[Lee Myung-ho's Future Preview] Let's Create a Smart Life City

Carbon Emissions Surge Post-Industrialization... Convenient Living Destroys Ecosystems
Worst Global Climate Crisis... Less Developed Regional Forests Offer Hope
Air Circulation via Rivers and Wind... Smart Health Normalizes Checkups
Jobs Utilizing Retirees' Experience... Creating Sustainable Income Foundations

[Image source=Getty Images]

The climate crisis is becoming alarming. There was a time when summers were considered hot only when temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, but now heatwaves surpassing 35 degrees have become the norm in midsummer. Summer now begins in May, and the average temperature has risen by 3 degrees compared to 100 years ago. While South Korea is still mainly struggling with the heat, the entire world is suffering from extreme weather events. In China and Germany, located on opposite sides of the globe, record-breaking rainfall in a century since modern precipitation measurements began has caused many casualties. While one part of the Earth suffers from heavy rains, another faces the worst high-temperature climate ever recorded, with many homes and forests burned down. In particular, the Siberian wildfires have turned a larger forest area into ashes than the combined wildfire areas in the United States, Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Italy. The smoke from the Siberian wildfires has formed a belt stretching over 3,200 km, reaching all the way to the Arctic. These fires have reduced the carbon absorption capacity of forests and released carbon trapped in permafrost, accelerating the greenhouse effect.

The cause of this climate crisis is singular: excessive carbon emissions are warming the Earth. The cold air barrier formed by melting glaciers blocks convection, causing some regions to become hotter and dry areas to experience wildfires. Additionally, the increased evaporation leads to heavy rainfall, and carbon released from permafrost worsens the greenhouse effect, creating a vicious cycle.

The significant carbon emissions began after industrialization. The invention of the steam engine powered by coal was an energy revolution but also marked the start of the climate crisis. Urbanization, which began simultaneously with industrialization, brought economic growth and convenient living but at the cost of ecological destruction. Now, the Earth demands payment for what we once enjoyed for free: disasters caused by the climate crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing for two years, may be the prologue to humanity’s disasters. Following SARS and MERS, COVID-19 emerged. The increasing frequency of infectious diseases is due to the destruction of animal ecosystems, causing viruses to move from animals to humans. Microorganisms first change habitats, and as animals lose theirs, humans may also become refugees?a warning sign.

Reducing carbon emissions, the root cause of the climate crisis, and ensuring safe living have become urgent. The soaring real estate prices in large cities may be an opportunity for some to increase wealth, but from the perspective of the Earth’s ecosystem and health, it is a poor choice. Vehicles crisscrossing densely populated cities are major contributors to air pollution and stress. Tall buildings and insufficient greenery cause the urban heat island effect, making cities hotter. Rising temperatures increase the use of air conditioners and other cooling devices, leading to higher energy consumption?a vicious cycle. Can living in an expensive apartment amid such a cycle bring happiness? As cities become like steam rooms, is it wise to find satisfaction in just cooling one’s own room? Although average life expectancy has increased thanks to medical services, chronic diseases caused by modern urban living mean that many spend their extended years suffering and in nursing homes, which is not a happy life.

Now, a smart life for ourselves and humanity is needed. We must create smart green cities and healthy cities. The current large cities have no potential to become such places. The opportunity lies elsewhere?in the regional cities we left behind and by utilizing digital technology. Before the urban concentration phenomenon began in the 1960s, Seoul’s population was only 2.5 million. Now, Seoul’s population exceeds 9.5 million, and its area has nearly doubled. Although policies to curb the population in the metropolitan area have prevented further growth in Seoul, the populations of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province continue to increase, surpassing 16 million. The metropolitan area’s population accounts for half of the total population (51 million). This rapid urbanization, which took 100 years in developed countries, occurred in just 30 years here. Rapid industrialization centered on the metropolitan area has marginalized regional areas. Combined with low birth rates, aging, and population decline, regional areas face the risk of extinction.

In mountainous South Korea, less developed regional areas still preserve many forests. These regions should be developed into green cities that respond to the climate crisis. By using smart technology, regional cities can be developed into places that manage health and serve as foundations for retirees from the metropolitan area to start a second life. Walking or cycling for daily activities, minimizing transportation use, can reduce carbon emissions. Circulating air using river water and mountain winds can lower temperatures. Utilizing smart health technology for regular health checkups and village doctor management can extend healthy lifespans without chronic diseases. To prepare for emergencies, regional hub hospitals should be upgraded to university hospital standards, and sharing medical facilities can improve the efficiency of medical resources.

It is also important that environment and health become industries. In large cities, the typical path after retirement is living in an apartment on a pension without a job, then moving to a nursing hospital. In contrast, green cities in regional areas can create jobs through activities that improve the environment and health, carried out by people with diverse experiences cooperating. Many jobs and activity spaces can be created through renewable energy production, eco-friendly energy-saving architecture, nursing villages, and educational projects.

The approach of attracting retirees by building cheap housing has already failed. Programs that enable retirees to use their experience for meaningful activities and income generation are important. There may be ways for retirees to form cooperatives with specific purposes and migrate collectively. Local governments can promote new attempts by leasing land at low costs for a certain period to such cooperatives. This is a plan for cooperatives to lead the creation of villages similar to leasehold areas. Extraordinary times require extraordinary ideas and attempts.

Myung-ho Lee, Vice President, The Korean Society of Future Studies

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