Twelve daily-life service robots have been deployed to the Eco-Delta Smart City in Gangseo District, Busan. The city of Busan said on the 17th that it will ramp up core infrastructure construction for the national pilot city of Eco-Delta Smart City, including the robot deployment.
The "Busan Eco-Delta Smart City national pilot city development" project is the largest Smart City project in Korea, led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water). On a greenfield site of 2.8 square kilometers (㎢, about 840,000 pyeong), similar in size to Yeouido, the project aims to build commercial, office, residential, and cultural facilities and apply cutting-edge IT technologies to create a leading model of a sustainable future Smart City.
The total project budget amounts to 5.6 trillion won. The project period is expected to take a total of 15 years, including five years for construction and 10 years for operation.
Project implementation will be overseen by "Smart City Busan." Smart City Busan is a special-purpose company that oversees implementation of the Eco-Delta Smart City project, jointly funded by the public sector, including the city, and a private consortium of 11 corporations including LG CNS.
The city of Busan deployed four robots at the Smart City apartment complex the day before, including a barista robot, a cleaning robot, a patrol robot, and a "gym carry" (luggage transport) robot.
Park Heong-joon, the Busan mayor, said, "We will actively support the Smart City national pilot city project so it can proceed without a hitch," adding, "To make the national pilot city a place where citizens enjoy safe and convenient smart services, we will work closely with related agencies, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."