Songdo (), officially known as Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD), is a

smart city A smart city is an urban area that uses digital technology to collect data and operate services. Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras. Applications include traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities ...

built on of

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

along

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

's waterfront, southwest of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It is connected to

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport is the main international airport serving Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is also one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. This airport opened for business on 29 March 2001, to replace the old ...

by a reinforced concrete highway bridge called Incheon Bridge. Along with

Yeongjong Yeongjong Island () is an island in Jung District, Incheon, South Korea. It contains Incheon International Airport as well as small villages, farms, and beaches. The previously separate Yongyu, Sammok, and Sinbul Islands have been joined to Ye ...

and

Cheongna Cheong-na International City (also pronounced Cheongla) is a development project in Seo District, Incheon, South Korea. The city is built on a nearly two million square foot plot of land (5.38 million Korean pyong) that expects a maximum populat ...

, it is part of the

Incheon Free Economic Zone The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), located in Incheon, South Korea is a Korean Free Economic Zone that consists of the three regions of Songdo, Cheongna, and the island of Yeongjong and has a total area of . The goal of the IFEZ is to trans ...

. The Songdo

features amenities across the district. Homages of architectural hallmarks, including New York City's Central Park and Venice's waterways, will also be incorporated. Many of the buildings were constructed as

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

-certified space, the green building certification by the United States Green Building Council. Today, Songdo is a community of 167,000 residents located within one of three Free Economic Zones (IFEZ) in Incheon, South Korea. The project has been approximately 86% completed. Aside from residential areas, the location is also home to a Global Campus, Pharma Hub, Startup Center, and international organizations such as the

Green Climate Fund The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a Funding, fund for climate finance that was established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Considered the world's largest fund of its kind, GCF's objective ...

Development

Songdo Central Park and Posco Tower Songdo

Built on of land reclaimed from the Yellow Sea off Incheon, about from the South's capital Seoul, Songdo district was one the largest private real estate developments in history. By its completion date in 2015, the district was planned to contain 80,000 apartments, of office space, and of retail space. The 65-floor

Northeast Asia Trade Tower The Posco Tower-Songdo or Northeast Asia Trade Tower () is a skyscraper in Songdo International City, the world's most expensive private real estate project in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, South Korea. As of January 2025, the building is So ...

became South Korea's tallest building. Computers have been built into the houses, streets, and offices as part of a

wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits. Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, use ...

. The Songdo IBD was part of former President

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...

's effort to promote green and low-carbon growth as an avenue for future development after 60 years of reliance on export-oriented manufacturing. The nation launched a $38 billion economic stimulus package in January 2009, with over 80% of the total earmarked for green investment. The Framework Act for Low Carbon Green Growth, passed by Korea's National Assembly in 2010, increased this to $83.6 billion spanning five years. Under this initiative, the Songdo IBD is being developed as a

sustainable city A sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for the Sustainability, social, economic, and environmental impact (commonly referred to as the triple bottom line), as well as a resilient habitat for existing po ...

with more than 40% of its area reserved for green space, including the park of , of bicycling lanes, numerous charging stations for electric vehicles and a waste collection system that eliminates the need for trash trucks. Also, it is the first district in Korea to have all of its major buildings on par or beyond

's requirements. Three additional foreign university campuses opened in 2014, for a total of four total universities located within an international business district some from Seoul, including the first overseas university that opened in Korea, the State University of New York, Stony Brook. The schools will be funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Incheon Free Economic Zone and the Incheon Metropolitan Government. The development is part of a $35 billion effort by the Korean government to form an international business district that houses competitive universities from around the world. In spring 2014,

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

(Fairfax, Virginia) opened its Korean campus in Songdo to support undergraduate academic interests and professional development programming for local corporations. Additionally,

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

anticipated opening a satellite campus in March 2014 with several American bachelor's degrees offered in Social Sciences, along with an M.A. in Applied Linguistics

Sustainability

Though the city is not yet complete, Songdo IBD is home to 106 LEED certified buildings that fall under 12 projects, or 22 million sq ft of LEED-certified space. This number includes several 'firsts' for LEED in Korea and Asia, including the first LEED-certified hotel in Korea (the Sheraton Incheon), the first certified residential tower in Korea (Central Park 1), and the first certified convention hall in Asia ( Convensia). The 50,000 sq ft clubhouse for the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea which hosted the Presidents Cup in 2015 is also certified. Songdo IBD alone represents 40% of all LEED-certified space in South Korea. In addition, Songdo IBD utilizes a pneumatic waste disposal system. This means no garbage cans on street corners, and no garbage trucks. Instead, garbage is thrown into pipes that will suck the garbage underground, disposing of waste, and recycling what can be recycled. There are also 25 km of bike paths and charging stations for electric vehicles throughout the city. There have been many criticisms of Songdo's sustainability credentials given the car-centricity of the city and the lack of walkability. Many of the LEED certified buildings also only meet the minimum criteria and many of the cities claims have been dismissed as

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or ...

