The construction project is called "New Songdo City" and will be built on 1,500 acres of man-made land in the Yellow Sea near Incheon Port, 35 miles west of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Five years ago, this project existed only on paper. South Korea says that when the "Songdo New City" is completed in 2015, this strategically important land will be the world's gateway to Northeast Asia. "Songdao New Town" has been called the largest private real estate development project in history. This is South Korea's response to seeing each other in Shanghai and Dubai. This is a free economic zone. It will have 80,000 units, 50 million square feet of offices and 10 million square feet of retail space.
Introducing characteristic buildings from all over the world - including New York's "Central Park" (Central Park) and Venice's canals, using English as the common language, and hanging a sign at the door: "Open for" business.). Create an artificial island similar in size to London's Hampstead Heath. Arrange modern schools, hospitals, apartments, office buildings and high-end cultural facilities on the island.
This only scratches the surface of the ambitions of Songdo New Town. The city's goal is to completely eliminate the problems of modern urban life. For example, many business cities in Asia are plagued by environmental damage, an undereducated workforce and a lack of space. "Songdo New Town" will be built from scratch into a city that meets the requirements of a world-class city in all aspects. It will have clean air and provide the most superior quality of life that is not available today.
Attempting such a project would be a risky investment in the best of times, let alone in the middle of Asia's worst economic crisis since the 1970s. Giving this project to a largely untested American company and financing it with recycled real estate profits sounds like a fool's errand. Yet this is happening in South Korea, and, strangely enough, it's ongoing.
Forty percent of Songdo New Town's area is dedicated to "green space" - including 100 acres of Central Park. Perhaps, ironically, a reflection of the city's international importance The environmental impact of the "Tide Flat" protested, disturbing - but did not stop its construction. It will make people forget about Asia's suffocating metropolis. "The city's main parking lot is hidden under water to reduce heat. and the impact of exhaust gas on cities. An improved public transportation system - including underground trains to Seoul and "water electric taxis" on the city's saltwater canals - will make "Songdo New Town" one of the cleanest cities in the world.
"Imaginary Urbanism"
An initial building plan was canceled before Incheon was reinstated as a free economic zone in 2001 following the 1997/8 financial crisis. But "Songdo New Town" has the support of the South Korean government, which has invested in infrastructure including a high-speed rail system connecting Seoul and the new Incheon International Airport. The 12.3-kilometer bridge connecting "Songdao New Town" and the airport is almost completed. Despite this, many are skeptical that Songdo New Town, a project largely privately financed (estimated at $20 billion to $40 billion), can continue to overcome financial difficulties. Rock-solid government guarantees helped allay fears that the project would fail. Incheon sold land at a premium to Gale International, Posco and other developers, attracting $9 billion in foreign investment since the Songdo New Town project began in 2004, perhaps four times the amount hoped for. Developers must not let retail space and other real estate, as well as the entire construction process, come to a halt. The first "post-recession" test of the year came when more apartments started to go on sale.
James Von Klemperer, the head of KPF Architects, told the media that the "Songdo New Town" has comprehensive functions-including culture and education. , medical, commercial and entertainment. After decades in the shadow of powerful neighbor Japan and rising China, South Korea now thinks the world belongs to it.
In Songdo New Town, despite privacy concerns, computers will be installed in every home, street and office, creating a high-tech "digital community." The main construction unit of "Songdao New Town", American KPF Architects, calls it "the only project of a lifetime".
Hee Yhon Song, president of the Asia Development Institute, said: "You know, by the middle of this century, this region (East Asia) will generate 40 percentage points of world GPD. "Song Xihong said that South Korea's central location (it takes two hours to fly from Seoul to Beijing and Tokyo), coupled with its land area, mature economy, and Western-educated elite, have made it the only country in the region. An advantage that few countries can match. "I think we are unique," he said.
Behind Shanghai, there is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates - the largest construction site on earth. It has the world's largest shopping mall, theme park, airport, artificial island and a 7-star hotel offering rooms for $5,000 per night. At least until the global financial crisis, construction in Dubai was spurred by petrodollars, cheap labor and "architectural gigantism." Critics say Dubai's architecture is an ecological folly.
Songdo New Town is one of the most surprising examples of what urban theorist Mike Davis calls "imagined urbanism." The world's great cities are sometimes built from scratch. In such cities, the difficult intermediate stages of business development are "compressed," or development time is reduced. In a very short period of time, complete shopping facilities and entertainment facilities appeared, as well as spectacular architectural complexes. Asia, especially China, has many such projects.
In the "Meixi Lake District" in Hunan Province, China, Gale International plans to build another modern "green city" covering an area of ??1,675 acres. It has high-tech office buildings, schools, apartments, shopping malls, five-star hotels and a world-class conference center. All this forms an integrated, people-friendly environment surrounded by plenty of green space. Like "Songdao New City", "Meixi Lake District" is supported by the Changsha Municipal Government.
