International Case Studies of Smart Cities: Namyangju, Republic of Korea
This case study is one of ten international studies developed by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS), in association with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), for the cities of Anyang, Medellin, Namyangju, Orlando, Pangyo, Rio de Janeiro, Santander, Singapore, Songdo, and Tel Aviv. At the IDB, the Competitiveness and Innovation Division (CTI), the Fiscal and Municipal Management Division (FMM), and the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) coordinated the study. This project was part of technical cooperation ME-T1254, financed by the Knowledge Partnership Korean Fund for Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Korea. At KRIHS, the National Infrastructure Research Division coordinated the project and the Global Development Partnership Center provided the funding. Namyangju, a city of 650,000 populations in Korea has been promoting smart city project since 2008 as a response to recent growth of population, increased share of transport and crime rate. Namyangju offers various civic services especially via smartphone such as customized real-time road CCTV images, traffic flow and incident information, as well as application for senior resident protection. Namyangju is also equipped with security system at bus stops and multifunctional "smart pole", which combines street light, CCTV, and traffic signal controller to promote efficient use of roadside facility. The city promotes local economy through online market system making use of its local organic farms and actively utilizes bus stops and roadside VMS in attracting advertisement to raise regular profit. Namyangju is in the process of installing 101km fiber-optic network and plans to complete the construction of Integrated Operation and Control Center (IOCC) by 2016. The city's current focus is on citizen interaction and further business model development.