Guro-gu Unveils New BI 'SMART GURO'

To Establish a Smart City Brand, 'Digital Guro' Renamed to 'Smart Guro'... Reflecting a Future-Oriented City Harmonizing People, Technology, and Culture

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] "Please call us 'Smart Guro' from now on!"

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) has unveiled a new BI (Brand Identity) called 'Smart Guro.'

On the 17th, Guro-gu announced, "We changed our BI to 'Smart Guro' to widely promote Guro-gu's status as a leading smart city in Korea beyond a digital city and to establish the city brand."

Previously, Guro-gu had used the 'Digital Guro' BI since 2007, symbolizing the successful transition from Guro Industrial Complex to an advanced digital industrial complex. However, the existing BI, created over 10 years ago, was insufficient to convey the current meaning of a 'smart city' that the district aims for.

Accordingly, Guro-gu decided to create a new BI that fits the city's identity and produced three design proposals through a professional company.

As a result of an online preference survey conducted among residents and district office employees, the 'Smart Guro' logo, selected by 864 out of 2,143 participants (40.3%), was finally chosen as the new BI.

The 'Smart Guro' BI represents a future-oriented city where people, technology, and culture harmonize. The dots symbolize the information and data distributed throughout Guro, and the diverse colors represent various information. The overlapping areas visualize the transmission of data and are designed to give an overall harmonious feeling.

The new BI will be immediately used on online media such as the district office website and blog, and will be applied to promotional materials and facilities produced and managed by Guro-gu and its funded and affiliated institutions when newly created.

Guro-gu also released an introductory video about the new BI. The video, which includes the transition from 'Digital Guro' to 'Smart Guro,' the concept of the BI, and design motifs, can be viewed on the official Guro-gu Office YouTube channel.

A Guro-gu official said, "Guro-gu, which has risen as a representative smart city in Korea, now has a new BI befitting its status. We will accelerate the creation of a smart city to secure future livelihoods for residents and provide a better living environment."

Guro-gu has been striving to create a smart city since the term 'smart city' was unfamiliar. In 2017, it became the first basic local government nationwide to establish a dedicated smart project team, and in 2019, it expanded the organization to the Smart City Division.

It also became the first in the nation to equip the entire region with both Wi-Fi and Internet of Things (IoT) networks.

Now, based on solid infrastructure, it is carrying out various smart projects closely related to residents' lives, such as facility safety management, care for vulnerable groups, and prevention of traffic accidents and crimes.

As a result of its early efforts in smart city creation, Guro-gu received smart city certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last September. Only eight local governments nationwide have obtained this certification.