Place promotion and symbolic characterization of New Songdo City, South Korea

This paper examines the symbolic characterization of urban space in the publicity and marketing of New Songdo City – a new city under construction in South Korea. Competing with other places, the real estate sector and government actors construct the symbolic characterization of Songdo using various themes and cultural appeals. Songdo has been promoted as a node in the multicentered metropolitan region, a gateway to Northeast Asia and a living space of U-life since the groundbreaking ceremony in 2004. The real estate sector and government actors attach idealized connotations to these representations to mobilize support for their endeavor. In the process of mobilizing support, moreover, they modify these representations to adapt to the changing economic, political and social conditions. Since the wake of the global economic crisis in 2007, Songdo has been branded as a sustainable, green or eco-friendly city in publicity and marketing campaigns. This paper demonstrates that the political economy of urban development intertwines with the social construction of urban meaning and legitimacy.