The End of Dream Hub

April 10, 2013 by 11 Comments

The largest urban planning project of South Korea is never going to be realized. Of course, I talk about Yongsan International Business District. KORAIL announced that they won’t develop the land. The bought properties are going back to their former owners and the partners of Dream Hub project get their investment back. The project never made it out of the planning phase. However, the plans are pretty amazing and so I’ll try to show briefly a real estate developer’s dream.

siteplan4_05_img01

(Source: Dream Hub)

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How Good is Seoul’s BRT?

March 1, 2013 by 4 Comments

What do you combine with Curitiba in Brazil? Of course, the first thing that comes into mind, is the bus rapid transit system of that city. Curitiba could be described as the inventor of bus rapid transit and their accomplishments set the bar for other cities around the world. If you don’t know what I’m speaking about, let me introduce this special bus system for you: Bus rapid transit is abbreviated as “BRT” and a good definition is given by the New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency:

Bus Rapid Transit or BRT has been defined as “a flexible, integrated, high performance transit system with a quality image and a strong identity.” BRT combines the speed, reliability and amenities of rail-based rapid transit systems with the flexibility of buses.

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A Visit to Songdo

February 18, 2013 by 10 Comments

Songdo Panorama

Songdo is the sensational urban development project of Incheon on reclaimed land at the western coast of South Korea. I follow the development and news articles about Songdo since a year or more. So I’ve went there with some certain expectations of a modern, green city, which is friendly to pedestrians. But I didn’t get the feeling like the short documentary  ”Cities of Future: Songdo” by Cisco and an article by the Washington Post want to present. Read more of this post

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PRT System to Open for Suncheon Bay Garden Expo

February 13, 2013 by 1 Comment

Update: The PRT line will not be opening as planned on April 20 and according to recent sightings at the venue, construction is still ongoing. Keep an eye out for updates.

Spring is not too far off and this April will see the opening of a new PRT(personal rapid transport) system in Suncheon Bay, a coastal eco-park in South Cheolla famous for its nature, wetlands and wildlife. The opening of the line will come sometime after the opening Suncheon Bay Garden Expo, an international festival which will be held for six months from April 20 to October 20. If you’re more interested in what the festival has to offer than the transport, check out the bottom of this post. Read more of this post

Filed under General News and Updates, Jeolla Provinces, Large Scale Projects, Light Rail Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

New Station to be added to Airport Railroad

September 11, 2012 by Leave a comment

On August 31, KORAIL announced that it would be going ahead with the construction of Cheongna Station (청라역), a new station on the Airport Railroad.

Located between Geomam (검암) and Unseo (운서) Stations, the city of Incheon is investing in the new station for the convenience of residents in the Cheongna area. Once the line opens it will take only 40 minutes to get to central Seoul.

Source: KORAIL

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Filed under Categories, General News and Updates, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Large Scale Projects, Subway/Metro Tagged with , , , ,

Incheon International Airport to open Second Terminal by 2018

February 26, 2012 by 5 Comments

Recently I posted about the maglev train currently under construction at Incheon International Airport (referred to herein as Incheon Airport). This is only one part of the airport’s master plan to become the most efficient and environmentally friendly airport in the world. There is no doubt that Incheon Airport has already accomplished a number of its goals, recently deemed the “best airport worldwide in overall customer satisfaction” for the 7th year in a row by the Airports Council International. (I would like to add that Seoul Gimpo was also voted the best airport in the world for terminals serving 15-25 million passengers.) Read more of this post

Filed under General News and Updates, Incheon, Large Scale Projects, Public Infrastructure Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Korea to get First Domed Baseball Stadium

February 13, 2012 by 6 Comments

Korea’s first domed baseball park is already well under construction in west Seoul. The stadium is meant to replace Dongdaemun Stadium which was demolished back in 2008 and is being built in Gocheok-dong, Guro (구로구 고척동). Construction began on the stadium in May 2009 and is now estimated to cost up to nearly 76.1 billion won. Though original plans had the completion date set for just two years later in 2011, it was later changed to the very last day of 2013. The IBAP AAA Under 18s Junior Baseball World Cup is being held in South Korea this year and although it was hoped that the tournament could take place in the new stadium, the event has now been moved elsewhere. Read more of this post

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Funding approved for high-speed rail from Chuncheon to Sokcho

February 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

Though it is still very early days, on the 31st of December 2011, 5 billion won of the government’s budget was set aside to speed up the planning process and help construction get underway as soon as possible. The total length of the line will be 174.2km and will pass through the Yanggu(양구) and Inje(인제) areas before arriving at Sokcho. Read more of this post

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Maglev at Incheon International Airport to be completed this year

January 28, 2012 by 11 Comments

Incheon International Airport will become home to Korea’s first commercial urban maglev train line once completed in July this year but will not officially begin operating until October 2013. The trial line is only 6.1 kilometers long and travels from Incheon’s Transport Center to the Yongyoo-Muui Tourist Complex which is also under development. Read more of this post

Filed under Categories, General News and Updates, Incheon, Large Scale Projects, Light Rail Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: D-Cube City – It’s No Windowless Box

October 12, 2011 by 4 Comments

On the 26th of August, Seoul’s newest department store ‘D-Cube City’ was opened at Shindorim Station. Do not be fooled by its open and glassy appearance. Although it looks more like the shopping mall “Times Square” just down the road and not your normal windowless department store, it is indeed a new department store owned by the conglomerate Daesung.

However this is not simply a department store and it is bound to be in some heated competition with Times Square. Times Square is a shopping complex which opened just over two years ago and is less than 2km away from D-Cube City on the same road.

Here is a photo of what D-Cube City looks like from the outside. Read more of this post

Filed under Large Scale Projects, Public Spaces, Seoul Tagged with , , , , , ,

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