Source: Guardian sustainable business, Laura Paddison, Sunday 20 March 2016
Go to this article ►(http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/gallery/2016/mar/20/hamburg-coffee-pod-ban-bogota-buses-sustainable-cities-in-pictures)
 

□ On Sunday, March 20, The Guardian presented its list of the world’s seven most sustainable cities for its online readers. Seoul has been selected by the UK newspaper named The Guardian, as one of the world’s most sustainable cities.

□ The seven cities were: Seoul, Hamburg, Oslo, Bogota, Helsinki, Milan, and São Paulo. The Guardian explained that these cities have taken actions to ensure sustainability for the longer term.

□ Describing Seoul as “a global leader on open data and boasting the world’s fastest broadband”, The Guardian introduced the city’s plan to offer free wifi access at all public spaces, including buses and subways, by 2017.  
 

□ The UK-based newspaper also touched upon the city’s actions in support of the sharing economy enabled by ShareHub, an online platform that connects users and sharing services and supports sharing enterprises.
 

□ In 2012, the City of Seoul made a head start by introducing the framework for a sharing economy as a countermeasure against insufficient parking, environment pollution and other urban issues. The city has assisted 64 start-ups and launched some of the sharing programs itself (among them, car or parking space sharing in residential areas, and a tool “library”) that have benefited quality of life over the last three years.
 
□ Such innovative measures were introduced to the world by the US business magazine Forbes or major overseas news agencies such as The LA Times. In a previous article with the subheading of “From Berlin to Bogotá, visionary mayors are transforming people’s lives” in June 2015, The Guardian had already selected Seoul alongside New York, Paris, and Berlin as one of the most innovative cities, paying keen attention to its possession of the world’s fastest broadband, active citizen engagement through social media, its sharing economy and welfare policies.

□ On March 9, Seoul received an award for its innovative public-private sector partnership and policies at the Place Marketing Forum, hosted by the Regional Attractiveness and Place Marketing Chair, comprised of 21 local French authorities, parliament and committees.
 
□ Mr. Jeon Hyo-gwan of the Seoul Innovation Bureau indicated that Seoul’s innovation in administration has attracted the attention of the world and that it has often been introduced as a role model by major media companies around the world. “Seoul will continue to promote its innovative policies, including its sharing economy policies, and support other cities around the world that wish to benchmark our innovation,” he added.