This was a good opportunity for AREBS (partner in REMOURBAN), in collaboration with ERIGES (the autonomous municipal agency in charge of the urban regeneration projects), to present the urban transformation and the smart city strategies that have been carried out by the city of Seraing, in particular thanks to the REMOURBAN project!
The approaches to urban renewal are very different from one continent to another. In addition, the smart cities sector seems to be a step ahead in South Korea, with its smart and hyper-connected capital, Seoul. For instance, the city, which has nearly 10 million inhabitants, has a public transportation system that is very efficient and well connected, with a wifi coverage in all public places and transport, subway network included.
South Korea also has the particularity of having designed and built a new district, Songdo, in the city of Incheon, which was designed from A to Z as an example of smart city. This district focuses on ecology and hyper-connectivity optimized to the extreme, through the use of computers and the collection and permanent exchange of data. This district, which can accommodate 65,000 inhabitants, built as a pilot project, seems nevertheless difficult to meet its public, for reasons of high costs of life.
The country now wants to adapt its strategy of smart urban regeneration, by promoting urban retrofitting rather than the creation of new districts/cities and by implementing a long-term urban regeneration plan.
It therefore seems obvious, through this meeting, that good practices in urban development can be exchanged, well beyond our European borders, both in one direction and the other!
Picture: Mayor of Seraing – Mr Mathot- surrounded by Mr Chun-Il Kim (CERIK institute), REMOURBAN & ERIGES team
30 November 2017