Songdo International City

If the open port is a city the sea opened, Songdo is a city built by filling the sea in. Reclamation of the tidal flats began in 1994, and after the area was designated a free economic zone in 2003 a planned city of 55 square kilometres went up whole. Beside the seawater canal of Central Park stands the 305-metre POSCO Tower, and between them sit UN-affiliated offices and the campuses of foreign universities. For most visitors crossing the Incheon Bridge from the airport, this is the first Korean landscape they see.

📖 The Story

✦ Highlights

• ›Songdo Central Park
  A 411,000-square-metre park opened in 2009 and the first seawater park in Korea, with water taxis working 1.8 kilometres of canal.
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  The idea at the heart of this park is that seawater was drawn back onto land made by filling the sea. Walkways run along both banks, and a hanok village on one side puts tiled roofs and glass towers in the same frame, which is the composition most visitors photograph. The best hour of the day is after sunset, when the skyline lies on the water.

• ›POSCO Tower-Songdo
  Sixty-eight storeys and 305 metres, completed in 2014. Built as the Northeast Asia Trade Tower, it was the tallest building in Korea until Lotte World Tower in 2017.
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  It is the first thing the eye finds in the Songdo skyline. The name changed in 2017; the original, Northeast Asia Trade Tower, states plainly what the city was built to be. Seen from the far bank of the Central Park canal, the whole tower fits into one frame with its reflection. It has given up the title of tallest, but not its place as the emblem of Songdo.

• ›The G Tower and the international district
  A 33-storey building completed in 2013, where the Green Climate Fund secretariat opened that December. It is cited as a leading case of a UN-affiliated body headquartering in Asia.
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  Songdo was designated a free economic zone with the aim of becoming an international business city, and this building is that aim at its most concrete. On days when the observation floor is open it takes in Central Park and the bridge beyond, though opening varies and is worth checking first. With offices and convention facilities clustered around it, a weekday afternoon here feels quite unlike a tourist quarter.

• ›Incheon Bridge
  Opened to traffic in October 2009 and 21.38 kilometres long in total. Its 800-metre cable-stayed main span is the longest in Korea, and it links the airport directly to Songdo.
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  Begun in 2005, it opened four years later. Anyone landing at Incheon Airport and heading for Songdo rather than Seoul crosses it, and those twenty minutes over open water are the first scene of Korea for a great many visitors. From the shoreline promenade on the Songdo side, or from a high floor, the whole bridge appears to rest on the horizon. The view is best around sunset.

🚶 Self-Guided Walk

1. 1Central Park Station
   The park begins as you leave the station. The look of the surroundings makes it obvious at once that this is a planned city where the subway came before the buildings.
2. 2The Central Park canal
   Follow the 1.8 kilometres of seawater channel on foot, or take a water taxi and see the city from the water.
   💡 The waterside path is often windy; bring a layer.
3. 3The hanok village
   A quarter of tiled-roof houses at one side of the park. Tiled roofs against glass towers is the best-known photograph in Songdo.
4. 4POSCO Tower-Songdo
   The 305-metre emblem of the city. From across the canal, the tower and its reflection fit in a single frame.
5. 5The G Tower and international district
   The building housing the Green Climate Fund secretariat and the business district around it. Check on site whether the observation area is open.
6. 6The canal after dark
   After sunset the skyline settles onto the water. If Songdo by day is a plan, Songdo at night looks like the finished drawing of it.
   💡 The half hour just after sunset gives the sharpest reflections.

🧭 Visitor Info

💡 Good to Know

• Songdo works well as the end of an Incheon day. See 1883 in the open port and Chinatown in the morning, then cross over in the afternoon, and the harbour the powers forced open and the city built by filling that sea line up in a single day.
• It sits conveniently between the airport and the city. Airport buses cross the bridge in about forty minutes, which makes it a good use of a spare half-day before a flight.
• The park is large and short on shade. Late afternoon into sunset and the night view beats the middle of a summer day, and in winter the sea wind is strong.
• Hours and fares for the water taxis, boats and observation areas change from season to season. If any of them is a must, confirm on the day through the on-site notices or official channels.

🗺 Pair Your Visit