South+Korea+-+Songdo+City

**Songdo City IBD** By: Sadie Eisley **Songdo City**  Living in an idyllic world is the dream of many people. Reaching this goal depends on finding a community that one would define as “perfect” and unfortunately, these utopia-like societies are far and few between. Songdo City, located near Incheon, South Korea, is currently in the process of becoming a model society with an “unparalleled quality of life”. The $35 billion, Songdo City International Business District officially opened August 7, 2009, with its 1st phase completed. By its completion, set to be in 2015, Songdo City will be one of the worlds most advanced cities in regards to its architecture, business relations, education and hospital systems, sustainable living and much more.

**Songdo City Attractions**  Songdo City includes state of the art facilities that continue to attract many people to work and live there. These amenities include, but are not limited to, international schools, world-class hotels, luxury retail malls, golf clubs, museums, advanced hospital facilities, charming family homes, high rise apartments, etc. Songdo IBD will also contain many tourist attractions from various locations around the world including a Central Park similar to that in New York City, a canal system comparable to that in Venice and a set of pocket parks like those in Savannah.

__Schools__: The International School Songdo, will educate 2,080 students from Kindergarten through High School, with a faculty to student ration of 1:10. The school itself will maintain features including a fine arts center, a 692 seat theater, 8 music practice rooms, gymnasiums to include basketball courts and a rock climbing wall, and an aquatic center. The incredible school is set to open September 2010.

__Hospital__: The Songdo IBD Hospital will offer the residents of Songdo City some of the most capable healthcare services in the world. These services will primarily focus on a holistic approach to medicine, which is aimed at minimalizing discomfort and decreasing hospital time.

__Hotels__: Hotels throughout Songdo City will offer comfortable lodging to any visitor, whether they be a vacationer or business traveler. The hotels are set to contain high-class restaurants, spas, and be in prime locations to easily visit shopping malls and other places of interest.

__Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea__: The golf club set to open October 2010, will set a standard of excellence for private golf clubs around the world. The club will contain private meeting rooms, fitness and swimming facilities, casual dining areas, etc. The club will offer only 250 full memberships and will host the 2012 PGA Championship Tour.

__Residence__: Residents of Songdo IBD will have fifteen different housing style options ranging from charming gardened homes to high-rise apartments. By completion Songdo City will have 22,500 units available. Some of these housing locations already have sold out units, even before their completion. Wherever the citizens decide to live, they will have access to all of the amenities listed above.

**Business Relations**  Being located in Northern Asia, Songdo City is in a premier setting to interact with many of the largest economies in the world. In fact, the city is approximately a 4-hour flight to 1/3 of the world’s population and many regional markets. The main goal of Songdo City is to become the world’s newest location for multinational businesses. At completion, Songdo IBD will have 4,645,00 SM for commercial projects. **Sustainability**  The goals that have been set in regards to sustainable building in Songdo IBD will, once completed, set a new standard for green, large-scale, building design. Architectures are set to me LEED ratings by emphasizing neighborhood connectivity, easy access to public transit, energy efficiency in building design, and the design of over 600-acres of open green space and parks. The sustainable aspects of Songdo also include new outlooks on recycling, transportation, water, energy use, recycling, etc.

__Transportation__ : The city will contain multiple types of public transportation including a subway line and bus system. Bike lanes will be prevalent throughout the entire city to influence green transportation. 5% of the parking on each block will be set aside for fuel-efficient vehicles and a majority of parking will be located underground in order to reduce the urban heat island effect.

__Water__ : Storm water runoff in Songdo will be used as much as possible, especially considering the areas rainfall patterns. Green roofs will be used to reduce storm water runoff and promote biodiversity.

__Recycling__ : Because the production of Songdo IBD is such a huge project, 75% of construction waste is targeted to be recycled. Recycled and locally produced materials will be used to maximum extent. __Open Space__ : The City will be designed with over 600 acres of open space, about 40% of the overall city, in order for residents to connect with nature. There will also be a 100-acre Central Park and all blocks will connect pedestrians to walking and biking paths. In these open areas, high water demand plants will be minimized or eliminated from the landscape design.

Sources: All information retrieved from http://www.songdo.com/, June 30th, 2010