SUWON — The city of Suwon has begun building a smart city based on physical artificial intelligence.
Suwon said it signed a memorandum of understanding on the 14th with eight companies and institutions taking part in a hub-type smart city project, at a meeting room in city hall. The agreement was designed to establish a cooperation framework for creating a physical AI-based smart city in Suwon.
The project consortium includes Hyundai Motor, Kia, KEPCO KDN, Gaon Robotics, Colosseum Corporation, CL Mobility, Younggook C&P and the Suwon Urban Foundation.
Suwon was selected in June this year for the 2026 hub-type smart city project run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The city will receive up to 16 billion won in state funding over three years. Combined with 16 billion won in central and local government money and 800 million won from the private sector, the total project size comes to 32.8 billion won. The project runs through December 2028.
Smart city projects use artificial intelligence and smart technologies to address urban problems such as transport, safety and daily convenience, while supporting the growth of related industries. Among them, the hub-type program aims to create test-bed cities whose models can be adopted nationwide.
Suwon applied under the theme of "Connecting the City, Moving Daily Life — Suwon, a Hub of Physical AI Innovation." It plans to build physical AI-based smart city services in the areas of Suwon Station, Hwaseo-dong and Haenggung-dong.
The city will also support corporate testing. Based on data collected in the field, it intends to improve how the city is run and expand services that residents can feel in their daily lives.
The core of the plan is the creation of four hubs. Using new technologies based on physical AI, Suwon will build a transport hub, a citizen convenience hub, a safety and disaster hub, and an innovation and education hub.
The institutions that signed the agreement will cooperate in building and operating smart city services in line with the project plan. They will also divide roles by field, including technology testing, data use and service expansion, to improve the quality of the project.
Attending the signing ceremony were Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun, Hyundai Motor executive Lee Jae-yong, Kia executive Kang Ju-yeop, KEPCO KDN division head Park Jong-hyun and Gaon Robotics Chief Executive Lee Jin-seong. Also present were Colosseum Corporation Chief Executive Park Jin-su, CL Mobility Chief Executive Park Mu-yeol, Younggook C&P Chief Executive Park Chan-ho and Suwon Urban Foundation Chairman Lee Byung-jin.
"A physical AI-based smart city is one pillar of the future city that Suwon is preparing," Lee said. "I hope the demonstration project pursued in Suwon takes root successfully and becomes a model that spreads to cities across the country."
