Korea has big plans to turn the country's administrative hub of Sejong and the southeastern port city of Busan into test beds for the realization of 'smart cities.'<br />In line with the fast approaching fourth industrial revolution, the government hopes to turn those cities into the cities of the future by 2023.<br />Kim Hyesung tells us more. <br /> The government's committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution held its first meeting of the year on Monday... to discuss measures related to the so-called smartcity framework -- a way of using information technology to improve the way cities are run.<br /><br /> "The fourth industrial revolution has a huge effect socioeconomicaly. Smart city is a platform using related technologies and services. Today, we will deliberate on a smart city development plan that has been worked on by government officials and private sector experts since last November."<br /><br /> The smart city platform combines infrastructure, technology and services.<br />It uses tech like the Internet of Things and big data to share information on things like traffic, transportation or the weather,... which improves efficiency... by saving energy and labor costs.<br /><br /> Our smart city plan is based on the stage of a city's development. It distinguishes between new cities and old cities. For new cities, smart technologies will be applied from the design stage to final construction... to drive innovative growth."<br /><br /> One of the "new cities" is in an area in Busan and another is in the country's administrative hub of Sejong.<br />They'll become testbeds for cutting edge technologies like artificial intelligence, smart farms and driverless cars.<br /> For instance, the government envisions a city connected by the internet of things, electric vehicles powered by renewables, and deliveries by drone, all of which would help increase efficiency.<br />As for existing, so-called old cities, the government plans to save energy by using renewable sources as a form of urban power generation.<br />The broad picture has been unveiled, but it's still in its intial stage.<br /> For the plan to be carried out in a sustainable way, details need to be fleshed out on things like the government's budget, cooperation between the private and public sectors, and a system for for evaluating performance.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News. <br />