UN Green Climate Fund

In October 2012, Songdo IBD was selected to become the home to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF). One of the reasons for selection is the environmental-friendly practices that were incorporated into the city's foundation. Being selected for the GCF marked the first time a large global environmental agency would be hosted in Asia. A parallel between The GCF and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

can be drawn, as The GCF offers financial aid to developing countries in their quest to

combat climate change Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sour ...

. South Korea beat out 5 other competitors for this opportunity, as part of former South Korean President

Lee Myung-Bak Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...

's initiative for

green growth Green growth is a concept in economic theory and policymaking used to describe paths of economic growth that are environmentally sustainable. The term was coined in 2005 by the South Korean Rae Kwon Chung ( de), a director at UNESCAP. It is based ...

in Korea. The other competing countries were Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Namibia, and Poland. According to Chief Secretary Kim Sang-hyup, the win for selection came at only 10 days before the decision was due, and mainly because the United States decided to lend its support to Korea.

Transportation

Songdo IBD has wide roads and a high number of bicycle paths and walkways. The district is served by buses and by Incheon Metro Line 1, with six stations (another will be added in 2021), some with elegant interiors and interior sky-lit vistas. Although travel to

is quick with the 12.3 km Incheon Bridge, transportation via subway to

is less direct and requires multiple transfers but two Red class commuter buses offer direct routes to the capital city.

Environmental impact

In 2003, Birds Korea called for a halt to the reclamation project due to concerns of potential losses of important

tidal flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

. Prior to reclamation, the Songdo tidal flats had supported several

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

species, and provided a staging ground for migratory

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s as they traveled between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Bio industry

Major South Korean bio companies, including

Samsung Biologics Samsung Biologics Co., Ltd. is a global contract development and manufacturing organization headquartered in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. The biotech division of Samsung Group, its core services range from late discovery to large-scale commerc ...

and Celltrion, have their headquarters, and raw materials companies such as Merck & Co., Sartorius,

Cytiva Danaher Corporation is an American global conglomerate founded in 1984 by brothers Steven and Mitchell Rales. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the company designs, manufactures, and markets medical, industrial, and commercial products and ...

, and

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology s ...

have large-scale

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

and manufacturing facilities. SK Bioscience has a large-scale R&D facility, and Lotte Biologics has a plant in Songdo. Lotte Biologics began construction of the plant for biopharmaceutical production in March 2024, and is scheduled to begin commercial production in 2027.

Projects

* State University of New York (SUNY) – Korea (SBU, FIT) *

Korea Campus *

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

Global Campus *

Asia Campus * Yonsei University, International Campus * Global Information Complex,

Inha University Inha University () is a private research university located in Incheon, South Korea. Known traditionally for research and education in the engineering and physical sciences, the university was established by the first president of South Korea, S ...

* Chadwick International *

First World The concept of the First World was originally one of the " Three Worlds" formed by the global political landscape of the Cold War, as it grouped together those countries that were aligned with the Western Bloc of the United States. This groupin ...

* Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea *

* Sheraton Incheon Hotel * Songdo Canal Walk * Songdo Convensia * Songdo Central Park * University of Incheon

Gallery

File:Songdo International Business District 02.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 05.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 06.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 07.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 09.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 11.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 12.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 13.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 14.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 15.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 17.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 21.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 22.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 24.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 26.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 28.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 29.JPG File:Songdo International Business District 30.JPG

Songdo International City seen from Gyeonggi Province

File:Siheung October 2014 06.JPG, File:Oidosummer2015 12.JPG, File:Oidosummer2015 14.JPG,

References

External links

New Island Hopes to Be Hong Kong Of Korea
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' September 24, 2004.
Inha Global Knowledge Complex @ Songdo International Business District
{{Ambient intelligence Planned communities in South Korea Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in South Korea Artificial islands of South Korea Internal territorial disputes of South Korea Planned communities established in the 2010s Smart cities Yeonsu District