Busan City Rises Again, Ranked 15th in Global Smart City Evaluation!

UK Global Consulting Firm Giyensa Announces 8th Evaluation of Global Intelligent Cities

Busan Ranks 15th Among 77 Cities Worldwide (3rd in Asia, 1st in Korea)

Busan City has solidified its reputation as a global smart city by securing a position within the top 15 worldwide and top 3 in Asia through comprehensive administration for digital transformation.

Busan City Hall.

Busan announced that it ranked 15th among 77 major cities worldwide in the 8th evaluation of the Global Smart Centres Index (SCI: Smart Centres Index), released by Z/YEN, a renowned global consulting firm based in the UK.

'SCI' stands for The Smart Centres Index, where 'Centre' refers to a city.

Busan has continuously improved its ranking since first entering the list two years ago, a unique achievement globally.

Securing 15th place in this 8th evaluation, following the previous 7th evaluation, means the city has consecutively ranked within the global top 20 as targeted, signifying Busan’s establishment as a world-class intelligent city.

Additionally, in Asia, Busan achieved 3rd place following Singapore and Hong Kong, maintaining its status as one of the top 3 intelligent (smart) cities in Asia, and firmly holding the number one spot domestically.

Notably, excelling in four out of six evaluation categories in the competitiveness assessment was a key factor in securing a high overall ranking.

Busan entered the top tier for the first time in Business Environment, Infrastructure, and Reputational categories, ranking 11th, 12th, and 15th respectively.

Moreover, in advanced technology fields central to the 4th Industrial Revolution and digital economy?such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and financial technology (fintech)?Busan’s ranking rose two steps from 13th to 11th, further solidifying its position as an international smart city.

Among the three evaluation perspectives of the index, Innovation Support jumped from 24th to 11th, and Creative Intensity rose from 22nd to 16th, significantly contributing to the overall ranking improvement.

Furthermore, based on an online survey of global experts in the intelligent (smart) sector, Busan maintained its 1st place in the Reputation category for the second consecutive evaluation.

Smart Center Index (SCI) 8th Round Rankings.

The process of bidding for the 2030 World Expo has enhanced Busan’s city brand value, and the city is expected to have even greater potential for development as a global intelligent (smart) city.

Busan’s significant leap in ranking is evidence that the 'Digital Economy Transition Policy,' which has been a focus since Mayor Park Hyung-jun’s inauguration, is showing clear results.

This means that by embedding digital technology throughout the city, the digital and smart experience of citizens and external investors is naturally improving.

In particular, centered on the Digital Economy Innovation Office, which oversees the city’s overall 'intelligent (smart) transformation' and 'digitalization,' various efforts to foster advanced ICT technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), metaverse, and cloud computing, and to create an ecosystem for the knowledge service industry, have greatly contributed to future expectations.

The evaluation report also mentioned that “Busan’s designation as a blockchain regulatory free zone has enabled the attraction of young and ambitious fintech entrepreneurs,” analyzing that Busan, the only blockchain regulatory free special zone in Korea, is determined to lead the world as a blockchain capital by integrating blockchain not only in finance but also in economy, culture, and administration.

Additionally, the city is discovering and promoting various digital industries to expand digital infrastructure, including ▲establishing five innovation clusters for new industries by region, ▲creating an eco-friendly and high-efficiency green data center complex, ▲providing 5G ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi service on city buses, and spreading digital technology through ▲expanding smart and digital transformation in manufacturing, ▲building a quantum information technology industry ecosystem, and for sustainable digital city growth, ▲operating the ‘Busan Digital Innovation Academy’ (training 10,000 advanced ICT talents over five years). Based on these efforts, Busan plans to maintain its current upward momentum.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “The results of this evaluation prove the fruits of our efforts toward becoming a leading digital transformation city. This outcome demonstrates to the world that Busan is a fully capable global smart city suitable for hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo,” adding, “We will continue to create bold waves of innovation so that our city can stand tall as a global hub city, accelerating administrative speed and leading changes that citizens can truly feel.”

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