CHICAGO ― Busan is preparing to build the so-called second Centum City, a high-end industrial park equipped with smart technology.

Centum City is an upscale multipurpose business and shopping district in the port city, featuring around 1,400 companies, including ones in the IT sector, and the world’s biggest department store, Shinsegae. 

“We are going to renovate the old industrial complex (in Sasang district, west Busan) into the second Centum City, where we will promote convergence between information and communications technology, automobile and shipbuilding industries,” Busan Vice Mayor Jung Gi-ryong said Wednesday at a panel discussion of the Internet of Things World Forum in Chicago.

The IoTWF, held from Tuesday to Thursday in the Windy City, is an annual conference where officials from global governments and private firms gather to discuss a variety of subjects related to IoT technology, such as the deployment and security of technology.

Instead of demolishing the old derelict factories of the district, which he called an outdated development method, the city will remodel the existing buildings and construct some new apartment-type factories equipped with high-end IoT technology.

“With large shipbuilders and carmakers doing business in the city, including Renault Samsung Motors and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the new industrial complex will create a synergy effect,” he said.

More than 440 billion won ($414 million) will be poured into the second Centum City project by 2020.

The complex is expected to be equipped with cutting-edge IoT technology such as smart transportation and a smart grid.

“The complex is going to be an IoT revolution and give us ample opportunity to take the industrial leadership that we enjoyed in the past,” he said.

He also put emphasis on collaboration between the municipal government and the private sector to accelerate the pace of the project.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heralcorp.com)