Page 19 - U4SSC Case study Daegu, Korea (Republic of), February 2022

1 Introduction

Global urbanization trends are impacting increasingly on economic, social and environmental
conditions worldwide. Based on rural-to-urban migration, coupled with population growth rates, it
has been estimated that by 2030, nearly 60 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities.
Furthermore, while cities occupy just three per cent of the Earth’s land, they account for up to 80 per
cent of global energy consumption and 75 per cent of global carbon emissions. Confronted with
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challenges such as overcrowding, pollution, inadequate infrastructure, resource shortage, health
hazards and crime associated with urbanization, governments are exploring alternatives to cater
to the requirements of their inhabitants without compromising on the needs of future generations.

It was in this context, in the mid-1980s, that the concept of “smart cities” emerged. This promised to
pave the way towards urban agglomerations that are sustainable, inclusive, interconnected, reliable
and safe, while providing a data ecosystem predicated on technology integration. Recognizing
the importance of intersectoral collaboration between multiple actors – including governments,
citizenry, academia and the private sector – in urban transformations towards smartness, it is
imperative that civil society is maintained as the fulcrum for the formulation and adoption of digital
transformation solutions for the planning and operation phases of smart sustainable cities.

By embracing technologies and applications across verticals, cities can utilize the data streams
generated to monitor, assess and improve their operational performance, reduce their environmental
impact and become more sustainable. Thus, the two tenets of “smartness” and “sustainability”,
previously considered mutually exclusive, are now embraced as a part of the global approach to
managing urbanization across sectors, including transport, education, energy, environment, waste
management and health care, through the implementation of digital technologies.

Figure 1: Daegu panorama

U4SSC Case study | Daegu, Korea (Republic of) | February 2022 1