K-water selects residents for Busan's smart village

A design for the community center of the Busan Eco Delta Smart Village / Courtesy of K-water

By Do Je-hae

K-water conducted a draw Thursday to select residents for the Busan Eco Delta Smart Village, the first residential complex of Busan's smart city project.

The draw was held at BEXCO in Busan and broadcast live on YouTube, and 54 households were selected. Those people will move into the complex at the end of next year after completing a year-long pre-training program.

From Nov. 11 through Dec. 14, about 3,000 households applied for an opportunity to reside in the smart village, giving applicants a 1-in-143 chance of being drawn.

“We thank the people for their enthusiastic interest and support for Busan Eco Delta Smart Village. We will do our best to help the village become a leading smart city model,” K-water CEO Park Jae-hyeon said in a statement.

“After moving in, the residents will experience the 'living labs' and test various technologies applied to smart cities,” K-water said in a statement.

A “living lab” refers to a living space where residents can test various technologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the aim to improve relevant housing technologies through feedback from those with direct experience living in the smart village.

The village will utilize about 40 innovative smart technologies for improving quality of life, and the residents will be able to experience various living tech innovations ― for instance, an AI sports center will analyze individual health information and provide customized exercise plans for each resident.

Each resident will have their health monitored and a health center in the complex will give advice to consult with doctors or make dietary recommendations. An eco-friendly “smart farm” will be established for the residents to grow vegetables, and robots will separate trash from recycling.

Busan has been aiming to complete the Busan Eco Delta Smart City project by 2024 as a way to tackle urbanization challenges and improve the residents' quality of life with new technologies such as big data, the internet of things and artificial intelligence.

President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech during the ground-breaking ceremony for the Busan Eco Delta Smart City project in Gangseo-gu, Busan, Nov. 24, 2019. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the project on Nov. 24, 2019, which was the first side event of the Korea-ASEAN Commemorative Summit taking place in Busan from Nov. 25 to 26.

“Korea has been striving to address its urban problems early on. We have managed to elevate urban sustainability in Seoul, Incheon and here in Busan by building new planned cities in the suburbs, regenerating old downtown areas and upgrading infrastructure,” Moon said at the ceremony.

“Now, Korea is about to take a new approach. We are building upon the foundations of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to design a new future city that can resolve urban problems and serve as a platform for innovative growth. The Busan Eco Delta Smart City is being realized as a result of these efforts.”

Moon underlined cooperation for smart cities as one of the key topics during the summit with ASEAN leaders, and officials in charge of smart city policies from ASEAN nations participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.