By Yoon Ja-young
Korea will lead construction of a smart city in Kuwait, which will be three times bigger than Bundang in Gyeonggi Province, one of Seoul’s major satellite cities.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday that the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) signed a contract with Kuwait’s housing and welfare ministry to manage the master plan of building South Saad Al-Abdullah New City in the Middle East country.
A Korean consortium, comprised of a group of Korean urban architects, will undertake the project.
During a Korea-Kuwait summit in 2015 the latter proposed that Seoul create the new city plan for the country. It highly evaluated Korea’s experience in developing new mega-cities.
Korea’s land ministry, which was looking for opportunities to advance overseas, also actively engaged in the deal.
The South Saad Al-Abdullah New City project will provide homes for at least 25,000 households.
LH dispatched specialists in new city development to examine the site and start design work, drawing up a master plan to construct a futuristic city connected with smart devices.
South Saad Al-Abdullah New City is one of nine new cities that Kuwait plans to build. Located 30 kilometers to the west of Kuwait City, the area of land to be used is 64.4 square kilometers. When a Kuwait man gets married, the government provides a home for the new couple. Around 110,000 are waiting to get homes in Kuwait, but the annual supply of homes stands at a mere 1,800, on average.
Kuwait plans to make New City an example of a global smart city as well as the first environmentally friendly city in the Middle East. It is likely to provide more business opportunities for Korean construction companies as well.
After analyzing the feasibility of the master plan, which will take two years to complete, the Korean consortium will set up a special purpose vehicle jointly with Kuwait. Construction will begin in 2019.
“South Saad Al-Abdullah New City will be the first example of a Korean smart city design being exported overseas. When the project is successfully completed, Korean firms will have the upper hand in city development projects in the Middle East, which has much demand for cities thanks to its increasing working-age population,” an official at LH said.
“Using our experience in new city development, we will contribute to enhance housing welfare for the Kuwaiti people as well as help Korean firms advance into the Middle East. We hope the city will be the pride of both Kuwait and Korea when completed,” said LH CEO Park Sang-woo.