Self-Sustainable City of Green Rings to be Built in South Korea

Gwanggyo, a new city to be built south of Seoul, South Korea, will get a futuristic, green city center designed by Dutch architecture group MVRDV. The town is planned to be self-sufficient, with 77,000 inhabitants, and the buildings in its center will be unlike any others in the world. MVRDV won a competition to design the city center.

From Meta Efficient:

The architects say that all the elements of the city center will be design as rings, and “by pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life.”

Box hedges will be planted on the terraces and roofs of the buildings. The intention is to improve ventilation, and reduce energy and water usage.

The shifting of the floors causes as a counter effect hollow cores that form large atriums. They serve as lobbies for the housing and offices, plazas for the shopping center and halls for the museum and leisure functions. In each tower a number of voids connect to the atrium providing for light and ventilation and creating semi-public spaces.

 

Interesting concept… with the rings of greenery and large glass walls, you feel a connection with the outdoors no matter what floor you’re on. Such a design would practically eliminate the claustrophobic feeling one can get when surrounded by concrete and steel in city environments. Details on exactly how the city would be self-sustainable are thin, but it will be interesting to see how this concept will translate to real life once it’s completed in 2011.

Link [Meta Efficient]

South Korea Unveils $38 Billion Green Stimulus

South Korea is a step ahead of the United States in terms of creating a ‘Green New Deal’. The country’s prime minister announced on Tuesday that South Korea will invest 50 trillion won ($38 billion USD) over the next four years on environmental projects to invigorate the economy and create nearly a million jobs. The announcement comes just weeks before President-elect Obama’s inauguration, after which he is expected to quickly begin work on a U.S. green stimulus.

From MSNBC:

“We are in an unprecedented global economic crisis,” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said in a statement. “We must respond to the situation in an urgent manner.”

Energy conservation, recycling, carbon reduction, flood prevention, development around the country’s four main rivers and maintaining forest resources are among projects to be pursued under the plan, approved at a Cabinet meeting.

Trade-dependent South Korea is looking for ways to boost its slowing economy as global demand wanes for traditional mainstay goods such as automobiles and technological products.

It’s certainly good for the U.S. to have some competition in this area, and encouraging to know that leaders around the world consider a green stimulus to be a smart way to tackle the economic crisis. If more countries began integrating sustainability into the basic fabric of their economies, we’d be well on our way to a far healthier planet.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user http2007

Village in South Korea Runs on 100% Solar Power

Not too long ago, a town in Missouri proved that running on 100% wind power is an attainable goal. Now, the village of Donggwang on Jeju Island in South Korea is showing the world that solar power works, too. Hurray for innovation and leaders willing to take chances!

EcoWorldly has it:

Donggwang has achieved what even the most powerful countries in the world are still struggling to accomplish: total energy independence with clean technology.

On the roof of each of the 40 houses in Donggwang lies a large beds of solar panels. Even the small, local elementary school runs on free electric energy from the sun. The photovoltaic panels produce enough energy to power the entire area. Amidst cattle and fields, Donggwang is a state-of-the-art renewable energy village.

In 2004, the government helped to install solar systems in Donggwang, paying 70% of the installation fees.

When Eco Worldly writer Gavin Hudson asked Choo Chan Lee, a Donggwang resident, whether he was concerned about environmental issues, his easy response was that he just wanted to preserve the clean air of Jeju Island. Jeju-do is the largest of South Korea’s semi-tropical islands and is home to Halla Mountain, a volcano and the tallest mountain in South Korea.

This little paradise, so close to the overwhelming pollution of China, sets a great example for countries around the world – especially the United States. If we could accomplish this in a few of our own cities, more people would see that it’s not just ‘possible’, it’s reality – and it could mean a happier, healthier home for all of us.

Link [EcoWorldly]
Photo credit: Gavin Hudson, EcoWorldly