Korean experts discuss infra for traffic, garbage etc

Korean experts discuss infra for traffic, garbage etc

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 4, 2017: Sang-bum Kim, a senior researcher from the University of Seoul, Korea, has emphasised addressing traffic problems by combining technology and infrastructure.

In a presentation on ’Growth of Seoul and Key Challenges’ at a workshop on smart cities here on Feb 3, Friday, Sang-bum explained how the traffic system was streamlined in his country in the 80s to address the challenges posed by the population explosion caused by migration of people to cities. A subway network of 300 km was built while the road length went up from 5,271 km to 8,241 km, parking lots from 74 to 1,124 and up to 3,760 till 2013.

Lauding the World Bank which financed some of the projects, Sang-bum said, "While subways and local roads were built with budgetary allocations and loans, public-private-partnership bore fruits for the remaining projects."

Elaborating the traffic demand management, Sang-bum said the annual traffic impact fee was levied while the fee would be imposed on buildings that induce traffic around the area (of building). In the last 10 years, the focus is only on traffic management, while the infrastructure part was completed by 2001. Sang-bum, who was also a member of the special task force to bring reforms in buses in 2002, brought out a 1,000-page report on the same.

Choi Young Jun, the director of Seoul Water Authority, and Tae Suk Jun, a waste management expert, also deliberated on respective topics.