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From Smart City to AI City: 2026 World Smart City Expo (WSCE) to Be Held in Busan

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, will jointly host the 2026 World Smart City Expo, or WSCE, with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, led by Minister Kim Yoon-duk, and the Ministry of Science and ICT, led by Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, at BEXCO for three days from September 9 to 11.

Marking its 10th anniversary this year, WSCE 2026 is Asia’s largest international smart city event, bringing together governments, cities, companies, organizations, and experts from Korea and abroad to share smart city policies and advanced technologies and identify opportunities for collaborative projects.

Following last year’s successful hosting of WSCE in Busan, the first by a local government in Korea, Busan Metropolitan City will participate this year as a host organization and jointly organize the event with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

As in the previous year, the event will also be held in conjunction with K-ICT WEEK, a leading regional exhibition in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and information and communications technology (ICT). The joint event will showcase advanced technologies in future industries in one location, promote cross-industry convergence, and expand business opportunities for participating companies.

Under the slogan “Beyond Smart City, Into AI City,” this year’s event will feature a range of exhibition pavilions presenting innovative technologies and services for future cities, programs to help companies develop new sales channels and expand business opportunities, and conferences involving industry, academia, research institutions, and government.

The venue will feature three special pavilions—the Busan Smart Ocean Pavilion, K-AI City, and Smart Build & Green Lounge—as well as the Smart City Busan Co., Ltd. Pavilion, major corporate pavilions featuring companies such as Korean Air, KT, and NAVER Cloud, and overseas exhibition pavilions.

Business programs, including open innovation sessions, buyer consultation meetings, and corporate presentations, will also be offered to promote exchanges among companies and support market development. International conferences, including the Urban AI Summit, will also be held.

To help citizens experience smart city and AI technologies in a more accessible and engaging way, the event will also feature a talk concert with the YouTube channel Andoel Gwahak and Heo Seong-beom, an AI researcher and KAIST alumnus.

Busan Metropolitan City will present a distinctive future maritime city model through the Busan Smart Ocean Pavilion, which combines Busan’s characteristics as a maritime and port city with advanced technologies such as AI, digital twins, autonomous navigation, and robotics.

The Busan Smart Ocean Pavilion will showcase in one location Busan’s key future-city policies and advanced technologies, including the Arctic shipping route, smart ports and logistics, autonomous navigation and marine mobility, AI- and data-based urban management, digital twins, and eco-friendly and smart maritime industries.

Through the pavilion, the city plans to demonstrate how the convergence of maritime and port industries with advanced technologies can transform cities, industries, and citizens’ lives, while promoting in Korea and abroad Busan’s vision for the future maritime city it seeks to become.

The World Smart City Expo is open to anyone interested in attending. Visitors may pre-register through the WSCE Secretariat website at https://www.worldsmartcityexpo.com by September 7 or register on site during the event.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “I hope this event will provide an opportunity to showcase Busan’s capabilities as a leading smart city both in Korea and abroad. I also hope it will serve as a platform for industrial exchange and promotion, enabling participating companies to identify new markets and business opportunities while giving citizens a tangible sense of how smart city technologies and services can transform life in the cities of the future.”