Songdo International Business District (IBD), the $35 billion new city-scale development in Incheon, South Korea, being developed by Manhattan-based Gale International, was touted as the leading model for smart and sustainable new cities at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2016 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Greenbuild, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, is the world’s largest event dedicated to green building.
Songdo IBD is widely considered the world’s most technologically advanced, sustainable and successful greenfield city. Gale International is the master plan developer of Songdo and the leading city-scale real estate developer. At Greenbuild Gale and its key design and engineering partners discussed the best practices that went into creating Songdo IBD and how Gale’s expertise can be applied to new urban developments to help solve the crucial capacity issues facing the world’s cities.
Credit: Gale International
Songdo IBD now houses more than 45,000 residents, 1,500 businesses, five-star hotels, acclaimed schools, internationally renowned universities, and leading non-governmental organizations. The participating executives were Tom Murcott, EVP and Global Foreign Investment Officer, and Andrew Snowhite, SVP and Chief Innovation Officer at Gale International; Richard Nemeth, Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC; Ashok Raiji, Principal at Arup; and John Rossant, Chairman at New Cities Foundation, which tracks best practices in urban development.
Songdo IBD’s sustainability achievements are many and include:
- More than 22 million square feet of newly constructed LEED-certified space in 118 buildings to date, one of the highest concentrations of green buildings in the world.
- A citywide pneumatic waste disposal system – one of the world’s largest – that obviates the need for garbage trucks and sets new standards in recycling efficiency.
- 40% green space including a 101-acre Central Park with a completely self-sustaining irrigation system.
- Impressively for any urban environment but especially in Asia, citywide water recycling is projected to reach 40% and waste recycling 76% by the year 2020.
- Overall energy use in Songdo IBD is up to 40% less per person than an average existing city due to the use of insulation; high-performance glass; high-tech equipment for lighting, heating and air conditioning; the technology infrastructure linking all the building subsystems and other measures. The result is a significantly reduced carbon footprint for an urban development.
- All Songdo IBD residences are equipped with U.Life Solutions’ HomeNet home-automation system that enables residents, from a digital control panel, to monitor their energy use and compare it to others on the grid. As a result, residents significantly reduce their energy consumption.
- Myriad sensors placed throughout the city enable citizen information services including constantly updated environment/air pollution monitoring, wayfinding, safety and security.
“Songdo IBD is very much a living laboratory for green building and smart, sustainable communities. It is a model for public-private partnerships and how strategic planning can ensure a vibrant quality of life for residents and visitors. The best practices being pioneered in Songdo are applicable in both the developed and the developing world,” said Stan Gale, Chairman and CEO of Gale International.
Editor’s note
All photos in the photo gallery are courtesy of Gale International
About Gale International
Building upon three generations of real estate innovation that began with his grandfather in 1922, Stan Gale founded The Gale Company in 1985. By 1990, the company had amassed a $500 million portfolio of development properties. Working with partners like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and SL Green, The Gale Company diversified into an investment, development, and property management company that culminated in a sale to Mack-Cali Realty. In 2004, Stan Gale created a separate enterprise to focus on global development opportunities, Gale International.
Today, Gale International is a global premier international real estate investment and development company with headquarters in New York City and offices in California and Songdo IBD. It focuses on planning, developing and operating smart, sustainable city-scale living and working environments. The company’s mission is to develop the highest quality urban environments while advancing sustainable design and construction practices. In addition to Songdo IBD, Gale International is engaged in projects all over the world, from 21W20, an ultra-luxury residential development of thirteen full-floor homes located in the heart of New York’s Flatiron District, to a 100-acre office complex in Connecticut. And in 2009, Gale International served as the Master Planner/Developer for the Meixi Lake District in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province. For more information please visit www.galeintl.com.
About Songdo IBD
The $35 billion Songdo International Business District (IBD) is a new urban development, international business hub, free-trade zone and emerging travel destination in Northeast Asia that has attracted worldwide attention for its leadership in sustainability and smart-city initiatives. Songdo is being built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along the Yellow Sea in Incheon, South Korea, by Gale International, a premier international real estate investment and development company headquartered in New York, and POSCO E&C of Korea. Often called the largest private real estate venture in history, Songdo IBD will include one hundred million square feet of office, residential, retail, hotel and public space. Gale International and its partners engaged world-class experts in international architecture, engineering and design, and technology to plan Songdo IBD including international architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, engineering firm Arup and smart city leader Cisco. The city, more than 65% completed, already has more than 45,000 residents with 50,000 commuting daily. Upon completion, projected for 2020, it will be home to 65,000 residents and many thousands more commuters. Core components of Songdo IBD’s built environment that have been completed include the 68-story Northeast Asia Trade Tower; Convensia Convention Center; the Sheraton Incheon; the 100-acre Central Park (modeled after New York’s); numerous residential and commercial projects including more than 1,300 retail stores; Chadwick International School; and the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. Songdo IBD also is the leading example of a “ubiquitous city” in which technology is pervasive and key IT systems are linked. It has partnered with Cisco to provide TelePresence immersive videoconferencing in homes, offices, schools and hospitals, among other digital initiatives. Connected to Incheon International Airport via a stunning 7.4 mile bridge, Songdo IBD is situated at the crossroads of Northeast Asia and is a 90 minute flight to Shanghai and to Tokyo, and a three hour flight to Hong Kong. Just 35 miles southwest of Seoul, a proposed GTX train would reduce the trip to 25 minutes. For more information see songdoibd.com.
SOURCE Gale International
