Seoul Urban Data: Real-Time Congestion & Crowd Estimates
Seoul’s metropolitan government is expanding its real-time urban data service to 113 major sites across the city, providing citizens and tourists with up-to-the-minute information on population density, traffic congestion, cultural events, and the availability of electric vehicle charging stations.
The expansion, announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and accessible via the Seoul Open Data website (data.seoul.go.kr/SeoulRtd), builds upon a service initially launched in September 2022. Previously covering 50 locations, the broadened scope now includes key areas prone to crowding, allowing users to proactively adjust their plans based on current conditions. For example, a tourist considering a visit to Deoksugung-gil and Jeongdong-gil can now check congestion levels and potentially shift their visit to earlier hours to avoid peak crowds, according to the SMG.
The initiative leverages Seoul’s “Smart Seoul Data of Things” (S-DoT) network, which utilizes thousands of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to collect 17 different types of data, including air quality, noise levels, and pedestrian counts. This data is fed into central systems in real time, enabling authorities to observe, analyze, and respond to urban dynamics immediately. The city can identify pollution or noise issues before citizen complaints are filed, and traffic light timing is adjusted based on real-time traffic analyses to mitigate congestion.
Beyond citizen convenience, the open data is also being utilized by developers. One developer is currently using the data to create a virtual environment of Gwanghwamun Square linked to real-time pedestrian and road traffic, as well as weather conditions, within a new metaverse platform. The SMG’s provision of an open API facilitates such integrations with services like virtual reality and the metaverse.
Seoul has long been recognized as a leader in digital governance, receiving awards for its administrative capabilities. The Digital Mayor’s Office Platform integrates administrative processes, service delivery, and data analysis to support data-driven decision-making. Real-time dashboards display critical urban data, informing political decisions and measures. Citizens can also interact with the administration through chatbots like Seoul Talk, which provides automated responses to inquiries and complaints.
The city’s approach extends beyond simply collecting data; it actively uses analysis to identify infrastructure gaps, bottlenecks, and service needs. A recent study revisiting the 2022 Seoul Halloween crowd crush, which resulted in 159 fatalities, examined the interplay of temporal surges and spatial bottlenecks, highlighting the importance of understanding crowd dynamics.
Empirical analysis of congestion spreading in Seoul traffic, published by the American Physical Society, notes the benefit of considering neighboring traffic flows, as most urban traffic data is collected from floating vehicles using global navigation systems.