Projects and Results :: Sustainable Development ::
Helping Create a New City - And a New Vision for City Life
New Songdo City aspires to be a destination city for international business as well as a worldwide showcase for green urbanism.
The 21st century finds, for the first time in history, a majority of the world's citizens living in cities and other urban places. As the planet becomes increasingly urbanized -- and increasingly warmed by human activity -- the need for a more environmentally sustainable form of city design has never been greater.
The Whitman Strategy Group is the primary environmental advisor for New Songdo City, a master-planned metropolis rising on the outskirts of Seoul, Korea. Developed by Gale International, New Songdo aspires to be the "Gateway to Northeast Asia," a new destination city for global business. At the same time, Gale has embraced the challenge to create a greener, more livable and more sustainable city than any in modern history.
New Songdo's scale is unprecedented. Located on a man-made island about the size of mid-town Manhattan, this $25 billion project will include 50 million square feet of office space, 30 million square feet of residential space, 10 million square feet of retail and 10 million square feet of public space. When completed in 2014, it is estimated New Songdo will be home to 65,000 people and that 300,000 will work there.
"The Whitman Strategy Group puts the whole picture together. They understand why environmental responsibility is important from a corporate citizenship point of view, and also how to make it make sense from a business point of view."
- Carl Seaholm,
Executive VP,
International Relations,
Gale International
Its vision of sustainable development is also unprecedented. Guiding the vision are smart-growth principles relating to density, transit-proximity, environmental preservation and pedestrian-friendly design proven to deliver the highest quality of urban life. At the same time, planners and engineers are working to see that every element of the built environment, from offices to schools, and houses to hospitals, maximizes energy efficiency and minimizes the city's carbon footprint.
As primary environmental advisor for Gale, WSG is playing a major role in making sure this vision becomes reality. WSG organized an environmental charrette, a workshop for generating planning and design ideas. WSG also brought together Gale and the U.S. Green Building Council, the leading organization in the United States for the promotion of environmentally responsible building practices. As a result, the council is preparing to designate the entire city of New Songdo for inclusion under a new rating system developed to recognize neighborhoods for high environmental performance.
New Songdo City overlooks the Yellow Sea, but creators of the $25-billion enclave favor association with the color green, as underscored by inclusion in a pilot program run by the US Green Building Council. The initiative will result in a new LEED certificate covering entire neighborhoods, and the masterplanned, ground-up New Songdo City will establish criteria for the standard…
-GlobeSt.com, July, 2007
The Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System has long been the benchmark for the design and construction of green buildings. The council's new LEED Neighborhood Development pilot program takes those goals a step further, integrating the principals of smart growth and green building into the first national standard for community design.
New Songdo's participation in the 18-month pilot program will result in the entire city of New Songdo earning the LEED-Neighborhood Development standard. At the same time, the Green Building Council hopes that New Songdo will point the way in the development of smarter, healthier communities worldwide.
Songdo's participation in the pilot is being overseen by YRG Sustainability Consultants, WSG and Terrapin Bright Green.