Global Fair, that showcased the best in Korean and International Technology for future cities.

We were shown and were astounded by the interconnected communications network system Cisco had developed for the city; what they call Smart+Connected Communities solutions, a transformational family of technologies that they hope (and I believe) will change the shape of cities to come. All residential units in the planned new city will have large screen video interfaces that connect residents with schools, post offices, retail establishments, offices and every conceivable convenience and service in the city.

We were shown a demonstration that connected us to an English teacher in the International School a few hundred meters away. We later took a short ride to the school and met the teacher just to prove that he was real. We were also witness to a music lesson and shown how the system also could wirelessly and remotely control all the residential units’ electronics, appliances and security. Songdo residents will be constantly connected with everything and everyone they need to deal or socialize with without having to expend fuel and energy by driving there.

If you do need to go anywhere in the city, the road system is wonderfully maintained and rational. The authorities also built a subway extension to old Incheon and even to Seoul. This road and subway infrastructure was built ahead of any development. Also built ahead of anything was the complete infrastructure for power, sewage treatment and drainage. Easements on all drainage canals and channels are between 50 and 100 meters wide — compared to the measly five-meter easements we have here in Metro Manila!

We met Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer and executive vice president of Cisco Services, who informed us that all this was a product of an “agreement signed by Cisco and Gale International to establish the ‘Cisco Global Center for Smart+Connected Communities’ in Songdo IBD…”

He also told us that Cisco is “working closely with Incheon Metropolitan City to develop network-enabled innovation and to support sustainable economic development…the two companies intend to partner to help accelerate the development of such smart and connected cities, which will be designed to improve economic development, environmental sustainability, and the quality of life for citizens. They will also assemble a broad ecosystem of strategic design, development and technology partners to enable and drive network-enabled, city-scale innovation.”

We met Stan Gale, head honcho of Gale International, at the Global Fair. He said that “the vision for this new city is truly transformational, giving residents, businesses and government leaders within Songdo the opportunity to experience the city of the future — today. Our collaboration on Songdo IBD with Gale International is a living example of the globally replicable model we are building for Smart+Connected Communities. We are thrilled to be part of such a groundbreaking initiative, working closely with Gale International to develop new business models for managing and delivering urban services using the network as the platform for transforming cities and countries. We look forward to future visionary projects like this one, such as the efforts currently underway in Meixi Lake District in China.”

Clearly the intent of Cisco and its partners go beyond Songdo. The possibility of Smart+Connected Cities is replicable in other growing Asian cities, including our own. Technology is fine but I also went around the city on foot to test its pedestrian friendliness and to savor the three large city parks that have already been built.

The city is indeed a walkable city. Instant shade trees were already planted even before the first building came up. There are linear park connectors with bike paths all around. Bus transport for farther destinations is made environmentally friendly with the use of LPG-fueled vehicles.

The parks are wonderfully large and accessible from all corners of the district. The flagship 100-acre “central park” in the district’s center hides the multi-level parking underneath the greenery. An artificial lake also provides ferry services from one end to the other. The park accommodates both active and passive activities and has bike and jogging paths around it. Few, if any, of our parks are professionally designed; KPF had landscape architects design the parks in Songdo.

The future of cities is evident now in Songdo, a city that seems to have found a harmonious connection between nature and technology, innovation and innovative urban design, quality of life and a conscious sustained effort to build their cities smart. When will we here in Metro Manila wisen up?

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Feedback is welcome. Please email the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.