Information

City of Cities is a design for a new city of 500,000 inhabitants in South Korea. A collection of rural, urban and metropolitan environments and a large variety of urban programs have been combined in a well organized, compact area, which only covers 18 of the available 73 km2. In the rest of the area the beautiful nature stays intact.

The key word of this project is ‘immediacy’. It is a design for a compact city with a well organized public transport system and supply level, where residents can find a diversity of experiences within walking distance. Every destination can be reached rapidly by underground railway, bus or car. Nature is always near, within a maximum distance of 1.5 km or a 15 minutes walk.

The urban fabric is composed by a combination of semi-autarkic ‘urban islands’. These are designed as MicroCities: pedestrian friendly and car-free micro-villages. The sparse cars are mainly parked underground. Safe and quiet public spaces offer access to all addresses and also provide for safe children playgrounds surrounded by trees. All together the ‘urban islands’, with varying densities and unique positions in the landscape and urban context, will be able to develop there own specific qualities.

The new City of Cities will not be an endless continuation of urban sprawl. In this city one feels at home and mobile as a pedestrian, like in historical Asian cities, Paris and Amsterdam.