Hyundai Motor Group Showcases Future of Cities Through Virtual Exhibition

Today, Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) unveiled a virtual public exhibition of its HMG Smart City reference model and other concept studies developed in collaboration with academia.

The virtual exhibition consists of the greenfield smart city reference model that the Group debuted at the World Cities Summit forum in Singapore this past August and various concept studies on the future cities.

The model is a collaboration between the Group and HyunJoon Yoo Architects. The reference model is a research project that will serve as an important stepping stone for the Group’s effort to understand cities and provide innovative solutions that genuinely benefit citizens.

“We looked at the issues inherent in legacy cities and thought about how we could design future cities as a space where humanity, nature, architecture and mobility can coexist,” said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and head of Hyundai Global Design Center. “The reference model represents a functional design that supports the mobility of people and things.”  

“This sustainable future city concept creates a synergy between people and nature by using minimal space and renewable energy, and its honeycomb pattern can easily be modified according to the surrounding topography,” said HyunJoon Yoo, Head of HyunJoon Yoo Architects. “The virtual exhibition will enable more people to experience the HMG Smart City.”

Youngcho Chi, President and Chief Innovation Officer of the Group, added, “Cities are complex organisms, and it is difficult to plan for a single perfect city, but such thought exercises will help lead us in the right direction. The Group is committed to developing smart city solutions based on a deep understanding of the cities we live in. We will continue our efforts to develop a wide range of solutions using smart mobility and logistics.”

Inspired by a honeycomb pattern, the HMG Smart City concept is a hexagonal-shaped urban development with a human-centred surface layer and functional underground layer. On the surface, the buildings encircle parks and forests at the city’s centre, effectively minimizing the gross area developed by humankind.

The concept’s road infrastructure lies in the underground layer where autonomous mobility solutions transport all the goods and services to regional automated logistics hubs where autonomous robots make the final delivery.

The concept envisions a sustainable green city where large natural areas are preserved. The city centre features recreational forests, parks and a reservoir to provide water for city dwellers. To ensure carbon neutrality, the city’s primary power source will be hydrogen fuel cell generators, distributing electricity through innovative grid pipelines to buildings.

The Group announced its vision for future cities and related smart mobility solutions at CES 2020. Since then, the Group has rapidly developed various smart mobility solutions.

The virtual exhibition also includes other city concepts that the Group has developed in cooperation with academia. The first part of the concept studies addresses the question of what kind of design may be necessary to support and enrich life in desert, polar and aquatic environments. The second part of the study covers various concepts of how purpose-built vehicles (PBVs) may interact with building structures in future cities.

For example, the Group delved into how roof structures, pedestrian decks, and roads for advanced mobility systems may benefit from region-specific designs and how PBV docking structures may look for desert environments facing high heat and sandstorms. The Group also explored various scenarios of PBVs interacting with building systems and how to cover up PBVs aesthetically pleasingly.

The future city concepts shown in the online exhibition represent the Group’s continuing commitment to making progress for humanity through smart and sustainable mobility solutions. Furthermore, it provides the public with an insight into the future of cities.

The virtual exhibition is available for public viewing at the following links:
Virtual exhibition – https://metaxproject.co.kr/smartcity
More on HMG Smart City Reference Model – https://hmg-smartcity.com/

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