South Korea Opens First Phase of Songdo Supercity

The first phase of Songdo, a $35bn city-within-a-city near Seoul’s international airport in South Korea has been officially opened.

Phase one of development will see a giant park, hotel, apartments and a convention centre opening this week.

The project began in 2002 and is expected to finish in 2015 by which point about 65,000 people are expected to live in Songdo.

US architecture firm Gale International is the developer of Songdo’s master plan, while Korean company Posco Engineering and Construction is the residential developer and construction manager.

The South Korean Government will spend about $10bn on the city infrastructure.