Busan, Gangneung, Jeju, and Others Promote 'Smart Challenge' Project to "Solve Urban Problems"

(Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Gangneung in Gangwon, Busan, Gimhae in Gyeongnam, and Jeju Island have been selected as target sites for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Smart Challenge' project.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 28th that it received a total of 80 applications for the 'Smart Challenge' contest, and after expert evaluation, 18 projects were selected for support.

The Smart Challenge project is a program where companies, citizens, and local governments join forces to apply innovative technologies and creative ideas to existing cities to solve urban problems such as transportation, environment, and safety. Depending on the scale of the project, it is divided into three types: City (large), Town (medium), and Solution (small).

For the largest scale City Challenge, Gangneung in Gangwon, Gimhae in Gyeongnam, Busan, and Jeju Island were selected. This is a comprehensive metropolitan solution project that solves city-wide problems such as transportation through innovative ideas from private companies, with a total investment of 21.5 billion KRW over three years.

For the Town Challenge, where local governments and citizens build optimized solutions for the demands of specific areas, Wonju in Gangwon, Seosan in Chungnam, Gwangyang in Jeonnam, and Changwon in Gyeongnam were selected. A total of 4.3 billion KRW will be invested over two years.

The Solution Challenge project, which focuses on single solutions with high citizen engagement such as smart crosswalks or playgrounds mainly in small and medium-sized cities, will receive 600 million KRW over one year. Selected sites include Yanggu in Gangwon, Gangdong and Yangcheon districts in Seoul, Geoje and Sacheon in Gyeongnam, Seosan and Cheongju in Chungcheong, and Gwangsan, Suncheon, and Wanju in Jeolla.

The selected projects will officially commence next month and are scheduled to be carried out until the end of the year.

Lee Ikjin, Director of the Urban Economy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, emphasized, "We will focus our policy capabilities on creating innovative, highly impactful, and scalable smart solutions in existing cities so that many citizens can experience the outcomes of smart city projects."

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