Sigur Ros Sells New Songdo City
Ben Barna
July 01, 2008
The Port Authority can't even get one building in the air, while the South Koreans erect a whole new world with ease. Amidst delays and bloated budgets, Christopher Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, wrote that "The schedule and cost estimates of the rebuilding effort that have been communicated to the public are not realistic," which means the city will not hit their desired deadline of 2011, the10th anniversary of 9/11. It's now expected to open sometime in 2013, and some even say that's optimistic. Meanwhile, on the other edge of the world, South Korea has designed and begun construction of an entirely new high-tech city they hope will reinvigorate the country's sagging economy.
New Songdo City is an entirely new international business hub being built on the site of General MacArthur’s 1950 landing during the Korean War. Where there was once mud and water now lies terra firma—and in the middle of the Yellow Sea Economic Basin, where over 200 million people live and the GDP runs to $1.3 trillion. According to the website (where you can view an interactive map of the city), this environmentally friendly metropolis “will an unsurpassed Quality of Life.” I’m not sure what that means either, but let’s hope their city planning is better than their Engrish. Watch the official introduction video below, where a Sigur Ros song has single-handedly convinced me that New Songdo City is the place to be.
Posted by friedrich on Tue Jul 1, 2008 at 05.47 pm
amazing! props to the koreans! i want to visit!
Posted by RG on Tue Jul 1, 2008 at 05.58 pm
The city planning is quite impressive, and the Engrish has been fixed. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Posted by vince on Tue Jul 1, 2008 at 09.09 pm
The first phase of the project was built years ago and some of us live and work here now! Contact me if you come visit and I’ll show you around…
Posted by Andy on Tue Jul 8, 2008 at 09.48 am
Vince, is anything n sale here yet?
I´m interested in prices, plans, off-plan etc but cant find anywhere with this info.
Posted by Vince on Tue Jul 8, 2008 at 12.08 pm
Yes, apartments are for sale and land is for sale. But if you don’t speak Korean or have a Korean partner it could be difficult because contracts, taxes, titles, etc are all in Korean. You probably won’t find sale info in English.
Posted by Andy on Tue Jul 8, 2008 at 05.29 pm
So this project is geared mainly towards Korean nationals rather than expatriates???
I thought, given the amount of English publicity its getting and US interests, there would be a portion of land/units available to expats.
Shame if its not.
Posted by vince on Tue Jul 8, 2008 at 09.17 pm
The project is geared toward attracting large foreign investors. As far as I know, a large company planning to buy land and set up shop in a foreign country will have staff that speak the native language so they can protect their interests. If you want more information on this topic, I suggest you contact the Incheon Free Economic Zone from their website.
As far as I know about expats purchasing land, it’s legal anywhere in Korea, not just Songdo. Good luck with this!