IFEZ Commissioner Lee Young-geun.

 A project to build the City Tower in Cheongna International City of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) has gotten a boost. 

The IFEZ signed an agreement on the management and operation of the upcoming City Tower with the Choengna City Tower consortium. Another deal was signed on the construction of the skyscraper with Korea Land & Housing (LH) on Feb. 10. 

The project is a joint public-private sector mega-project calling for the construction and operation of City Tow, a 448-meter skyscraper, and multi-purpose facilities at a cost of about 400 billion won on a site covering 33,058 sq. meters at the center of Cheongna Lake Park. 

According to an agreement signed between the IFEZ and LH, a consortium led by Bosung Corp. was selected as the preferred bidder of the project in a public contest held last October. Bosung Corp. will be responsible for the management; Hanyang Inc. will be charged with construction; and Tower Escrow Inc. will participate in the project as an investor. 

The City Tower project, which will break ground next February, is to be dedicated in February 2022. If the City Tow is built as planned, it will be the third-highest skyscraper in Korea following the 555-meter-high Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, and the upcoming 553-meter-high Global Business Center in Samseong-dong, Seoul. 

The City Tower and other structures will be handed over to the Incheon Metropolitan City government after completion. The City Tower consortium will be allowed to operate and manage City Tow and other multi-purpose structures for 50 years. The project calls for the construction of City Tower, an observatory with multi-purpose facilities, wedding halls, cafes, restaurants and shopping centers as well as diverse entertainment areas, sightseeing and experience facilities in an all-in-one format. 

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, “The Cheongna City Tower project will be implemented in a full-fledged fashion in accordance with the business agreements, and Incheon Metropolitan City will spare no efforts to develop and operate the City Tower into Incheon’s representative landmark.”

IFEZ Commissioner Lee Young-geun said, “I’ll do my best to dedicate City Tower, which had been delayed, as soon as possible and successfully operate it by cooperating with LH and the consortium of the project.”

An artist conception shows the Cheongna Lake Park. (Photos: IFEZ)

IFEZ’s Signs MOU on Smart City with Yancheng City

The IFEZ signed a smart city MOU with Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China, at the G-Tower in Songdo International City on Feb. 6.

The agreement is designed to develop Yanchen City into a smart city. The Jiangsu provincial government has designed Yanchen City as an “exemplary smart city.”

Yancheng is one of the Chinese cities with which Korea has maintained close relations. The Chinese city has Kia Motors’ automobile plant. IFEZ Commissioner Lee said, “Now that the Chinese have demonstrated a keen interest in building a smart city, we’ll strive to pull the exporting of IFEZ’s mart city model off.”

The IFEZ area, which boasts of the world’s top-rated ubiquitous city U-City, is the subject of benchmarking from many central and provincial governments around the world. 

The U-City concept has been introduced in such cities as Dongtan, Hwaseong; Unjeong, Paju; and Pangyo, but the IFEZ areas, including Songdo, Cheongna, and Yeongjong, are rated as the most advanced. 

A ubiquitous city is a futuristic municipal model offering diverse public services through an integrated operation center based on advanced technologies.