Seoul the Smart City Leverages Blockchain and IoT to Detect Risky Buildings

A smart city is a result of mankind's endless mission to make life easier and is now one of the prominent methods by which a government enhances quality the of life of its citizens. In recent years, smart cities have proven to be a formidable tool in tackling urban problems.

Seoul has emerged as a leading smart city in the world by leveraging big data and new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.  Recognized globally as a state-of-the-art city with a robust information and communication network where inhabitants can enjoy free high-speed internet even in buses and trains.

As at 2020, Seoul had a total population of 9.7million people and was the world’s 4th largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$635 billion in 2014 after New York City, Tokyo and Los Angeles. In 2015, it was branded Asia’s most livable city with the second highest quality of life internationally. In 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that the air quality was 2.4 times the recommended level.

Seoul is now making new moves linked to the safety of its citizens in the smart city context. By adopting mainstream technologies in managing the safety of buildings, Seoul is creating a reliable architectural administration for its citizens. Seoul will embark on a pilot test project on 46 buildings in December with many others slated for 2022. These tests will be conducted on buildings that are more than 30 years old or flagged as structures prone to disasters.

The collated data will also enable the government to determine the major reasons for safety accidents and develop more efficient safety management measures. This project is aimed at hazardous structures flagged and managed by the municipality, dilapidated buildings built more than thirty years ago, and slopes near housing. This will result in improved predictability of safety management for private buildings and a reduction in different types of safety accidents.

Seoul has made major advancements over the past few decades towards providing services to its citizens more intelligently and improving quality of life. It consistently appears in the leading pack of global rankings, but a smart city is a journey, not a destination, and South Korea’s capital still faces a myriad of challenges new and old. In March 2019, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) revealed it would invest $1.2 billion until 2022 on smart projects in order to drive further development.

While Seoul is regarded for its cutting- edge smart city innovation, it is the rate and range at which it applies solutions and implements initiatives that really makes the city stand out among others. Hardly do so many innovations occur across all sectors in the same city. The city also displays pioneering leadership in key areas such as digital democracy, ageing society, hydrogen economy and city-driven innovation ecosystem.

Credit: for more insights, click this link