Half of the City Is Opening Up as Open Space

Half of the City Is Opening Up as Open Space

We tend to think of cities as forests filled with tall buildings.

But the data tells a different story.

In cities like New York City and Paris, nearly half of the urban area is made up of roads, parks, and waterfront spaces.

In Seoul and Delhi, more than 40% of the city is not occupied by buildings.

Cities are not as full as we imagine.

A large portion of them is already open to the sky.

The problem is how these spaces have been treated. They have long been considered as mere passages or empty gaps.

Although they physically exist, nothing meaningful has taken place there. In many ways, they have remained dead spaces.

City	Open Space (%)
	SUM(%)	Road(%)	Green(%)	etc(%)
New York	48~51	26~27	13~14	9~10
Paris	47~50	24~25	21~22	2~3
Seoul	45~55	20~23	25~30	10~15
Delhi	45~50	19~20	19~20	5~10
Shanghai	40~45	15~18	20~25	4~5
Lagos	35~45	15~20	3~5	15~25
São Paulo	35~45	20~25	12~15	5~10
London	34~37	11~12	19~20	4~5
Tokyo	31~35	20~22	7~8	4~5

※ This data is based on references collected using ChatGPT.

※ [Green] refer to public green spaces such as parks and plazas.

※ [Etc] refers to other non built areas not classified as roads or green zones, including rivers, waterfronts, mountains, and coastlines..

What NIN.Earth focuses on is not the buildings, but the spaces in between, such as roads, parks, plazas, and rivers.

These areas make up nearly half of the city, yet they have not been actively used.

We call this Open Space.

This space is not empty.

It is simply unused, a field of opportunity.

Until now, the internet has been confined to screens.

But with AR technology and next generation devices such as smart glasses, we will be led into that space.

We are about to witness a moment when a new layer appears over the spaces we once passed by without noticing.

NIN.Earth does not build a new city.

It awakens the potential of the one that already exists.

As information, experiences, and content begin to occupy Open Space, the city shifts away from a structure centered on buildings into one where the entire space becomes interactive.

Streets are no longer just for passing through, but spaces where information is consumed.

Parks are no longer just places to stay, but points where digital data accumulates.

Half of the city has always been there.

Now, we are turning the first page of its potential.