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Songdo, South Korea: the world's first smart city - in pictures

This article is more than 9 years old

Songdo is due for final completion in 2015. It is sustainable, green and full of technological innovations – but what’s it like to live there?

The truth about smart cities: ‘In the end, they will destroy democracy’

Songdo has been built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land; the final elements of this ‘smart city’ are due to be completed in 2015. All photographs: Maria Teresa Bilotta Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta/The Lemon Grove
A child plays with a smartphone in Songdo’s Central Park, inspired by New York’s park of the same name
The topsy-turvy Incheon Tri-Bowl, Songdo’s cultural exhibition centre in Central Park Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta/The Lemon Grove
One of three revealing bronze statues that perpetually urinate into Central Park lake, Songdo Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta/The Lemon Grove
A Songdo resident plays the flute in the shade of a traditional Korean wooden shelter Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta
The 10-year development of Songdo is reckoned to have cost upwards of £100 million Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta/The Lemon Grove
At 101 acres, Central Park takes up about 10% of Songdo smart city’s total area. Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta
A picnic in the park, South Korean-style Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta
Songdo’s Central Park opened in 2009; the city is designed as a low-carbon, eco-friendly city Photograph: Maria Teresa Bilotta
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