Ubiquitous urban infrastructure: Infrastructure planning and development in Korea
Sang-Ho Lee
Professor, Department of Urban Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, Korea
Tan Yigitcanlar
School of Urban Development, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD
Jung-Hoon Han
Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Nathan QLD
Youn-Taik Leem
Department of Urban Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, Korea
PP: 282 - 292
Abstract
The fast growing ubiquitous infrastructure technologies are capable of improving current urban management and infrastructure planning and development capabilities.
These technological advancement urban infrastructure developments in the Republic of Korea have recently shifted from an old paradigm of conventional infrastructure to a new paradigm of intelligent infrastructure provision. This new paradigm, so called ubiquitous infrastructure, is a combination of urban infrastructures, information and communication technologies and digital networks. Ubiquitous infrastructure refers to an urban infrastructure system where any citizen can access any infrastructure and services via any electronic devices regardless of time and location.
This paper introduces this new paradigm and new schemes for urban infrastructure planning and development in the Republic of Korea and discusses the potential positive effects of ubiquitous infrastructure on Korean cities to achieve sustainable urban development.
Keywords
Korea, ubiquitous infrastructure, ubiquitous city, urban infrastructure, ubiquitous services, sustainable urban development, urban technologies, information and communication technology
Article Text
Socio-economic changes in the information era immensely impact on our societies, lifestyles, built and natural environments and urban amenities (Yigitcanlar et al 2008a). Particularly globalisation and the rise of the knowledge economy along with increasing environmental concerns are leading urban policy makers to look for alternatives in urban infrastructure and service provision. Additionally, rapid technology development in the area of digital network and telecommunications has a significant effect on contemporary urban infrastructure planning. Ever since Mitchell (1999) envisaged the ‘E-topia' at the end of the 20th Century, describing the kinds of changes he anticipates will take place in urban spaces as a consequence of the digital revolution, urban digital networks have been developed as one of the most important urban infrastructures. For instance, technological advances and the benefits resulting from the use of these technologies in urban planning resulted in the emergence of new forms of urban infrastructure such as driverless transport systems, smart cards and intelligent traffic control systems (Cohen & Nijkamp 2002). In the Republic of Korea and Japan, policy-makers and planners have developed and applied ‘ubiquitous computing systems' in urban infrastructure planning and development. This new ‘ubiquitous urban infrastructure' (U-infrastructure) provides everyone with an opportunity to access to urban services using any information technology devices, regardless of time and location (Lee 2005a).
U-infrastructure is a key component of ‘ubiquitous' city development and has a significant effect on the emergence of a new paradigm for urban infrastructure planning and development that is ecologically sustainable and democratic in nature. Ubiquitous cities, or U-cities, are defined as places where public and private services can be delivered and received anywhere and anytime (Kim 2008). Formation of these high-tech cities has not yet been considered widely around the world by policy makers and urban planners (Yigitcanlar 2006), perhaps because the idea of ubiquitous computing was so far only limited to the design or improvement of smart buildings, as in the cases of Singapore and Hong Kong. As discussed in this paper, however, the process in Korea, and also Japan (Bessho et al 2008), reveals that it is possible to develop cities of the future by developing U-infrastructures that are smart and eco-friendly.
The following sections of the paper discuss major issues of ubiquitous urban service provision, urban planning, urban land use, and infrastructure developments, particularly in Korean cities. Using Korean experience, the paper discusses a new form of urban infrastructure and system driven by the concept of U-infrastructure. The paper then concludes with recommendations for policymakers and urban and infrastructure planners of elsewhere who are interested in adopting U-infrastructure systems. ...continues...
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