Seongdong-gu Smart Shelter Wins Silver at the World’s Top 4 International Environmental Awards ‘2024 Green Apple Awards’

On November 18, the International Environmental Award 'Green Apple Awards' ceremony was held at Kensington Palace in London, UK, recognizing exemplary cases in energy management and carbon reduction... The future-oriented bus stop, introduced nationwide for the first time in August 2020 to protect public transport users from heatwaves and cold waves, was acknowledged as a model of smart administration

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Won-oh), a representative smart living facility, achieved the great honor of winning the Silver Award at the '2024 The Green Apple Awards' held on the 18th at Kensington Palace in London, UK.

The 'Green Apple Awards' is one of the world's top four international environmental awards, hosted by the UK-based environmental non-profit organization 'The Green Organization' and recognized by the European Union (EU), the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and the UK Environment Agency. Since 1994, it has been held annually with participation from government offices, organizations, and companies worldwide, selecting outstanding eco-friendly policies, programs, and exemplary ideas through evaluation.

In August 2020, Seongdong-gu submitted the nation’s first IoT technology-applied ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ and was selected as an excellent case in the 'Energy Management - Carbon Reduction' category. It was recognized for providing a safe and comfortable environment to bus users who were previously exposed to external conditions such as abnormal climate and fine dust without protection, thereby encouraging public transportation use.

The award ceremony was held at Kensington Palace, UK, on the 18th (local date). Seongdong-gu received the symbolic green apple-shaped trophy and certificate of the Green Apple Awards as a prize. As a special benefit, 100 trees will be planted in African regions such as Kenya early next year in the name of Seongdong-gu, and the district will gain automatic entry benefits to the higher-level competition, the '2025 Green World Award.'

The ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ is a future-oriented bus stop that protects public transportation users from heatwaves and cold waves, and is one of Seongdong-gu’s representative smart living facilities. By integrating smart technology into the existing bus stop functions, it not only provides real-time traffic information but also offers 18 types of various convenience services such as heating and cooling, traffic and weather information, public Wi-Fi, and mobile phone charging.

Additionally, a Hearing Loop that helps improve hearing for the hearing impaired and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for use in emergencies are installed to carefully protect the safety of residents.

The Seongdong-type Smart Shelter is spreading nationwide as a model of smart administration, and residents also show high satisfaction. According to a satisfaction survey conducted in July this year, 95.1% of users expressed satisfaction.

Furthermore, the district actively collects residents’ opinions during surveys and improves the shelter’s functions in the short or mid-to-long term to increase resident satisfaction. Based on a survey conducted in January, reflecting residents’ suggestions, satisfaction was highest for ▲emphasizing 'arriving soon' bus information (76.6%), ▲small shelter backrest chairs (23.7%), and ▲diversification of provided information (21.8%).

The ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter’ has previously won the Grand Prize at the 5th Korea Local Autonomy Policy Awards in 2020, the Excellence Award at the 2023 Korea Public Design Awards, and the President’s Award of the Korean Public Design Association at the 2024 Korea Land Awards.

It has also been submitted to the ‘A' Design Award’ and is awaiting the announcement scheduled for April next year.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I feel proud and delighted that the excellence of the ‘Seongdong-type Smart Shelter,’ a smart living policy representing Seongdong-gu, has been highly evaluated overseas as well,” adding, “We will continue to actively discover various projects that add convenience to residents’ daily lives and have a positive impact on the environment and sustainable development.”