Seoul scooped the top award at the World Smart City Awards 2022, which recognize and support innovative city strategies. The South Korean capital impressed the jury with its digital inclusion policy that guarantees rights to the socially vulnerable, according to an article in the online magazine Cities Today. Presenting the award, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, Laia Bonet, said Seoul “has been proven to be an inspiration for those concerned by inequalities”.
Seoul Digital Foundation Chairman Yosik Kang told Cities Today that Seoul’s metaverse platform, which was launched in 2021 as a “virtual municipal world”, was key to the win. “With our digital inclusion policy, we’re trying to make a better life for everyone in Seoul,” he said. The platform aims to create a metaverse environment for all administrative services, including economy, education, culture and tourism, according to the article. Seoul was the first major city to enter the metaverse for contactless communication.
The Smart City Awards jury, which was comprised of representatives from Barcelona City Council, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, the EC Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, and Smart City Expo World Congress, also honored Kyiv with a “special recognition” award for the digital resilience it has shown since Russia’s invasion. With the Kyiv Digital app, Ukraine’s capital can notify citizens of air raids and shelter locations quickly to help save lives.
The 2022 World Smart City Awards received 337 submissions from 60 countries. Other winners included the Irish capital Dublin for its drone development project and the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires for its new tool to promote sustainable urban development.
