Busan City and Rotterdam City Hold 'IURC Project' Meeting... Discuss Shared Mobility and More

July 4-5, Officials from the Rotterdam City Transportation Department, Netherlands, Visit Busan

Officials from Busan and Rotterdam are taking a commemorative photo after the working-level meeting.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] The Busan Metropolitan City held discussions on the use of public data and shared mobility with transportation experts from Rotterdam on the 4th and 5th of last month.

This discussion was held as a working meeting for the ‘IURC (International Urban and Regional Cooperation) Project,’ with officials from Rotterdam’s transportation department and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Korea visiting Busan.

The ‘IURC Project,’ hosted by the European Union (EU), is an exchange project between EU and Asian cities for sustainable urban development. Currently, about 34 cities in the EU, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Dublin in Ireland, and Sofia in Bulgaria, and about 45 cities in Asia, including Busan in Korea and Gangtok in India, are participating.

Started last year, the project will continue until next year with activities such as presenting best practices through one-on-one matching between EU and Asian cities, mutual city visits and field inspections, discovering and establishing urban cooperation plans, and implementing pilot projects.

Busan officially joined the transportation-related project last year at the suggestion of Rotterdam and has been continuously discussing cooperation plans with Rotterdam.

At the working meeting held at City Hall on the 4th, there was a project explanation by the international organization Citynet and an introduction to Rotterdam city. Busan introduced excellent policy cases utilizing public data and a successful business model of shared mobility that integrates information and communication technology with existing transportation means such as taxis under the theme of ‘Utilization of Public Data.’

‘Citynet’ is an international organization formed by local governments, institutions, NGOs, and companies to promote sustainable urban development and improve human settlements in the Asia-Pacific region, and it is currently the organization responsible for the ‘IURC Project.’

After the working meeting, Rotterdam officials visited the Transportation Information Service Center, Eco Delta City, and Bukhang, the site planned for the 2030 Busan World Expo.

At the Transportation Information Service Center, Rotterdam officials listened to explanations about Busan’s traffic information collection and utilization processes and were impressed by the intelligent transportation system overseeing all traffic information in Busan.

Officials from the Rotterdam city government visited the Traffic Information Service Center.

Shin Chang-ho, Director of the Industry and Trade Bureau of Busan City, said, “If we learn from each other’s strengths toward a common goal through this project, Busan and Rotterdam are expected to become good partners.”

Rotterdam, participating in the project alongside Busan, is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and a transportation hub and port city connected by the Rhine River and canals to various parts of the Netherlands.