President Byun Chang-heum of Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH). (Photos: LH)

Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH) has launched a project to create a site for a pilot smart city in Sejong City.

The project was launched on June 30 in Sejong City’s 5-1 living sphere zone. It follows Busan Eco Delta City whose smart city project broke ground last late November.

The Sejong pilot smart city project calls for creating a site covering 2.74 trillion sq. meters.

A diagram of a site for a pilot smart city , to be built by LH in Sejong City’s 5-1 living sphere zone.

The projected smart city will consist of a venture startup zone, a business anchor zone, and a smart living zone.

It aims at transforming citizens’ daily lives by employing technologies such as AI, big data and blockchain. Smart technologies will be employed from all stages ranging from urban design to construction.

The project will create space for optimizing seven smart services, including mobility, health care, education, energy/environment, governance, culture/shopping and job creation.

To this end, “Smart First Town” will be created by the end of next year in which you can experience innovative aspects of smart city.

Smart First Town, which will be 50,000 square meters in size, will accommodate a publicity hall and a smart center in which citizens and companies can experience self-driving vehicles, zero energy buildings and other smart city technologies.

Lim Dong-hee, head of LH’s Sejong Special Headquarters, said. “We want to create a successful model as a platform city to enhance citizens’ happiness and provide creative opportunities to companies by launching the national pilot smart city project.”

Lee Joon-ho, head of SV Group at SK Telecom , Paek Gyeong-hoon in charge of housing welfare at LH, and Director Na Yang-won of a nursing home, hold a certificate of an MOU they signed to introduce contactless technologies to rental houses for the underprivilege last Oct. 30.

LH Introduces Contactless Technologies in Rental Homes for the Underprivileged

LH has introduced contactless technologies in rental houses for the underprivileged, including care service for the elderly at LH properties using AI speakers.

In March, LH introduced a digital contract system in which rental contracts are done by electronic signature via PC, smartphone or tablet PC. A pilot project on digital contract was launched in late 2016. All LH rental houses have a digital contract system in place.

Last October, LH launched a pilot service for caring for the elderly at LH rentals in cooperation with SK Telecom.
AI speakers installed by SK Telecom at LH rental homes allow senior citizens living alone to hear music and life information and receive other services.

In particular, SK Telecom and a team, headed by Prof. Lee Joon-young of Seoul National University Medical College, developed a dementia prevention program using the AI speaker, the first such one in Korea.

If “help me” is shouted via the speaker, it can be conveyed to a 119 dispatcher via the management office of his or her apartment complex so that emergency rescue steps can be taken.