Will "Songdao New Town" succeed?
In effect, these cities are gated communities, with walls of money insulating it from the poor. In "Songdo New Town," an average apartment sells for $500,000, and there are apartments for twice or three times that price. The tuition fee for an "international school" is US$25,000 per year. The developer admits that many ordinary Koreans rarely shop at the 100,000-square-foot Taubman Shopping Center.
Will "Songdao New Town" succeed? The history of building cities for a specific purpose (such as the building of Brasilia, Islamabad and Canberra) was completely different from today's "artificial cities" and was not encouraged. Some observers warn that "Songdo New Town" is in danger of becoming a boring "urban theme park". "If you live in Manhattan, why would you want to live in a new town in Jangdao or a new town somewhere else?" said Mo Jongryn, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and the planner of "Songdo New Town." Retort, calling it unique. It offers comprehensive business, education and leisure facilities that will convince the doubters and attract the global English-speaking technology elite. A key facility of "Songdao New Town" is the "Global University Campus". This is an attempt to combine the strengths of Korean, European and American universities. At least two universities, the State University of New York and North Carolina State University, have signed on to participate in the program, and three more are preparing to sign on.
This model is similar to Qatar’s “Education City”.
In this "education city", American or British universities will provide university education on a single campus while being managed separately. The "global university campus" of "Songdo New Town" will eventually avoid the shortcomings of most Korean universities and cultivate top-notch research talents and new industries. Song Xihong, chairman of the Asian Development Society, said: "I think that without this university, the 'Songdao New City' project will not succeed."
Not everyone is so enthusiastic. Teachers from other universities, including Yonsei University, said they came to Songdo New Town because of a preferential agreement with the Incheon City Government. Horace Underwood, a retired professor at Yonsei University, said: "No one wants to move to Songdo New Town."
He said: "Every department and group is opposed to this matter. The move of the university The attempt to bring international programs to 'Songdo New Town' will undermine these programs when an international student (typically a Korean American) has to choose between Yonsei University in Incheon and a Korean university in Seoul. Choose a school in Seoul."
But Mo Joong-in, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, believes that the problem may not arise and "Songdo New Town" will continue to operate. He said: "The government is in a difficult position and cannot abandon the project. Once you start a project of this magnitude, it cannot be stopped. Billions of dollars have been invested. If you stop a third of the way through, the investment Money will be lost, and you will have to proceed with the anger of people who have already arrived."
Approaching "Smart City" Songdo New Town in South Korea
"Perhaps, I will. Walking on the road, the environmental protection index is in my eyes; perhaps, remote diagnosis is in progress, and I am nestled on the sofa at home; perhaps, I am rushing from the venue to the airport, and my luggage has been transported to the plane... The process of things is cumbersome. "How to avoid running around? - If you have something to do, just touch the button in your hand." A young man working in the information industry described the "smart Hongqiao life" in his imagination. What exactly does "Smart Hongqiao" look like? What aspects will be involved? We might as well look at the smart city construction of Songdo New Town in South Korea to get a glimpse. Songdo International Business District is located in the artificial reclamation area on the south side of Incheon. The Incheon City Government transferred these lands to New Songdo Construction Company at a low price, and it was fully responsible for investment, development and construction. In the early stage, New Songdao Company adopted a simultaneous approach of infrastructure, residential and commercial office real estate, completed the construction of main roads, built and sold them to a group of workers in high-end residential areas, and used the proceeds to further infrastructure investment in construction and improvement. In terms of investment, Songdao has attracted some multinational companies such as IBM and Cisco, especially their research and development institutions, to not only provide a business environment for the settled companies, but also attract and retain them with a good residential and business environment. At the same time, New Songdao Company also built public welfare facilities such as Central Park and Songdao International School, and delivered them to the government and residents free of charge in return for the initial government support measures. Although there are still a large number of land parcels to be developed in the Songdao area, Songdao International Business District has begun to take shape and popularity due to its high overall planning positioning and insistence on providing convenient information application services and a livable international urban environment. . In the construction of Songdao's "smart city", it is not difficult to find that this is a project that has always been very macroscopic and planned. Its planning is very advanced, with a large proportion of investment in information infrastructure, information equipment operation and information business model. More flexible. Although positioned in a high-end international business district, the main idea of ??Songdao planning is to build a future city from the ground that is suitable for people to live, live and work. The goal is to eliminate various problems caused by modern urban life. "Songdao New Town" hopes to start from Starting from scratch, we will build a city that meets the requirements of a world-class city in all aspects. It will have clean air and provide the most superior quality of life that is not available now. Therefore, during the construction of Songdao, not only large-scale construction of business offices and other facilities and the introduction of enterprises are also focused on the construction of urban infrastructure and residential communities to create a comprehensive and livable community.
