There were a lot of questions we asked at the start. Some of them were: What defines a city? What attracts people to an urban center? What makes a city livable? How does technology integrate seamlessly everyday human life, industries, urban systems, and projects for future needs? How does it generate revenue and return of investment?

Saemangum is an area of 400square kilometers all in waters of the Yellow Sea. It is formed by a 33 km, US$ 4 billion dike that obstructs the flow of two rivers into the sea.

An area of 4km2 would be enough to generate the amount of revenue necessary to sustain the existence of this new city.

The most efficient and effective to build non-invasive to the site, environmentally conscious, long-term sustainable solution that also uses as a key asset all previously made investments and constructions on the site, is a hyper-dense urban typology.

Through a series of phases, the linear mega city would become the city of the future…

As part of the city’s strategic development, a new airport would be built in the northern part at the Gunsan industrial zone. As an alternative to the International Airport at Incheon, the new hub would service both national and international flights. And a new highway would bring vehicle traffic to the main northern entry of the linear city, where all cars would be parked. The city would be cars free zone.

A mega structure would ensure minimal impact on the surrounding natural habitat and would be in a stark contrast with the ecologically destructive typical landfill approach that destroys mountains and results in disparate developments sustained by vast networks or roads and infrastructure.

Vertical and horizontal zoning facilitate the construction phasing and (mega) Lego-like modular building system would allow for the upgrade of individual (building) parts providing an uninterrupted intervention as the old buildings are pulled out and recycled while the new pots are slit into place and connected to the mega structure.

West side of the mega structure hosts all business and commercial. East side is all residential and recreational.

Two beaches span along the entire length of the city

Throughout the city multiple leveled zones provide for open and enclosed public spaces, parks and retreats.

A set of artificial islands would-be built-in in the center to activate the existing small archipelago. The artificial islands would hold program inside and outside providing for unexpected and unique destination experiences and making the Linear City into major international tourist attraction.

Car-free city with an eco-train runnung along the span of the city, connecting Gunsan industrial zone in the north with a National Park in the south, and be the primary transportation in the city. Running in the center of the dike, surrounded by boardwalk and bike lanes, the train would provide an fast transportation alternative to the otherwise pedestrian and localized traffic.