Microsoft will play a key role in building the IT infrastructure for a $35bn (£18bn) Songdu International Business District in South Korea.

The city is under construction in Incheon, 40 miles from the capital Seoul, and is the first in the world to be to be designed and planned as an international business community.

Microsoft has teamed up with US developer Gale International and the South Korean government to work on the technology required for a digitally connected and environmentally sustainable city.

Microsoft is excited about the enhancements that the project will bring to business and people's lives, said founder and chairman Bill Gates.

"Designing an entirely new city from the ground up provides a unique opportunity to create an ideal technological infrastructure, in which access to digital capabilities and experiences is an inherent part of the living and working environment across people's lives," he said.