Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin attended an official side event of the "2026 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)" held at UN Headquarters in New York on Sunday, participating as a representative city of South Korea to introduce Seongnam's sustainable transport policy and future mobility vision.
According to the city on Monday, the event was held in Conference Room CR-F at UN Headquarters under the themes of "Building Resilient Cities" and implementing the "UN Decade of Sustainable Transport Initiative." With government officials from various countries, international organizations, and global experts in attendance, Shin presented human-centered transport policies and advanced mobility strategies.
Shin presented the connection of technology, people, culture, and environment as the core of Seongnam's sustainable urban transport model. He explained a concept that links the 62-kilometer Nubi-gil trail, 12 loess trails, ecological restoration of Tancheon stream, a 360-kilometer bicycle road network, 28 kilometers of autonomous shuttles, electric and hydrogen vehicles, personal mobility devices, and shared vehicles into a single integrated transport service.
He also introduced AI equipment installed on 53 buses across 14 city bus routes, a drone-based road management system, free autonomous shuttles, drone delivery services in parks and along Tancheon stream, and AI patrol robots. "These technologies are not a concept of the future but a reality that makes citizens' daily lives safe and convenient," Shin said.
Seongnam received the silver award at the "World's Most Livable Cities Award" last year, and has raised its status as a global smart city by presenting its policies at the Asia regional meeting on sustainable transport organized by the UN Centre for Regional Development.
At the end of his presentation, Shin announced that the 17th Asia High-Level Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum will be held at Seongnam City Hall from March 16 to 19, 2027. About 300 people, including government officials from 40 to 50 Asian countries, international organizations, and experts, are expected to attend the forum.
"Introducing Seongnam's policy on the UN stage is the fruit of innovation created together with 920,000 citizens," Shin said. "We will prepare so that the Seongnam EST Forum becomes a cooperation platform for cities around the world."
After the presentation, Shin met with Zhu Wang, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, to discuss the successful hosting of the forum and ways to expand international cooperation. Director Zhu evaluated Seongnam's case as "a model that well demonstrates the value of community-centered implementation."
