Seoul residents prioritize traffic, safety, and environment in smart city poll

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- Seoul citizens named traffic congestion, nighttime crime and fine dust as the areas most in need of smart city solutions, a poll showed Sunday.

The Korean megalopolis surveyed 8,531 Seoul residents online and offline from Feb. 10-21 last year as part of efforts to map out a smart city plan.

Traffic, safety and the environment emerged as the three areas most in need of attention, cited by 37.5 percent, 21.2 percent and 16.2 percent of the respondents, respectively, according to the poll.

When asked which areas most needed a smart city push specifically, the respondents again put traffic first at 30.1 percent, followed by safety at 27.5 percent and the environment at 18.8 percent.

Within the traffic category, congestion was the top concern at 34.2 percent, followed by insufficient infrastructure at 18.5 percent and parking difficulties at 17 percent.

In the safety category, nighttime crime topped the list at 22.5 percent, followed by sexual crime at 16.7 percent and concerns over school children's safety at 10.5 percent.

In the environment sector, fine dust was seen as the most pressing issue at 29.2 percent, followed by general air pollution at 26.7 percent and water pollution at 11.2 percent.

Based on the poll, the metropolitan government has set up a road map running through 2030, aimed at enhancing the city's competitiveness and improving the people's quality of life.

The plan calls for easing rush-hour congestion, expanding support for the underprivileged, strengthening measures against climate change and positioning Seoul as an innovation hub.

Planned smart city services include artificial intelligence-powered closed circuit security cameras, air-purifying drones, cleaning robots along the Han River and autonomous vehicle infrastructure.