Ariul, a new city on the water. Saemangeum, South Korea

Saemangeum, on the coast of the Yellow Sea, becomes the “port city of Ariul”. The government expects in fact that the estuarine area will become a global green waterfront city, an economic and multifunctional hub of Northeast Asia consisting of industrial-related facilities, global business hub, renewable energy-related businesses, scientific research centers, advanced agricultural clusters, tourist attractions, hotels, resorts and residential property, and ecological reserves. Planned to be built upon a massive plot of reclaimed land along the Central West coast of South Korea, the Saemangeum Development Project is a state-generated construction master plan to build a global and multifunctional green city. The first phase of the project will be carried out by 2020, and the second phase starts in 2021, with 72.7% (205.8sqkm) of the total area developed in the first phase. The multifunctional city of Ariul will mainly follow the “radiator-type structure (Sha-Ring) with the circle in the central area as the core function. The city will be divided into northern and southern parts. The northern half will be developed as an industrial city, commerce and residence, while the southern half will focus on tourism, with facilities like a Korean culture theme park, marine sports facilities and resorts. The transportation infrastructure will be further developed to make Saemangeum easily accessible by international airport and sea ports, the national highway and the high speed train connection. With the aim of creating an ecological network connecting estuaries, environmental zones and waterfronts, the project also includes the construction of bike and pedestrian way and a system of water transport and the construction of a transit terminal.