Suwon Special City Receives Smart City Certification for Third Consecutive Time in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Competition
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jeong Jun-sung] Suwon Special City has been awarded Smart City certification in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's '2025 Smart City Certification Competition.'
The city received Smart City certification for the third consecutive time following 2021 (pilot certification) and 2023, earning recognition for its capabilities and excellence as a smart city.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been implementing a Smart City certification competition since 2021 to diagnose cities' smart capabilities and identify best practices. Certification is granted through comprehensive evaluation of participating local governments' smart city services and infrastructure levels, public capabilities and innovation, governance and systems.
Suwon City's proposal underwent first-round written evaluation by the certification assessment committee, followed by a second-round on-site evaluation on November 11.
The city received high marks for traffic services including the Smart City School Zone restricting smartphone use and the intelligent traffic information system at the Urban Safety Integrated Center.
The 'Smart City School Zone restricting smartphone use' is a project that installs Bluetooth devices in children's protection zones to prevent children from walking while looking at their smartphones. When users install the pedestrian safety app on their smartphones, all apps are disabled while walking in children's protection zones. Calls are still possible. Bluetooth terminals have been installed in school zones of 11 elementary schools.
Suwon City's Urban Safety Integrated Center is the first in the nation to have constructed and is now operating an intelligent transportation system (ITS) using its own budget. It collects and analyzes approximately 10,000 traffic data points in real-time, efficiently operates traffic signals, and provides road traffic information.
In the innovation category, the 'Blue Semester Program' developed through collaboration between Suwon City and Ajou University received high marks. Suwon City presents regional community issues to Ajou University, and students develop solutions and submit policy recommendations to Suwon City.
In the governance and systems category, the mobile citizen participation platform 'Saebitmock-tock' received high marks. The city launched Saebitmock-tock in 2023, and currently has over 133,000 members. It has received 3,508 citizen proposals and over 804,314 comments on policy proposals.
In the services and technology infrastructure category, the 'Crowd Density Artificial Intelligence (AI) Camera System' received high marks. AI cameras totaling 28 units have been installed across 16 locations in 4 areas. When emergencies occur (crowd density exceeding a certain threshold in a specific space), alarms are automatically sent to the city hall disaster situation room's control PC, and speakers installed at the scene alert people to the dangerous situation.
A city official stated, "We will create a smart city that citizens can experience by applying smart technology to all aspects of citizens' lives including traffic, safety, and tourism."