Songdo is green and eco-efficient, representing the perfect example of the city of tomorrow. Sold as a ‘kit’, it is built from scratch on an artificial isthmus and promises to be a new type of urban centre. Songdo is more than a simple business district or economic zone: it will genuinely be the first ‘smart city’. It will be ‘ready for use’ in 2016.
The city of Songdo in South Korea aims to be a reference for the large metropolises of the future. In construction since 2000, it’s also the largest private property venture in history, with costs estimated at $35bn (£22.65bn, at current rates).
Built on an artificial island around 35 miles west of Seoul, the city covers almost 4 square miles and appears quite conventional at first sight, with offices, houses, shops, hotels, public spaces, etc.
However, the city features numerous, impressive innovations and new developments: built-in sensors on streets and buildings, high-speed, optical-fibre broadband allowing an efficient internet connection everywhere....
An eco-smart city
Songdo also appears to be a model for the future because it includes the ecological and environmental elements that are absolutely vital today.
And here too, there are many innovations: around 40% of the city is green space, including green roofs! Recycling the ‘grey water’ from sinks and dishwashers will also lead to a significant reduction in drinking-water requirements. And you will never see a refuse truck in Songdo: in fact, the city has a pneumatic waste-collection system that sends refuse directly to landfill via a network of pipes.
However, a single ’drawback’ remains – and it’s a big one: the city is being built on a natural ecological paradise that provides a habitat for some of Korea’s finest species of birds... Nevertheless, even at this late stage, Songdo still has time to protect this diversity and to protect the breeding grounds for these birds.
Around 27,000 people will have moved in by the end of the year and 65,000 people will be living in the ‘first smart city’ by the end of the project in 2016.
As a reminder, cities and towns already house half of the 7 billion people that make up the current global population. And according to the United Nations, 70% of the world’s population will be living in an urban environment by 2050. So it’s worth thinking about this kind of model…
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