ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the history of Korean policy to create the 'Ubiquitous City' (U-City) that was a precursor of the smart city. Although Songdo got a global reputation as a unique urban model, it has been worked in Korean law and policy. The chapter addresses the policy background to create Songdo and how it had an impact on the realization. It traces the twenty-five-year history of Songdo, and how the original plan in the 1980s to solve the problem of housing shortage transformed into the plan of the first smart city in the world. The chapter examines the political and economic contexts around Songdo that influenced the shift. It reviews Songdo from the view of smart city's perspective to address why the initially praised model is evaluated as a failed smart city project. In the 1990s, the Korean government discussed the concept of applying Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to buildings and urban spaces under the theme of the U-City.
