Let private sector take the lead
A presidential committee has tapped two urban districts as test beds for building Korea's first smart cities. One is situated in the administrative town of Sejong, and the other is in the nation's biggest port city of Busan. The government will turn them into world-class futuristic cities over the next five years, using various innovative technologies ranging from self-driving vehicles to facial recognition systems.
The blue-ribbon panel selected the two among 39 candidates throughout the country but dropped those in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Committee members seem to have considered two things in the process _ criticism of excessive concentration in the capital area and the upcoming local elections. As if to confirm such a presumption, officials say they will designate additional regions in the latter half of the year. Even so, the state-led development formula is unlikely to change.
That augurs ill for the creation of smart cities, however, which are like the sample fairs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also tells why the officials should apply a "regulatory sandbox" to the construction of smart cities bearing in mind deregulation is a prerequisite for the success of these pilot projects.
Provided the bureaucrats promise to keep their hands off the program, the private sector is certain to take the lead even without the government's financial support. One needs look no further than Pangyo Techno Valley just south of Seoul, the gross regional domestic product of which amounted to 77 trillion won ($72 billion) last year, approaching Busan's 81 trillion won.
If the government promises drastic deregulation, most cities and towns will be queuing up to transform themselves into high-tech complexes. If smart cities move beyond mere spectacles to "innovative space" spearheading the next industrial revolution, their ripple effects will be enormous. That points to the need for the government to allow the private sector to take the driver's seat.
A presidential committee has tapped two urban districts as test beds for building Korea's first smart cities. One is situated in the administrative town of Sejong, and the other is in the nation's biggest port city of Busan. The government will turn them into world-class futuristic cities over the next five years, using various innovative technologies ranging from self-driving vehicles to facial recognition systems.
The blue-ribbon panel selected the two among 39 candidates throughout the country but dropped those in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Committee members seem to have considered two things in the process _ criticism of excessive concentration in the capital area and the upcoming local elections. As if to confirm such a presumption, officials say they will designate additional regions in the latter half of the year. Even so, the state-led development formula is unlikely to change.
That augurs ill for the creation of smart cities, however, which are like the sample fairs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also tells why the officials should apply a "regulatory sandbox" to the construction of smart cities bearing in mind deregulation is a prerequisite for the success of these pilot projects.
Provided the bureaucrats promise to keep their hands off the program, the private sector is certain to take the lead even without the government's financial support. One needs look no further than Pangyo Techno Valley just south of Seoul, the gross regional domestic product of which amounted to 77 trillion won ($72 billion) last year, approaching Busan's 81 trillion won.
If the government promises drastic deregulation, most cities and towns will be queuing up to transform themselves into high-tech complexes. If smart cities move beyond mere spectacles to "innovative space" spearheading the next industrial revolution, their ripple effects will be enormous. That points to the need for the government to allow the private sector to take the driver's seat.
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