Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program

This study evaluates the progress of Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP), a flagship R&D initiative, in advancing sustainable and intelligent urban development on a global scale. Utilizing the United Nations’ United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) framework, which integrat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yookyung Lee, Seungwoo Han, Youngtae Cho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/928
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850126596952817664
author Yookyung Lee
Seungwoo Han
Youngtae Cho
author_facet Yookyung Lee
Seungwoo Han
Youngtae Cho
author_sort Yookyung Lee
collection DOAJ
description This study evaluates the progress of Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP), a flagship R&D initiative, in advancing sustainable and intelligent urban development on a global scale. Utilizing the United Nations’ United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) framework, which integrates both sustainability and smartness in city development, this research examines the program’s alignment with global standards. The findings reveal that the NSSCP contributes to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas such as health, energy, innovation, and sustainable communities. It also effectively addresses key dimensions of smart cities, including smart living, environmental stewardship, mobility, and economic vitality. Despite these achievements, this study identifies critical challenges, such as the absence of robust evaluation tools and an overemphasis on quantitative targets. This research is important in advancing the discourse on smart city development, offering insights into the efficacy of smart services and systems through the lens of the NSSCP’s cloud-based open data hub model.
format Article
id doaj-art-2525df98d39a402fb75e25ae08fc7511
institution OA Journals
issn 2073-445X
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Land
spelling doaj-art-2525df98d39a402fb75e25ae08fc75112025-08-20T02:33:54ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2025-04-0114592810.3390/land14050928Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City ProgramYookyung Lee0Seungwoo Han1Youngtae Cho2Yongin Research Institute, Yongin 16976, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Political Science and International Relations, Kyonggi University, Suwon 16227, Republic of KoreaLand and Housing Research Institute, Daejeon 34047, Republic of KoreaThis study evaluates the progress of Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP), a flagship R&D initiative, in advancing sustainable and intelligent urban development on a global scale. Utilizing the United Nations’ United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) framework, which integrates both sustainability and smartness in city development, this research examines the program’s alignment with global standards. The findings reveal that the NSSCP contributes to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas such as health, energy, innovation, and sustainable communities. It also effectively addresses key dimensions of smart cities, including smart living, environmental stewardship, mobility, and economic vitality. Despite these achievements, this study identifies critical challenges, such as the absence of robust evaluation tools and an overemphasis on quantitative targets. This research is important in advancing the discourse on smart city development, offering insights into the efficacy of smart services and systems through the lens of the NSSCP’s cloud-based open data hub model.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/928National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP)United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC)Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)South Koreaprogram evaluation
spellingShingle Yookyung Lee
Seungwoo Han
Youngtae Cho
Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
Land
National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP)
United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
South Korea
program evaluation
title Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
title_full Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
title_fullStr Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
title_full_unstemmed Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
title_short Navigating the Path to Smart and Sustainable Cities: Insights from South Korea’s National Strategic Smart City Program
title_sort navigating the path to smart and sustainable cities insights from south korea s national strategic smart city program
topic National Strategic Smart City Program (NSSCP)
United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
South Korea
program evaluation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/928
work_keys_str_mv AT yookyunglee navigatingthepathtosmartandsustainablecitiesinsightsfromsouthkoreasnationalstrategicsmartcityprogram
AT seungwoohan navigatingthepathtosmartandsustainablecitiesinsightsfromsouthkoreasnationalstrategicsmartcityprogram
AT youngtaecho navigatingthepathtosmartandsustainablecitiesinsightsfromsouthkoreasnationalstrategicsmartcityprogram