Korean-Style Smart City Infrastructure Expanding to 11 Countries Worldwide

▲ 2020 K-City Network International Competition Selection Results (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government is actively promoting the export of Korean-style smart city infrastructure through global cooperation. It plans to select target projects for an international contest supporting the spread of Korean-style smart cities and complete the establishment of plans within this year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) announced on the 19th that they have finally selected a total of 12 projects from 11 countries as target projects for the first-ever 'K-City Network Global Cooperation Program' established this year to export Korean-style smart cities. These include six urban development-type projects from six countries and six single solution-type projects from five countries.

The K-City Network is a project proposed by Minister Kim Hyun-mi of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport during the 'Korea-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Smart City Ministerial Meeting' held during the 'Korea-ASEAN Special Summit' last November. An international contest was conducted from January 31 to the 20th of last month. The government limited applicants to overseas governments, local governments, and public institutions to secure project momentum at the G2G (Government to Government) level and enhance credibility. Among 80 applications from 23 overseas countries' governments and public institutions, the final selection was made by an evaluation committee based on comprehensive assessments including opinions from domestic and foreign related organizations, bilateral cooperation relations, smart city project potential, and the likelihood of Korean companies winning contracts.

For projects selected under the K-City Network cooperation, urban development-type projects will receive support of up to 700 million KRW to assist in establishing master plans related to smart city construction. Single solution-type projects will receive up to 400 million KRW to help conduct preliminary feasibility studies for building smart solutions in fields such as transportation, environment, and e-government. Selected projects will also be supported with invitation training packages.

Turkey, which submitted 16 projects from six local governments including Ankara, Istanbul, and Gaziantep, had two projects selected in the smart single solution category. In Ankara, the 'Disaster Prevention and Management Basic Plan' was selected, supporting the establishment of an integrated system for rapid and efficient disaster management. In Gaziantep, where development is actively underway, the 'Data Integration Platform MP' was selected to support the establishment of a master plan for integrated management of individual data related to traffic control, public safety, and crime prevention.

Urban development-type projects were selected from Peru, Russia, and Indonesia. Peru was selected following last year's Team Korea winning the PMO (Project Management Office) for the Chinchero New Airport project, with a request to establish a Korean-style smart city basic plan in the Cusco area where the existing airport is located.

Russia applied for the Bolshoy Kamen Smart City basic plan linked to the 'Bolshoy Kamen Shipbuilding and Marine Cluster,' currently being developed as the largest shipyard in Russia, to promote development in the Far East region. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport expects great potential for this to develop into the 'Far East Korea-Russia Shipbuilding and Marine Cluster Project' by integrating Korean-style smart city design, as many Korean companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering have entered this region.

Indonesia's 'New Capital Smart City Basic Plan,' applied for by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, was selected. This is part of the capital relocation project actively promoted by President Joko Widodo of Malaysia and a follow-up achievement of the capital relocation cooperation MOU signed during the Korea-ASEAN Special Summit last November. Support will be provided to establish basic plans in three sectors?smart transportation, waste, and water management?in the government administrative district of the new capital.

The projects selected in this contest will coordinate the scope of work with overseas governments and finalize the support budget for each project by next month, with plans to select project executors in June. Alongside this, the establishment of master plans or feasibility studies will commence in June, aiming to complete support for smart city plan establishment within this year.

Lee Sang-joo, Director of the Urban Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "The selected projects will be carried out in close cooperation with the respective countries to execute master plan or feasibility study projects," adding, "We plan to create various smart city models to support the participation of our companies in future ODA projects and investment development-type projects (PPP), and to spread Korean-style smart cities worldwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.