![]() In a 2012 report entitled “ Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit to the World”, the city says the «Seoul subway has led the incredible development of Seoul», making it «a driving force behind the remarkable development of Korea». Technology has also inserted itself into the infrastructure: since 2010, mobile connection is ubiquitous on trains and metros. It is a system that is connected to a fleet of buses (120,000 units) that by 2020 are to run exclusively on electricity.Įfficiency, reliability, accessibility and, to a certain degree, guaranteed entertainment, what with the big video screens affixed in the stations and along the escalators: these are major elements of Seoul mass transit. It has nine lines covering a combined 327 kilometres operated by four different operators, which together create an integrated system that includes light rail and suburban trains. The metro is its fulcrum, carrying seven million people a day. Seoul embracing technological innovation is thanks to its modern public transport system. So it should not come as a surprise that the city is one of the broadband capitals of the world, high up in the rankings of the ICT Development Index put together by the United Nations. In 2015, Google opened its first Asian campus for start-ups in the Gangnam district, confirming the city’s vitality. Built in 2002, it has attracted avant-garde companies from the world of high-tech. One example is the Digital Media City, a complex of more than half a million square metres and dedicated to digital technology. Then there are initiatives that link urban development with business. Global technology giants Samsung and LG have their headquarters in Seoul. ![]() What is more, Seoul is the sixth most powerful city on the planet, beating the likes of Hong Kong, according to the Global Power City Index 2017, compiled by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies that examines six parametres including economy, research, culture, liveability and accessibility. Among the world’s cities, it ranks fourth, the Brookings Institution has found. With a gross domestic product (GDP) of $903 billion, according to 2015 figures from Oxford Economics, an advisory firm, the city’s economy is equal to 67% of the national GDP. Living in Seoul: a megacity with a high quality of lifeĪs for quality of life, Seoul has reached seventh in the world, according to 2016 figures from the Sustainable Cities Index by Arcadis, a design and consultancy firm. And so a city that was a chaotic megalopolis 20 years ago has become a rich and powerful “smart” megacity. ![]() Sustainability in Seoul has recently become another one, a method adopted by this growing city in response to some of the world’s worst air pollution. But it is ever mindful of its people, rising through the international rankings for the quality of life it offers.īusiness, technology and transport infrastructure are the three pillars on which Seoul has based its success. The soul of this city of 10 million people – 25 million when including the metropolitan area – is instead manifested by the speed with which it forges ahead towards a future of advanced technology and avant-garde infrastructure. People living in Seoul express their love for it with a playful alliteration in English, saying that « Seoul is the soul of Asia».
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