The Korean government will create a smart city based on artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, each in Sejong and Busan.

The Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport jointly unveiled the smart city blueprint in an innovation strategy conference held at Bexco in Busan Wednesday. Delivering a speech in the conference, President Moon Jae-in said Korea introduced the smart city and enacted the relevant law for the first time in the world. “We can’t imagine a life without the internet and smartphones any longer. Likewise, smart cities will change our lives soon,” he said.

The smart city to be built in Sejong is “Sejong 5-1 Sphere of Life.” Construction for the model city of Sejong will begin in the second half of this year and inhabitants and companies can move in from late 2021. Spaces in Sejong are planned, revolving around seven innovative factors: zones for innovative growth; exclusive roads for self-driving cars; restricted areas for private cars; AI data center; smart education; smart tech lab; and zero energy town.

According to the presidential committee and the land ministry, blockchain will be used in managing data needed to operate relevant services. Residents offer personal information and data and receive local currencies in compensation. Sejong became the world’s first city to receive the ISO 37106 smart city certification in December.

The Eco-Delta City, a smart city to be built in Busan, is focused on tackling urban problems such as rapid population aging and job losses. Spaces in the Busan smart city are planned under seven subjects: five innovation clusters (public autonomous innovation, hydrothermal energy, healthcare, water sciences and new Korean wave AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality); smart roads; robots; innovation center; smart school, LWP (Labor and Worklife Program) community center and building-type water treatment facilities. The Eco-Delta City is to be equipped with blockchain-based security systems to manage data like in the smart city in Sejong.

Meanwhile, the Korean government had said it would invest a total of 26.5 billion won in 11 projects this year to develop new technologies related to the model smart cities and attract private companies. /minsy@decenter.kr

Min Seo-yeon