21st Century (2000–present)

Songdo International Business District

2003– · South Korea · East Asia – Korea · Innovation districts, knowledge corridors, and economic clustering · Planned by Gale/Posco; Incheon
KPF master plan rendering of Songdo International Business District, Incheon, showing Central Park, the canal, the block grid and the reclaimed waterfront edge.
KPF master plan rendering of Songdo International Business District, Incheon, showing Central Park, the canal, the block grid and the reclaimed waterfront edge. · © Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates — used with credit · Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), Songdo International Business District Master Plan

Core idea

Smart, LEED-ND planned city

Why it matters

Global ICT-enabled district pioneer

Description

Songdo (from 2003) was built on reclaimed land near Incheon as a from-scratch 'smart city' and international business district, wired with ubiquitous sensors and centralized systems, with a Central Park and convention facilities marketed to global firms.

Significance

Songdo is the flagship test of the build-it-from-zero smart city, raising enduring questions about whether technology and master-planning alone can manufacture genuine urban life and community.

What shaped it

Plans it influenced

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.