News ::
New Songdo City Wins Sustainable Cities Award
Gale International and Kohn Pedersen Fox master plan for new city is cited for “strong emphasis on carbon-use reduction” and “state of the art green practices in urban design, engineering, construction, infrastructure, and energy systems.”
The winners of the Sustainable Cities award, including Charles Reid and James von Klemperer are pictured.
London and New York….June 16, 2008….Songdo International Business District, a 1,500-acre city being constructed near Incheon, South Korea, is a winner of the first annual Sustainable Cities Award, sponsored jointly by the Financial Times and the Urban Land Institute. The winners were announced today in conjunction with a Sustainable Cities conference being held in London.
Songdo International Business District (IBD) is a 70/30 joint venture between Gale International, a real estate investment and development company headquartered in New York, and POSCO Engineering & Construction, of South Korea. The master plan architect of Songdo IBD (formerly known as New Songdo City) is Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the renowned architecture firm headquartered in New York, London and Shanghai.
The Sustainable Cities Awards honor global examples of ongoing programs that exhibit new ideas and perspectives for best practices in sustainable land use. Sustainability is measured in economic and social terms as well as by environmental factors. The elite group of Sustainable Cities Award winners have demonstrated financial viability, a capacity to inspire and an ability to be replicated. Songdo IBD is the only project in Asia so honored.
Charles Reid speaks in London while accepting the award.
James von Klemperer accepts the award.
Stanley C. Gale, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gale International, said, “The Sustainable Cities Award is an important step in emphasizing the importance of the impact of new grand-scale development on climate change. We are so proud that the extensive efforts to minimize Songdo IBD’s carbon footprint and our overall sustainability program are being recognized with such a prestigious award.”
James von Klemperer, principal of Kohn Pedersen Fox and primary architect of the Songdo IBD master plan, said, “Songdo IBD is the first instance of foreign ownership of Korean land in the post-war era. As such, its sustainable initiatives have the power of an international effort. This promotes a synergy, bringing together the best policies of two worlds. Korean advanced water infrastructure, U.S. LEED-ND program goals, local transport networks, and foreign hydrogen bus technologies are good examples of what can be implemented to achieve this global blend.”
The Sustainable Cities jury also cited Songdo IBD participation’s as a pilot project and partner of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) program. Songdo IBD is playing a pioneering role in helping to set this standard for sustainable urban planning and smart growth based on criteria such as density, proximity to transit, environmental preservation, mixed housing type, and pedestrian-friendly design.