While Saudi Arabia’s smart and futuristic city plan ‘The Line’ is echoing, I would like to share my thoughts on another smart city project which I have witnessed while I was in South Korea. With the influence of the series ‘Severance’, I will be talking about both Songdo and other smart cities in relation to Songdo.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/4/1663855625805.png" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.42" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Being one of the first smart cities in the world, Songdo International Business District, in South Korea’s Incheon region, was planned by turning the location’s closeness to the airport into an advantage. The city, being only 30 kilometres from Seoul and having started from scratch, is the biggest private property project implemented in history. Although the project was supposed to be finished in 2015, with 80,000 flats, 5,000,000 m2 of office area and a 900,000 m2 shopping centre, it still remains incomplete. In addition to the abovementioned areas, the city holds cycle tracks, big streets and many parks, which makes it almost a city utopia. &nbsp;<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/4/1663855670789.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.56" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Moreover, the city puts the firsts into practice in terms of sustainability by hosting 106 buildings with an LEED certificate which means that 40% of the city is certified. Therefore, it is quite impossible to encounter trash in the city because the trash is collected via trash chutes in buildings and categorised as either waste or recycle. The city manifests its smartness once again with the free Wi-Fi and the electronic systems inside the buildings. Access to residentials is ensured by either cards or passwords while the screens at homes make it possible to control the room temperature, the lights, etc. One of the most interesting things for me was the constant music playing on the streets. &nbsp;It seemed as if the purpose was to protect the pedestrians from the sun with huge umbrellas while they were waiting for the long traffic lights in addition to entertaining them.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/4/1663855744743.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.56" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">So, how did this smart city make me feel like? Although South Korea’s plan to construct the future’s smart and organised city, as opposed to the chaos of Seoul, seemed plausible, it is likely for this utopia to turn into a dystopia — in fact, it is already turning. This excessively sterile and organised city cannot manage to get rid of the feeling of a big, clean shopping centre. Furthermore, it is not somewhere people can afford, considering the rapid climb of house prices. The city’s population is around 167,000. And we know for a fact that more buildings than demanded are built and many more are to come. Empty streets and parks are almost like a reflection of the demand and supply gap. When I think of this gap, I cannot help asking myself: How could a smart and sustainable city be the future’s city in the first place when it is not preferred by people? Those who would like to be close to work and families looking to run away from Seoul’s chaos prefer this city. On the other hand, how different is it from Panoptikon with the obliviousness among its residents and the CCTVs watching the city 24/7?<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/4/1663855767938.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.34" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">I believe the human factor and its values are neglected whereas smartness and political correctness are given importance to when it comes to planning smart cities of the future. The only intentions in the designation process of these places are smartness, orderliness and security which leaves out the spirit of the place. In my opinion, the places people take refuge in while running away from the city’s chaos turn into dystopias that appear as utopias in the first place which are very smart, but ghost towns on the contrary. Building smart ‘enough’ cities instead of the ones that look like they are invaded by dementors seems like the biggest challenge of tomorrow’s architects.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/8/4/1663855792418.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.34" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">

Are smart cities able to serve the purposes that have shaped their design process?

Songdo: Utopia or Dystopia?

Edebiyatta ütopya türünde yazılmış eserlerle ilgilenen herkes bilir ki, ütopya kelimesi Thomas More tarafından türetilmiştir. Bu kelime utopia Yunanca ou&nbsp;[Yok,değil] ve topos&nbsp;[yer] sözcüklerinden oluşur ve ''yok-yer, yok-ülke'' anlamına gelir; Thomas More'un Ütopyası&nbsp; gibi her insanın yaşamak istediği bir yer olunca, sözcük oyunuyla etopia&nbsp;şekline bürünür, yani ''iyi-ülke, şanslı-ülke'' ya da tam tabiriyle ''yaşanası-yer'' olur. Ütopya, yeryüzünün zihinsel coğrafyasında bir yer bulur kendine ve Platon'un kurguladığı ideal devlet biçimini bir anlamda hayata geçirir. Hep daha iyi, hep daha huzurlu ve en önemlisi adaleti bütün hücrelerine sindirmiş, mükemmel devlette yaşama fikri hiç kuşkusuz More'a özgü değildir. Kaostan kozmosa geçiş sürecinden ve bu süreci ilk kez konu edinen Hesiodus'un destanın itibaren, insanoğlu kendine yaraşan bir yaşam tarzı arzuladığında zihninin en derin köşelerinde mutlaka böyle bir ütopya hayal etmiştir ve yeryüzünde varolduğu sürece de bu hayalini sürdürecek, içinde soluk aldığı toplumun nice kusuruna tanık oldukça bu hayalini daha da derinleştirecektir. Thomas More ince alaylardan zevk alan ve klasik yergi üslubunu benimseyen bir edebiyatçı ve devlet adamıdır. Gerek mektuplaşmalarında gerekse yakın dostu <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=erasmus+von+rotterdam&rlz=1C1GCEA_enTR831TR831&oq=erasmus+von&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.5480j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">Erasmus</a>'un onun karakteri ve benimsediği yaşam tarzıyla ilgili kaleme aldığı mektubunda ciddi konulara anarşi yaratacak nitelikte eleştiriler getirmek yerine, antikçağ yergi üstatlarının kullandığı yergi diline benzer bir dil benimsediğini ve eleştirirken siyasi ve ahlaki dersler vermeyi ön planda tuttuğu gözlemlenir. <img src="https://images.aposto.com/2021/2/2021-03-26T07:02:56.314Z_sm.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" alt="Thomas More" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Bu yüzden hem kendi toplumunda hem de zamanının diğer Batı toplumlarında tanık olduğu belli başlı toplumsal, ekonomik ve siyasi sorunlara doğrudan doğruya ağır eleştiriler getirmek yerine, bir ütopya devleti yaratarak örnek çözümler getirmeye ve ders vermeye çalışmıştır. Başka deyişle Thomas More zihninde boğuştuğu söz konusu sorunların çözümsüz olmadığını, yine zihninde yarattığı Ütopya'sının farklı devlet modelini, farklı düşüncelere ve ahlaka sahip yöneticilerini ve yaşamın tek amacının mutluluğa ulaşmak olduğunu düşünen, kavgadan olabildiğince uzak duran ve bütün serbest zamanlarında kitap okuyan insanları örnek göstererek kanıtlamayı denemiştir.

utopia ile ilgili hikayeler