Dongtan-2: A Premise for Urban Living
Dongtan-2: A Premise for Urban Living envisions an urban model that allows long term sustainability for both the environment and city inhabitants. Through an in depth case study of Dongtan-2 in South Korea, the Urban Design Lab (UDL) proposal addresses the many ecological issues generated along with the rapid growth of cities around the world.
Dongtan-2 is a city born of this development, a new sister city to the already established satellite, Dongtan. The location, rich with vibrant waterways and historic land use precedents, provides an ideal site for implementing cutting edge strategies for a new urban conception. Inspired by its existing agricultural landscape and topography, the project reinterprets key elements from the existing ecology as an underlying principle in the vision of what lies ahead for Dongtan-2. Therefore, Dongtan-2 itself provides the site-specific guidance toward sustainable urban practice.
Unlike typical urban developments, in which the cost-benefit analyses tends to favor immediate savings over long term savings, the proposal for Dongtan-2 strongly favors investment in long term sustainable infrastructure, materials, and building design, as well as in education and preservation. As watersheds have historically driven land use practices in the region, this natural element is an organizing principle for the new urban site: making water integral to the city’s identity and vitality serves to protect it, and by promoting understanding of the value of water in urban settings, though demonstration and integration, a culture of conservation is encouraged.
Managing Editors and Designers: Richard Plunz, Richard Gonzalez, Leo Daehwan Chung, Dongsei Kim, Marc Leverant, Zoe Malliaros
Sponsors and Collaborators: Korea Planners Association