If you look back on and learn from the past, you can look forward to a bright future. Fittingly enough, there is an old saying that goes, “Try to find a guide into tomorrow by taking lessons from the past.” If you look back on the history of a city, you can see how the city will develop and what it will look like many years from now. This is all the more true if the city has a dream and its administrators are determined to turn it into a reality. One such example is Incheon, a metropolitan city bustling with faith-filled activities.
“Incheon’s place in the world as an international center for cultural and economic exchange was heralded by the opening of Jemulpo harbor” in the early 1880s, thus begins a message by Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo for Incheon Beyond Imagination, a public relations brochure published by Incheon Metropolitan City on the occasion of the opening of the Global & Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea. The Global & Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea is an international event taking place in Incheon, composed of exhibitions, conferences and various kinds of festivals. It will continue for 80 days in various locations in the city from Aug. 7 to Oct. 25 this year. “We are proud of our accomplishments and we look forward to sharing them with you,” Mayor Ahn further says.
Incheon is the second largest seaport on the west coast of Korea and the host city of the 2014 Asian Games. Located midway between the northern and southern parts of the Korean Peninsula, the city served as the main conduit to import modern Western civilization into the country, playing the role equivalent to that of San Francisco in the United States. “Korea first welcomed the world through Incheon port when it was opened on Jan. 1, 1883, and a host of foreign countries flocked to the city,” writes the city’s PR brochure. “It is no surprise that Incheon was home to many firsts – the first city in Korea to adopt Western religion, the first to erect a Western-style park and the first to build a railway.”
Henry Appenzeller, a Methodist missionary from the United States, arrived in Incheon and borrowed a small thatched house, where he held religious services. The house later became Korea’s first Methodist Church, Naeri Methodist Church. “In 1899, Korea got its first railway, the Gyeongin (Seoul-Incheon) Line, connecting Noryangjin (in Seoul) to Incheon. In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur commanded the Battle of Incheon. Through this assault, which took place from Sept. 15 to 17 of that year, UN and South Korean forces were able to secure the area and put a stop to subsequent victories by advancing North Korean troops,” the brochure adds.
“Today, about a century has passed and Incheon port has evolved into the biggest port on Korea’s western coast. The port is the 23rd largest in the world by cargo tonnage, transporting about 123 million tons a year,” the brochure says. “Come 2014, Incheon will be a city fit for the future, with high-tech high-rises grounded in the earth and reaching up toward the sky. The graceful arc of Incheon Bridge will lend a touch of beauty while also facilitating travel. And world-class businesses, schools, hospitals and cultural complexes will enhance what’s set to be the next Northeast Asian hub for logistics, business and trade.”
A Tale of Two Cities
No doubt, we live in a world of rivalry and competition. Every ambitious young person has his or her rival to compete with on his or her path to fame and success. Incheon has its rival in this part of the world, Shanghai, the largest city in China and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Incheon is located at the mouth of the Han River, while Shanghai is located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Incheon is the second port city of Korea and Shanghai is the largest port city on the Chinese mainland.
Incheon opened to Japanese trade by the Treaty of Ganghwa in 1876, while Shanghai opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. Since their respective opening to the outside world, the two cities have followed their own paths to fame. The two cities have many things in common, but either has many things to boast of on its own. Incheon has Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport in its vicinity, while Shanghai has Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport. Incheon operates Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and Shanghai has Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone.
Despite such similar features and Shanghai’s head start as an entrepot trade port, Incheon has many more advantages in terms of state-of-the-art ubiquitous technologies, given its geographical location and its determination to build an intelligent city based on ubiquitous technologies on the strength of Korea’s status as the world’s IT powerhouse. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (WFTZ) apparently focuses on business environment and preferential policies, and international trade and investment with the main purpose of facilitating trade and investment. By contrast, as a rising u-City, Incheon has focused on turning itself into a globalized tech-heavy urban area based on an ambitious free economic zone project approved by the central government in 2003 as the country’s first free economic zone. This free economic zone project, which will be completed by 2020, has gained further momentum with the opening of the Global & Festival 2009 on Aug. 7.
IFEZ
Incheon boasts of being an intelligent, dynamic, and attractive city, operating the IFEZ, which consists of three districts – Songdo International City, Cheongna Leisure City, and Yeongjong Aeropolis. Songdo features u-Health care services, a u-City Global Center, and a Global Academic Complex. Cheongna showcases a Robot Land theme park and high-tech industrial sites, while Yeongjong Aeropolis, home to Incheon International Airport, will turn into an island city equipped with a global financial center and a Medi-City with state-of-the-art medical facilities, including international hospitals, hotels and biotechnology research centers.
Global Fair & Festival 2009
As the nerve center and logistics hub of Northeast Asia, the city is hosting Global Fair & Festival Incheon, Korea under the theme Lightening Tomorrow, which symbolizes the city’s idea of a more desirable tomorrow. Lightening symbolizes the “ideal life of the future, when technology will help people accomplish their dreams” while tomorrow reflects the city’s hope for a better future “filled with creativity and innovation, and is sustainable through time.”
“Exhibitions will also showcase various urban cultures, high-tech products, environment-friendly alternatives for everyday city life and promotional opportunities for all participants”; “by hosting investment trade shows, forums, and academic conferences in conjunction with the main exhibitions, the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea will create a venue for constructive debate where participants can share real solutions on urban development and redevelopment, energy and the environment, IT, transportation and sustainable tourism”; and “participants will be able to indulge in an endless number of world-class events and participate in various festivals during the 80 days of the Global Fair & Festival 2009,” the brochure says.
Lightening Tomorrow
The fair & festival opened in Incheon on Aug. 7, with participating of about 500 cities and 1,300 enterprises from 100 countries around the world. The show features ubiquitous facilities, such as digital ponds and trees, u-benches, and intelligent streetlamps.
During the event, visitors will be attracted to Robot Science Future Pavilion, City Paradiso, a high-tech 3D theater featuring the country’s largest 1,000-inch (22m by 12m) screen, and World Culture Street. In addition, large-scale international environmental conferences will be held, including the World Environment Forum, in which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend. Incheon will also introduce itself as Smart City, a knowledge-based industrial city furnished with state-of-the-art information and communication infrastructure, at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit (APCS) to be held in September.
A multimedia water show will be presented 30 minutes before the closing every night, and RoboRama, the world’s first robot drama, will be screened 10 times every day.
Chin Dae-je, chairman of the Organizing Committee, said, “The Global Fair & Festival Incheon 2009 is an event where you can see everything about cities, including state-of-the-art urban technologies, culture and environment. I believe that this event will be helpful to enhancing Korea’s brand identity, as well as developing the economy of Incheon.”
