Hwaseong-si Holds Launch Ceremony for 'Smart City Rural Living Lab'

Seeking Solutions for Aging Population and Traffic Issues in Bibongmyeon Area

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province held the launch ceremony for the '2024 Smart City Rural Living Lab' on the 4th at the main auditorium of Bibong-myeon Administrative Welfare Center.

The 'Smart City Living Lab' is a citizen participation policy where residents identify problems in their local area and derive solutions using information and communication technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The newly launched rural living lab targets Bibong-myeon and is composed of 22 citizen participants.

Participants of Hwaseong City Smart City Rural Living Lab are pledging successful activities.
[Photo by Hwaseong City]

Bibong-myeon, the target of the living lab, is a typical rural area with a large elderly population, yet it is close to urban facilities such as Eocheon Station and recently has been developing the Bibong residential site, making it advantageous for utilizing urban facilities.

The citizen participants will engage in three workshops to ▲ recognize rural issues felt by citizens ▲ review and derive applicable technologies and services ▲ propose concrete solutions. In particular, the participants will research topics related to rural aging in Bibong-myeon, smart farms, and transportation. The participants will also present the solutions derived in October.

Jo Nam-cheol, Director of the Smart City Division of Hwaseong City, said, "We hope to discover smart city services through this living lab that can complement local weaknesses and specialize strengths."

Meanwhile, Hwaseong City previously implemented a smart city 'Fishing Village Living Lab' targeting the Gungpyeong Port area and held a performance sharing meeting in June. At that time, the citizen participants proposed policies such as smart safety maps, smart parking guidance boards, and smart recycling bins in the fishing village living lab.