November 6-16, District Mayor Ilhyeong Lee and Delegation's Business Trip to Europe for Benchmarking Outstanding Overseas Cases
...“We Will Create a Meta Green Smart City Through Cooperation with Overseas Cities and Companies”
The Dongdaemun-gu delegation, led by Mayor Ilhyeong Lee of Dongdaemun District Office, returned on the 16th after completing an 11-day, 9-night overseas official business trip to benchmark outstanding projects abroad.
The delegation visited three European countries?Spain, Denmark, and Italy?to experience advanced overseas cases and explore ways to incorporate them into district administration.
In Spain, they participated in the world’s largest smart city expo, the ‘Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2023,’ strengthening Dongdaemun-gu’s global network and enhancing its status as a smart city. The next destination was Denmark, where they visited Copenhagen, the world’s first city to declare carbon neutrality, to learn about greenhouse gas reduction policies and advanced reduction technologies. Finally, in Milan, Italy, they explored ways to develop key projects that the district is focusing on, such as fostering the fashion sewing industry and revitalizing traditional markets.
The delegation left Korea and on the 7th (local time) participated in the smart city expo ‘SCEWC 2023’ held in Barcelona, Spain. The event featured participation from over 140 countries and more than 800 companies and institutions. Dongdaemun-gu operated the ‘Seoul Pavilion’ booth at the expo venue alongside Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and the Seoul Digital Foundation.
Starting with a tour of the exhibition halls of participating countries, the delegation met in the afternoon with Hugo Valenti, President of Fira Barcelona Smart City Expo, to discuss cooperation between cities and institutions. Mayor Lee delivered the keynote speech on the first day of the ‘3rd Smart City Seoul Forum’ under the theme ‘Intelligent Technology and Smart City.’ He emphasized that ‘intelligent technology,’ based on innovative technology, is a core task to sustain our lives and the future of cities. He also introduced examples of intelligent services in Dongdaemun-gu and expressed his ambition to transform Dongdaemun-gu into a ‘Meta-Green Smart City’ connecting garden city, carbon-neutral city, and smart city concepts.
That evening, he attended an informal dinner with city and corporate executives related to C40 (City Climate Leadership Group), exchanging experiences and policies on transitioning to carbon-zero cities and climate change among cities.
The next day, starting with a breakfast meeting with Seoul-based companies participating in the expo to express gratitude and encouragement, the delegation held a meeting with the First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona to discuss cooperation in the smart city sector between the two cities. To strengthen the global smart city network, they also met with officials from the Catalonia regional government and Sant Boi City, promising to continuously build relationships by discovering and sharing policies for information exchange and collaboration between cities.
On the 9th (local time), the delegation arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital and the first city to declare carbon neutrality. Their official schedule in Denmark began with a tour of ‘Amager Bakke,’ a waste incineration plant combined with a cogeneration power plant. They received explanations from plant officials about the waste treatment process and eco-friendly facilities and toured state-of-the-art facilities that purify environmental pollutants.
At Amager Bakke, 635,000 tons of waste collected from across Denmark are incinerated annually. The waste is mixed to optimize incineration and burned in the incinerator. Pollutants generated during incineration are removed through various purification systems, and 99.9% clean steam is emitted from the 123-meter chimney. Emissions of air pollutants are managed well below the EU (European Union) recommended standards, and emission data is transparently disclosed for public access at any time. The high-pressure steam generated at 950?1100°C from burning waste is used to produce electricity and district heating water, supplying 90,000 households.
Additionally, Amager Bakke features Europe’s tallest artificial climbing wall on one side of the building, and on the rooftop, a year-round ski slope and an observation caf? have been established, making it a local tourist attraction.
On the 10th (local time), the delegation visited ‘State of Green,’ a global energy consulting organization, and the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), where officials explained Denmark’s energy policies.
Finally, the delegation arrived in Italy on the afternoon of the 12th (local time) and the next day visited the ‘Porta Palazzo Market’ in Turin, Europe’s largest traditional market, and the ‘Lingotto Fiat Factory,’ which has been transformed into a complex cultural space. They carefully examined elements that attract young people to traditional markets to apply them in Dongdaemun-gu. The following day, they visited the world’s largest fashion school, Marangoni, and the KOTRA Milan Trade Center, receiving briefings on global trends in the growth and decline of the fashion sewing industry and reflecting on ways to combine Dongdaemun-gu’s sewing industry with fashion.
Earlier, in February, Dongdaemun-gu held the first carbon-neutral city declaration ceremony among Seoul’s autonomous districts, expressing its commitment to becoming an eco-friendly green city. The district stated that it will accelerate efforts to create the future city of Dongdaemun-gu based on the advanced cases and ideas experienced during this overseas trip.
Through participation in the smart city expo ‘SCEWC 2023,’ the district presented a blueprint for future cities applying the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and introduced various smart technologies implemented in district administration, enhancing its status as a smart city. Meetings with various smart-related organizations served as an opportunity to strengthen the district’s global network.
Amager Bakke in Copenhagen overcame the prejudice of being a nuisance facility by reducing pollutants in the process of converting waste into energy and resources and providing resident convenience facilities. Dongdaemun-gu plans to refer to Amager Bakke’s waste treatment and eco-friendly resident operation methods to resolve odor complaints arising from the microbial decomposition method currently used at the Dongdaemun-gu Environmental Resource Center. Furthermore, based on Denmark’s message that green energy can be a national growth engine, the district took the opportunity to reconsider its carbon neutrality promotion direction.
The district plans to hold a ‘Sewing Workers’ Night’ in the future so that sewing industry workers, who possess world-class technical skills, can feel pride in their profession with a spirit of craftsmanship. It will also establish a cooperative system with neighboring districts to revitalize the sewing industry and expand support for garment sewing workers through the operation of the Fashion Sewing Complex Support Center, scheduled to open in January next year.
Mayor Ilhyeong Lee of Dongdaemun-gu said, “We turned our attention to advanced overseas cities with the idea of finding solutions to various urban problems such as environmental pollution, safety issues, and energy consumption. Through this trip, we established friendly relations with various overseas institutions and were able to clearly present the direction and goals Dongdaemun-gu should pursue by sharing and benchmarking excellent policies. We will not simply aim to reduce greenhouse gases but will apply outstanding overseas cases to our district’s circumstances to create ‘Meta-Green Smart City’ Dongdaemun-gu. We will build a future city that upgrades the existing smart city with artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous driving, and more, aiming for harmonious coexistence among objects, humans, society, and the environment, making Dongdaemun-gu a place where everyone is happy.”
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