// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Busan?

Busan scores 38.3% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #120 of 213 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

38.3%

Rank

#120 / 213

Criteria present

23 / 86

Evidence coverage

50%

Busan's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation67%

7 present · 2 partial · 3 absent · 3 not assessed

Mobility & Transport75%

4 present · 1 partial · 1 absent · 6 not assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate40%

0 present · 4 partial · 1 absent · 8 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste50%

3 present · 4 partial · 3 absent · 1 not assessed

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion63%

3 present · 4 partial · 1 absent · 5 not assessed

Economy, Innovation & Employment79%

4 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model60%

2 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 9 not assessed

Where Busan is strong

  • Culture, Tourism & Recreation
  • Inclusion & Civic Participation
  • Open Data & Transparency
  • Innovation & Economic Development
  • Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure

Where the gaps are

  • Public Safety & Emergency
  • Health & Digital Health
  • Critical Infrastructure Resilience
  • Food Security & Urban Agriculture
  • Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin

Evidence highlights

Open Data & Transparency · Official open data portal

Busan operates an official open data portal called "Big-데이터웨이브" (Big Data Wave) at data.busan.go.kr, which provides a "부산데이터 대시보드" (Busan Data Dashboard) and a "데이터 마켓" (Data Market) for public data.

https://data.busan.go.kr/

Open Data & Transparency · High-value datasets published

Busan's data portal categorizes its public data into various themes including "재정금융" (Finance), "교통물류" (Transportation & Logistics), and "환경기상" (Environment & Weather), indicating the availability of high-value datasets in these areas.

https://data.busan.go.kr/

Open Data & Transparency · Programmatic API access

The Busan data portal explicitly states that 331 datasets are available via API ("api 331"), in addition to file downloads, and a URL snippet for a Busan-specific API endpoint for bus information further confirms programmatic access.

https://data.busan.go.kr/

Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · Public Wi-Fi network

Busan offers a "Free Wi-Fi Service" for visitors, as mentioned on the official Visit Busan website.

https://www.busan.go.kr/eng/visitbusan

About this assessment

Busan was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-05 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, and every finding links to where it was found — see how smart cities are measured. Scores refresh continuously as cities publish new evidence.