Busan Did It Again... Rises to 2nd Place in Asia's Global Smart Cities Rankings

UK Global Consulting Firm Announcement... Ranked 13th Among 77 Cities Worldwide (2nd in Asia, 1st Domestically)

Secures Top 2 Position in Asia Alongside Singapore, Firmly Establishing as a Global Smart Center

Busan City has solidified its reputation as a global smart city once again by achieving a global ranking of TOP 13 and an Asian ranking of TOP 2 through comprehensive efforts for digital transformation.

The city announced that it ranked 13th among 77 major cities worldwide in the 10th evaluation of the Global Smart Centres Index (SCI: Smart Centres Index) released by Z/YEN, a UK-based global consulting firm.

Busan has continuously risen in the rankings since it first appeared four years ago, a distinction unique to the city worldwide.

Ranking 13th in this 10th evaluation marks the fourth consecutive time Busan has placed within the global TOP 20, following the 7th evaluation, signifying that Busan has firmly established itself as a world-class intelligent (global smart) city.

In Asia, Busan surpassed Hong Kong for the first time and secured 2nd place following Singapore, establishing itself as the undisputed ‘Asia TOP 2 intelligent (smart) city.’ Seoul dropped one rank to 30th compared to the previous evaluation, confirming Busan’s firm hold as the number one city domestically.

The rankings of major cities are London (1st), New York (2nd), Zurich (3rd), Singapore (5th), Oxford (8th), Dubai (11th), Hong Kong (15th), Berlin (16th), Vancouver (21st), Seoul (30th), Beijing (36th), and Tokyo (38th).

Notably, for the first time, Busan entered the excellent ranking zone in all six evaluation categories of competitiveness, which was a key factor in securing its top-tier position.

▲ Business Environment ranked 6th ▲ Human Capital ranked 8th ▲ Financial Services ranked 8th ▲ Infrastructure ranked 10th ▲ Reputation ranked 8th, all contributing to the rise.

Especially, the Technology category entered the rankings for the first time, indicating that digital transformation is progressing smoothly amid the rapidly changing industrial paradigm, and demonstrating the potential for sustained growth as an intelligent (smart) city.

Additionally, among the three evaluation perspectives of the index, Innovation Support?which reflects approaches to technology industry regulation and support?jumped from 15th to 13th, indicating excellent regulatory relaxation and support policies toward becoming an intelligent (smart) city.

In July, Busan established a One-Stop Corporate Support Team under the Digital Economy Office to build an integrated corporate support system, removing obstacles in large-scale investment projects and strengthening on-site corporate regulatory innovation to create a ‘business-friendly city Busan.’

Furthermore, based on an online survey of global smart sector experts, Busan ranked first again in the Reputation category, continuing its top position from the previous evaluation.

Through negotiations to host the 2030 World Expo, Busan shared its goal and vision as a ‘Global Hub City,’ and ongoing city diplomacy and corporate investment attraction activities have widely promoted the Busan brand value worldwide. As these evaluations are conducted by experts in each field, further development as a global hub city is highly anticipated.

Busan’s leap in rankings reflects Mayor Park Hyung-jun’s leadership in steering the city toward becoming a ‘digital innovation city leading the future.’

The city is integrating ‘digital’ throughout its administration to naturally enhance the digital experience of citizens and external investors, focusing its administrative capabilities on strengthening innovation capacity and urban competitiveness befitting its name as a global hub city.

In particular, centered on the Digital Economy Office, which oversees the ‘intelligent (smart) transformation’ and ‘digitalization’ of the entire city economy, Busan has made significant efforts to lead digital innovation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, power semiconductors, secondary batteries, robotics, and biotechnology. The city has attracted large companies in advanced new industries, including Lotte AI Automated Logistics Center and Samsung Heavy Industries R&D Center, which are expected to transform Busan’s economic structure.

Since the 8th local government term, Busan has focused on attracting large corporations and excellent companies in new industries capable of creating large-scale jobs, securing investments worth 6.2 trillion KRW this year, and is creating a region-led investment environment through designation as an Opportunity Development Special Zone with tax and regulatory benefits.

Moreover, Busan is promoting various digital industries by expanding digital infrastructure, including ▲ establishing future new industry innovation clusters by region, ▲ creating a green data center complex essential for deep tech industries, ▲ fully launching the Centum 2 District urban convergence special zone, ▲ establishing the Busan Digital Asset Exchange, ▲ building smart healthcare and big data centers, ▲ constructing a quantum science technology center, and ▲ operating the ‘Busan Digital Innovation Academy’ to nurture 10,000 high-level ICT talents over five years. Based on these efforts, the city plans to sustain its current upward momentum.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “This evaluation confirms once again that Busan is the undisputed Asia TOP 2 city and has joined the ranks of global smart cities. We will do our utmost to fully realize a virtuous cycle digital economy ecosystem and leap forward as a leading digital transformation city and global hub city.”