Selected 7 Major Representative Projects for Future Industry Innovation and Low-Carbon Healthy Cities by 2025
Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is listening to a briefing on the 'Daegu-type New Deal Urban Convergence Special Zone' project on the rooftop of the 6th floor after holding a policy meeting on the regional balanced New Deal project with Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin and others at the Daegu City Hall annex on November 4 last year.
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] On the 28th, Daegu City announced the 'Daegu-type New Deal Vision' under the catchphrase 'Citizen-centered, Carbon-neutral Healthy City.'
The 'Daegu-type New Deal,' designed to actively respond to contemporary challenges such as digital transformation, climate change crises, and the spread of infectious diseases and aging, consists of 165 projects across 10 sectors under three major strategies: Industrial New Deal, Spatial New Deal, and Human New Deal.
Through organic linkage among each strategy, future industries, green spaces, and safety nets will create a virtuous cycle, aiming to simultaneously achieve the creation of 110,000 jobs, training of 10,000 New Deal innovation talents, and reduction of 2.5 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2025.
Daegu City explained that this plan was prepared through expert consultations from various fields, including eight industrial working groups within the 'Daegu Economic and Industrial Innovation Growth Governance,' university professors, and civil society activists, to ensure that the Daegu-type New Deal can serve as a broad blueprint reflecting the future of the regional economy, industry, and society.
'Industrial, Spatial, Human' New Deal 3 Major Strategies, 10 Sectors
First, the Industrial New Deal focuses on nurturing the region's future growth engines by integrating and spreading digital and green technologies throughout the local industry.
It plans to invest a total of 4.7365 trillion KRW in 87 projects across four sectors: strengthening digital convergence future industry growth engines, advancing traditional industry technology and infrastructure, fostering untact service and content industries, and establishing the Daegu-type New Deal innovation ecosystem, creating 40,000 jobs.
The Spatial New Deal aims to provide citizens with efficient and pleasant living spaces by applying digital and green technologies to urban spaces. It plans to invest a total of 6.0577 trillion KRW in 31 projects across three sectors: carbon-neutral eco-spaces, digital innovation spaces, and hyper-connected and hyper-intelligent spaces, creating 40,000 jobs.
The Human New Deal aims to nurture talents leading regional change and innovation and establish a dense safety net to ensure no citizens are left behind in the process. It plans to invest a total of 1.2132 trillion KRW in 47 projects across three sectors: training 10,000 New Deal innovation talents, employment safety nets protecting citizens' lives, and welfare safety nets based on local communities, creating 30,000 jobs.
To enhance citizen awareness of the Daegu-type New Deal, Daegu City plans to select seven representative projects centered on tasks that best realize the vision of 'Citizen-centered, Carbon-neutral Healthy City Daegu' and proceed with the projects at a rapid pace.
The representative projects are: ▲ Smart medical and healthcare industry ▲ Focused development of brain industry ▲ Strengthening growth engines of automobile and robot industries ▲ Establishing a manufacturing data-centered city ▲ Creating carbon-neutral eco-spaces ▲ Establishing a digital-based urban operation system ▲ Training 10,000 New Deal talents for the 4th Industrial Revolution era.
10,000 'New Collar' Innovation Talents, 2.5 Million Tons Greenhouse Gas Reduction... 7 Representative Projects
First, based on its experience as a model city for COVID-19 quarantine that attracted global attention, Daegu will foster a smart medical and healthcare industry that protects citizens' health to respond to contemporary changes such as infectious diseases and aging.
For the ultra-realistic Korean-style virtual human digital convergence medical project, 400 billion KRW will be invested from this year until 2026 to develop advanced clinical content for diagnosis, prediction, and surgical treatment training based on virtual convergence simulation. Additionally, a rapid response research and development support platform for infectious diseases (including test kits, therapeutics, and untact patient management systems) will be established.
Second, the brain industry, called the blue ocean of the 4th Industrial Revolution, will be focused on. The Daegu Brain City project will be promoted to proactively prevent and treat various brain-related diseases such as dementia and digital addiction caused by rapid aging and digitalization, and to expand the horizon of the brain industry including brain-linked rehabilitation engineering.
Third, the growth engines of the automobile and robot industries, which are becoming key industries, will be further strengthened. The automobile parts industry, currently centered on internal combustion engines, will be transformed into a driving electronic parts industry, a core element of future mobility. Through the creation of a specialized complex for intelligent robot materials, parts, and software, Daegu plans to transform from a hardware-centered industry to a leading city in intelligent robot materials, parts, and software.
Fourth, in connection with the urban convergence special zone, a manufacturing data-centered city will be established. An open manufacturing big data platform will be built to promote open collaboration, and a (tentatively named) Industrial Big Data Application Technology Support Center will be established linked to the urban convergence special zone to serve as a control tower.
Fifth, Daegu will be developed into a carbon-neutral eco-space beyond a solar city. To this end, citizen-led energy self-reliance expansion, distribution of clean energy-based distributed power sources, support for smooth carbon-neutral transition in the industrial sector, reduction of carbon emissions in transportation and buildings, creation of forest and waterfront cities, and establishment of a resource circulation economy foundation will be actively pursued.
Sixth, through digital-based hyper-intelligent and hyper-connected spaces, a safer and more efficient urban operation system will be established. By building urban data dams and integrated data hubs related to citizens' lives such as transportation, safety, and welfare, proactive responses to various urban problems will be possible. The goal is to implement a smart city that returns time to citizens by improving downtown traffic speed by about 15% through the establishment of an AI-based traffic signal system (Alpha-Brain).
Seventh, 10,000 New Deal talents who will lead the 4th Industrial Revolution era will be trained. Through the HUSTAR Season 2 project and collaboration with local universities and institutions, regionally tailored 'New Collar talents' will be nurtured, and the success of the Daegu-type New Deal will be supported by discovering win-win jobs based on social dialogue. 'New Collar talents' refer to professionals who are not defined as white- or blue-collar workers.
Hong Eui-rak, Daegu City Deputy Mayor for Economy, said, "The Daegu-type New Deal focuses on enhancing the city's resilience through fostering future industries, nurturing talents, and responding to carbon neutrality," adding, "We will do our best to ensure that the Daegu-type New Deal contributes to improving citizens' quality of life based on solidarity, cooperation, and innovation grounded in governance among industry, academia, research, and government."
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