Korean construction companies are currently actively engaged in new city construction projects around the globe.
Backed by their technological prowess and experience, they have been receiving many orders to build completely new cities in many Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

Hanwha Engineering & Construction (Hanwha E&C) received an order to build the Bismayah New City in Iraq this past April. This is so far the largest single construction project overseas for any Korean firm, worth some USD 8 billion. It is part of the Iraqi government’s plans to build 1 million new homes for its citizens.

Under the project, Hanwha E&C will build a new city covering 1,830 hectares in Bismayah, about 10 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. It includes roads, water and sewage facilities and new city construction works. A total of 839 10-story buildings and 58 apartment complexes will be built throughout the 7 years of planned construction work.



In 2002, POSCO E&C received an order of to build a new city worth USD 640 million in Kazakhstan. Under the project, POSCO will build 80 million homes near Almaty, the capital, as part of the “G4 project,” a development project which the Kazakh government will carry out over the next 15 years.

In Hanoi, Vietnam, Daewoo E&C has been carrying out a new city project, Starlake City, worth USD 2.5 billion. Daewoo began the first phase of the project in 2012.

The range of new city projects being undertaken by construction companies is also being extended to Central and South America.

On November 18, the Korea Engineering Construction Corporation (KECC) won an order for a basic plan implementation project at a new urban development project in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Under the plan, a new city covering 5,723 hectares will be built near the city of Santa Cruz. To this aim, the KECC will carry out basic plans to build infrastructure for the new city, which includes reviewing the planned city's master plan, infrastructure plans and land investigations.


“The size of the project may be small, but when the project goes according to plan, it will lead to follow-up projects, including designing, engineering and construction, which can be worth as much as USD 730 million," said Song Seog-jun, assistant minister for construction policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr