[This Person] Kim Young-jong, Jongno-gu Mayor, Why Did He Promote the Nation's Largest 'Smart Pole Construction Project'?

Introduction of Smart Streetlight Pole Model... Concurrent with Jongno-gu's Priority Urban Emptying Project, Contributing to Urban Aesthetics Improvement... Investing 10.5 Billion KRW, the Largest Scale Nationwide, to Enhance Pedestrian Environment and Build Related Infrastructure in Connection with Existing Pedestrian Projects

Photos before and after the construction of smart poles along Cheonggyecheon Stream

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu, is promoting the nation's largest-scale 'Smart Pole Construction Project' to enhance the effects of pedestrian environment improvement and create a smart city that residents can experience firsthand.

A ‘Smart Pole’ refers to a core infrastructure of a smart city that integrates advanced ICT technology into various types of urban facilities such as traffic light poles and streetlight poles, improving residents' safety, welfare, and convenience.

The standard model of the newly established smart poles is the ‘LED streetlight smart pole.’ It is notable for integrating road facilities such as CCTV poles and traffic signs, which were previously scattered throughout the city center, into a single smart pole based on LED streetlights.

Through this, Jongno-gu aims to lead the urban beautification project, one of its key initiatives, alongside the urban decluttering project to improve the cityscape.

The project target areas include ▲ Jahamun-ro ▲ Sungkyunkwan-ro ▲ Sejong-daero 23-gil ▲ Donhwamun-ro 11-gil ▲ Bukchon-ro 4 and 5-gil. These roads are areas where Jongno-gu and Seoul City are jointly promoting the ‘Pedestrian Special Zone Project’ and ‘Gwanghwamun Area Pedestrian Environment Improvement Project’ to create pedestrian-friendly streets.

Accordingly, by linking the pedestrian project with the smart pole project, a total budget of 10.5 billion KRW plus alpha, the largest scale in the nation, will be intensively invested to maximize the pedestrian environment improvement effect. About 40 smart poles will be installed by the end of this year to focus on building related infrastructure.

By linking the pedestrian project and the smart pole project, the district expects to achieve budget savings as well. Since the construction of electrical and communication lines is essential for the project but excavation costs are high, they plan to reduce excavation costs by pre-installing electrical and communication conduits during sidewalk construction.

The estimated savings from avoiding duplicate excavation costs amount to about 1.4 billion KRW. The saved budget will be used to add ICT technologies tailored to each specialized street, building customized smart poles and enhancing project effectiveness.

When three smart poles were pilot-installed along Cheonggyecheon last year, the construction was carried out by predicting the demand for streetlights or smart poles during sidewalk construction and installing reserve conduits simultaneously, saving 300 million KRW in budget.

One of the target areas, ‘Jahamun-ro,’ has heavy traffic and includes a school zone, so pedestrian protection will be prioritized. Various traffic facilities will be integrated into the smart poles, and displays will be used to provide speed prevention guidance and install voice guidance assist devices.

‘Sungkyunkwan-ro,’ which has a large young population flow, will be equipped with public Wi-Fi, smartphone chargers, benches, and urban guide QR codes to enhance citizen convenience.

‘Sejong-daero 23-gil’ is an area transformed into a pedestrian-centered road as part of the Gwanghwamun Plaza restructuring project, where the two-lane road disappears. Smart lighting and go-bo lighting will be used, and a dimming sensor will be introduced to lower streetlight brightness during late-night hours with low pedestrian traffic and restore it upon pedestrian detection.

‘Donhwamun-ro 11-gil,’ near Nakwon Arcade, Ikseon-dong Hanok Village, and the night street food stall area, will install emergency bells and combine intelligent CCTV with smart poles to prevent safety accidents.

‘Bukchon-ro 4 and 5-gil,’ home to several tourist attractions such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and Hanok Village, is a place where protecting residents' residential rights is urgent. Smart poles will be equipped with pedestrian flow measurement sensors and S-DoT sensors to collect related data and be used to explore coexistence plans between residents' residential rights and the tourism industry.

Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, “We were selected as a district for the smart pole expansion project in May this year and secured Seoul City’s budget. Jongno-gu has nearly 10 years of experience in the urban decluttering project, which involves removing and reducing urban facilities and integrating unnecessary facilities into one. By adding the construction of smart poles that incorporate advanced ICT technology, we will solve various social problems and complete a smart city that residents can truly experience.”