Smart City Development in Korea and Its Implications for Cooperative Governance

Abstract

This chapter dealt with the characteristics, the governance structure, policy-making process, the main thrusts, and regional governance of Korean smart cities. Korea defined a smart city as a platform to improve the quality of life for citizens, enhance the sustainability of cities, and foster new industries by utilizing innovative technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. The smart city consists of three components including technologies, services, and applications, and legislation. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport has been in a position to play a leading role in developing smart cities and has accordingly been pushing for deregulation while other ministries have been devoted to the programmes under the inter-agency collaboration framework. The Seoul smart city initiatives are reviewed in terms of policy process including policy formulation, policymaking, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. The chapter also suggests ASEAN regional cooperation types in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.