Government-Led Deregulation Attracts 160,000 Young Workers [City Without Regulation, Mega Sandbox] ⑥

Singapore Develops Punggol Digital District (PDD)
Breaking Down Data Barriers Enables Industrial Convergence and Innovation
A Smart City Designed by the Government with Advanced Regulations and Infrastructure
Building an Integrated Operatio

After a 20-minute drive from Changi International Airport in Singapore, a new cityscape comes into view, featuring modern buildings, neatly arranged roads, and densely packed apartment complexes. In the corridors of downtown shopping malls, delivery and patrol robots glide smoothly among people, their camera sensors gleaming. Here, robots ride elevators and move between buildings to transport goods instead of humans, while collecting vast amounts of data across the entire city.

This area is the Punggol Digital District (PDD), a project directly designed by the Singaporean government to realize its 'Smart Nation' vision. Just a few years ago, this was an agricultural zone where rubber trees and apples were cultivated. In 2018, the Singaporean government decided to develop the northeastern region into a 'Digital Innovation District' to disperse the population concentrated in the Central Business District (CBD) and foster new growth industries.

Pan-gol Digital Innovation District (PDD) panorama. All buildings are connected by a red bridge, allowing pedestrian access. Photo by Woo Su-yeon

The Punggol project began to take shape in the mid-2010s, a period when Singapore's manufacturing competitiveness was weakening due to rising labor costs and limited land. The government concluded that the foundation of national growth should shift toward advanced smart industries that integrate urban development, IT, and services. To achieve this, it pursued an 'experimental new city' model that combined industry, technology, and education from the urban planning stage.

With a population of just over 6 million, this city-state found its survival strategy in cities without data boundaries, sophisticated regulatory systems, and a relentless pursuit of profit and rapid issue preemption. The government sets the direction and designs the system, while the private sector experiments within that framework, driving national competitiveness through speed and efficiency. For Singapore, with its small domestic market and open economic structure, attracting foreign companies is a key driver of national development. The government believed that by ensuring policy consistency and system completeness, companies would naturally be drawn in.

Citizen support for government-led development is generally high, as attracting global high-tech companies directly translates to job creation. Since the establishment of the Punggol District, 160,000 young people have moved into the surrounding area. Since 2018, JTC Corporation has been developing a mixed-use district 1.7 times the size of Yeouido, and the current occupancy rate stands at 65 percent. Global companies, universities, and research institutes are steadily moving in, with completion scheduled for next year.

An official from Japanese company Panasonic, which has moved into the district, explained, "Singapore has built a powerful structure in which the government, research institutions (universities), and private companies collaborate very closely. The three parties jointly assess risks, set the scope for experimentation, and grant permits for specific areas or sections," highlighting the advantages of PDD.

Blurring Data Boundaries

The core value of Singapore's envisioned smart city PDD is 'data sharing through system integration.' The PDD's key competitive edge lies in breaking down technological barriers and creating a society where data flows seamlessly across the city.

The Singaporean government recognized the need to build an 'Open Digital Platform (ODP)' that integrates various facilities, robots, and building management systems. The ODP connects all systems-from air conditioning, lighting, and security to autonomous robots-under a unified protocol, ensuring uninterrupted data flow. With the government leading the integrated design, this has become the foundation for seamless connectivity. A JTC official said, "Cybersecurity here is managed very strictly in cooperation with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, and we thoroughly review prior consent for each tenant company."

Thanks to its high-quality infrastructure, the PDD has emerged as a test hub for both foreign companies and domestic universities and research institutions. Panasonic of Japan opened an Innovation Center here in August and is currently testing delivery and patrol robots. A Panasonic official stated, "The appeal of PDD is that data can be collected not just from a single building but from the entire city. We can test various scenarios in a realistic urban environment, which greatly boosts research efficiency."

Robots developed by external companies and university research teams can also be linked to the ODP, allowing them to exchange data with building systems and conduct a variety of tests. For example, delivery robots can ride elevators between floors and pass through entrance gates without hindrance. If a building manager grants certain permissions through the ODP, robots can move freely between buildings. In Korea, due to current regulations such as the Building Management Act, each managing entity is different, making it virtually impossible for robots to move between buildings or zones. Individual approval from each manager (consent for access to private property) is required. However, in the PDD, which is a 'regulation-free' zone for the entire city, a much wider range of experiments is possible.

Delivery robot operated on a trial basis by Japanese company Panasonic within the Punggol Digital District (PDD). Photo by Woo Suyeon

Singapore's integrated data-driven administrative model is expanding beyond IT demonstration cities to drive innovation in traditional industries. Singapore is the world's second-largest container port and the global leader in transshipment. The government plays the role of 'overall coordinator,' directly designing industry-specific strategies and simultaneously supporting laws, systems, and infrastructure.

In 2012, the Singaporean government announced its 'Mega Port Development Roadmap' and has been building infrastructure in phases through 2040. The core of this plan is to consolidate the four existing terminals scattered along the southern coast into the western 'Tuas Mega Port,' creating a super-sized, automated transshipment hub. Notably, the government is actively utilizing regulatory sandboxes, such as piloting the 'Next Generation Vessel Traffic Management System (NGVTMS)' powered by artificial intelligence (AI) at Tuas Port this year to prevent ship collisions. When ship arrivals, departures, and cargo handling are automated by AI, port dwell times are reduced, labor costs and fuel consumption decrease, and overall logistics costs are significantly lowered.

A panoramic view of Pasir Panjang, the largest port terminal located in the southwest of Singapore. Photo by Su Yeon Woo

Rigorous Technology Validation... Fast Track After Passing

Singapore may appear to be a country where companies quickly begin demonstrations and technologies are rapidly commercialized. However, beneath the surface, everything is governed by thorough validation and sophisticated regulation. The government carefully examines the safety and reliability of technologies and opens the door to demonstration and commercialization only to those companies that pass these checks. Once certified by the government, subsequent procedures are put on a 'fast track,' accelerating the path to commercialization.

The autonomous driving sector is a prime example. Although designated autonomous driving zones in the city allow approved companies to operate unmanned vehicles on public roads, the approval process is among the strictest in the world. Singapore's approach to supporting innovation is not simply deregulation but the design of precise regulations to institutionally secure trust. An industry insider said, "If you pass Singapore's rigorous regulations, it becomes powerful evidence for technology approval in other countries. That's why global autonomous driving companies are flocking here."

Aerial view of the autonomous driving test site CETRAN located in Jurong Innovation District, Singapore. Photo by Suyeon Woo

To obtain approval for fully unmanned autonomous driving in Singapore, 21 categories of driving data-including vehicle location, speed, steering angle, and turn signal status-must be transmitted in real time to government servers. To this end, Singapore's transport authorities established the real-time 'Autonomous Vehicle Monitoring System (AVMS)' this year, requiring data to be sent twice per second. In contrast, fully unmanned autonomous driving without safety personnel is still not allowed in Korea, and there is no legal basis for remote driving. Data collection in Korea is also limited to post-incident analysis, such as investigating the causes of accidents.

Singapore applies a 'fast track' system for foreign companies with proven technology, allowing those with unmanned operation records in other countries to skip complex reviews and receive rapid approval. This structure combines rigorous pre-screening with swift post-approval execution. However, since Korea does not legally permit fully unmanned autonomous driving, there is no opportunity to accumulate operational records, and this institutional gap directly translates into a competitive disadvantage.