In the planning and construction of Songdao, investment in information infrastructure is a focus, and it adheres to advanced and even advanced information service concepts. The information services proposed in the plan cover all aspects of residence, business and office, etc., "all the time "Everywhere" enables people and businesses in this area to enjoy information services very conveniently. Conceptually, information services are regarded as an indispensable urban element in the region that is as important as roads, electricity and other facilities.
In the early stage, network and other information infrastructure will be built to high standards to provide a reliable platform for later loading of information services and applications, and comprehensively enhance Songdo's attractiveness and competitiveness with the help of information services. And this is becoming the common sense and basic concept for similar regional development in various regions around the world. Songdao’s operation and management model is relatively flexible. As early as the early stage of planning and construction, Songdao has already proposed business model exploration for the later operation and maintenance management of information equipment facilities and the information business model. Under the guidance of the local government, an "operating company + service company" model will be established to minimize government investment, ensure the operation of regional information infrastructure, and provide promised standard information services. When it develops to a more mature stage, it will explore deeper information service needs, provide more value-added services, realize profit appreciation, and achieve a win-win situation for users and regional operation managers.
Songdao’s “wisdom” is everywhere, at all times, including the real-time livable environment index, weather changes within hours, intelligent identification in seconds... everything is related to intelligence, and everything is related to the network. Related, everything is related to information, this is Songdao Smart Life. Since 2009, the world's leading IT company has become a strategic partner of the Incheon City Government and Gale Corporation, implementing the construction concept of "smart connected city" in the construction of Songdo, and assisting Songdo in formulating the long-term goal of smart city: realizing Seamless communication services, including broadband networks, four-network services, and location-based services, realize the intelligence of all-in-one cards, smart cards, and multi-functional devices, and realize the intelligence of new generation information and communication municipal facilities such as media and stations, and realize medical care, security, information security, etc. Intelligentization, realizing intelligentization of traffic information, livable environment services, and urban geographic information systems, and intelligentization of portals, call centers, and concierge services. From the above six aspects, it can be seen that Songdao's "smart" system idea is to strive for full coverage around the clock and provide a "ubiquitous and ubiquitous" information service for enterprises and users settled in the park. Songdao is still in the infrastructure construction stage, mainly focusing on the network, including mobile communication networks and broadband. High-standard, high-bandwidth network coverage has been completed. The network can be loaded with telepresence video conferencing applications. Other applications in the above-mentioned goals will be It will be implemented gradually as construction progresses. At the same time, Songdao’s smart city construction also includes a set of open application service loading platform software middleware based on broadband networks. Future information service providers can easily use this platform to provide customized information services to users in the region. Fees will be charged at the same time. The construction of Songdao's "Smart Internet City" can bring many benefits to Songdao's urban management, such as improving urban management and managing the city with more efficient high-tech information means. For another example, the "Smart Internet City" has built a high starting point, world-class information network infrastructure platform, which can attract more first-class enterprises to settle in. At the same time, its involvement in the industrial chain also provides opportunities for the development of the city and is important for maintaining the economy. There are benefits to continued growth. Furthermore, information technology provides residents with a comfortable, livable, green and environmentally friendly living environment, and also provides high-quality public information value-added services, improving the quality of life of citizens. Songdao New City Information Service and Operation Model In order to reduce investment as much as possible and even obtain commercial benefits on the basis of ensuring basic services, the basic concept of Songdao's business model is to generate revenue by providing in-building facility management services in advance to ensure public safety Service delivery and business sustainability. When conditions are mature later, value-added services will be provided to increase revenue. At the beginning, enterprises and residents in Songdao can enjoy the following three categories of services: in-building services mainly refer to intelligent building management such as automation, energy management, and equipment maintenance; safety and security services such as access control, monitoring, and intrusion detection; and smart parking Parking services such as storage, charging, parking space guidance, etc. Business services include information release and display, advertising and other visual communications, community interconnection, and data center services such as IT service outsourcing, data centers, cloud computing and cloud storage. All-domain services include city-wide WiFi, public information release and services, and smart benchmarking. In terms of actual operations, the Incheon Free Economic Zone government assumes the role of strategic investor and establishes an operating company (so-called OPCO). This company owns all infrastructure, information resources and facilities, and serves as the only interface to all areas. Users are responsible for the operation, management and operation of information facilities in the region. At the same time, one (or several) separate service companies (SERVCO) are formed. The service company is responsible for providing more professional outsourcing services and information value-added to the operating company.
The operating company purchases some professional services from the service company, or adopts a revenue sharing model with the service company to reward them. The operating company must first ensure the operation and maintenance of basic public information services and equipment and facilities in the region. On the one hand, it relies on the professional services provided by the service company to achieve its goals, and on the other hand, it relies on the service income (share) provided by the service company to maintain the operation. own investment and operations. The more business benefits brought by information value-added services, the more profits operating companies and service companies will make. The role of service companies can be assumed by some professional companies or foreign investors, which can attract more foreign investment, provide stronger strength, tap more business needs, and increase business opportunities.