Autodesk Announces Incheon, Korea as Second City of its Digital Cities Initiative

Autodesk has designated Incheon as the second pilot city of its Digital City initiative, after announcing Salzburg, Austria in July. Autodesk, IFEZ, and IUDC will work together to develop a Digital City -- a collaborative environment created around a detailed 3D city model that allows users from the public, city government, construction and business communities to leverage technology solutions so they can visualize, analyze and simulate real-world city scenarios to improve decision making and provide a common environment for sharing information.

The objective of today's announcement is to help the Tomorrow City research a state-of-the-art city management system. Another goal of this pilot program is for Incheon to be able to bring together 3D models of above and below ground features in an open technology platform that supports the secure and robust integration of CAD, building information modeling (BIM), geospatial, civil engineering, and infrastructure data over a wide geographic area. By combining that data with Autodesk's realistic visualization and simulation tools, the city of Incheon would deliver an intuitive and compelling way for its citizens to experience and understand the design and management of a city's construction, environment and traffic.

The IFEZ and the IUDC will collaborate with Autodesk to explore the full potential of U-GIS (ubiquitous GIS), possibly one of the most advanced applications of ubiquitous technology in the world. At the same time, the parties expect that the Digital City project will help promote Incheon City as a leading 'u-city' (a city of ubiquitous information technology). The Korean government's u-cities initiative aims to establish a repeatable way to plan, build, and manage large urban development projects that incorporate innovative technology and design. Incheon City can serve as a future model for subsequent urban development programs in Korea and abroad. "Partnering with Autodesk will help us realize our vision to build a Digital City and transform Incheon into an international business hub of the Northeast Asian region -- that will lead in education, finance, commerce and retail," said Lee Heon-Seok, CEO of IFEZ. "Autodesk's technology will also help us in our planning and hosting of important upcoming events, such as the 2009 World City Expo and the 2014 Asian Games. All in all, the Autodesk Digital Cities initiative will help make our ambitious dream come true."

Autodesk and the IUDC have worked together for many years, and Autodesk's acknowledged expertise and credibility in engineering, data sets and visualization technologies will provide Incheon with an in-depth understanding of how to visualize design at a city-wide scale. Kim Dong-Kee, president of IUDC said, "As 3D modeling technology will be implemented from planning to construction phase, the Digital City project makes it not only possible to save costs but also to develop high-quality city development." "We are pleased to work with two leading agencies in Korea -- IFEZ and the IUDC -- on this groundbreaking project to help Incheon become a world-class city," said Nahm Ki-Hwan, CEO of Autodesk Korea.

"Our Digital City technology can help the city and communities of Incheon to communicate, collaborate, and deliver projects in a more effective -- and sustainable -- way," said Lisa Campbell, vice president, Autodesk Geospatial. "Today's announcement builds on the work we are doing with our first pilot city, Salzburg, to create a business tool that will help cities plan and operate sustainable development essential for tomorrow's high-performance cities and economies." Song-Do as the Pilot Project For the initial phase of the Digital City initiative, "Tomorrow City (T-City)" -- a 100-billion-KRW-invested mini city, located in New Song-do City, off the coast of Incheon, has been selected as the pilot project. Scheduled to be opened in August 2009, "T-City" is a six-story, mini u-city urban development project (with the total plot area of 31,697 square miles) that will feature diverse, futuristic u-services, including u-traffic and u-shopping. In this pilot program, the IFEZ will examine every potential benefit of the new 3D city management system, which will cover the whole process of the city development project ranging from design, construction, and operation to maintenance of the city after the construction.

Benefits of the Digital City As the 3D city modeling can be used to make better informed decisions based on real data, the IFEZ will be able to communicate those decisions and options to a wide range of stakeholders. Moreover, the city government can minimize impact of the development projects over millions of its citizens and provide better administrative services to them, as the collaborative environment created around a detailed 3D model can allow IFEZ to simulate and understand the impact of plans and proposals throughout the planning and development process.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) consists of three different Incheon City districts with a total of 51,739 acres: Songdo, Yeongjong and Cheongna. Its goal is to transform these areas into the logistics, international business and leisure and tourism hub of the Northeast Asian region. The term "Free Economic Zone" (FEZ) refers to a geographic area designed by the Government of Korea to create a globally competitive business and living environment that will attract foreign investment and international companies. IFEZ was established as Korea's first FEZ in August 2003. The Government of Korea fully supports free international business and the standards of corporate management demanded by today's global market.