Songdo Central Park

Songdo was built from nothing on reclaimed tidal flats off Incheon from the early 2000s, planned as an international business district, and Central Park is the green space at its middle - about forty hectares laid out around a canal that is filled with seawater rather than fresh, which is unusual and which allows small boats and kayaks to run on it. Around the water are lawns, a deer enclosure, a Korean-style pavilion and garden, cycle paths, and a boardwalk, with the district's towers standing on all sides. The park works well and is genuinely used. The wider question about Songdo - whether a city designed on a masterplan for a population that arrived more slowly than projected feels alive or empty - is one visitors tend to form their own view on, usually depending on which day and which block they walk. The park itself is the pleasant part.

What you actually see

• The seawater canal - boats and kayaks on salt water.
• The tower surround - the district's skyline on all four sides.
• The Korean garden and pavilion - the traditional corner of the park.
• The boardwalk and lawns - the part that is genuinely well used.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Evenings, when the towers light up, are the local favourite. It is exposed and windy off the sea in winter.

Honest expectations

It is a new planned district and reads that way - clean, wide and somewhat empty outside the park. Boats and some attractions are ticketed. There is nothing historic here at all.

Nearby

Incheon Chinatown and Wolmido are a metro ride north; Incheon airport is close.