Virtual UAM tour provides peak at Busan's future

Busan promises a future of air taxis and floating cities in its all-out bid for World Expo 2030. And a virtual ride on urban air mobility (UAM), or so-called flying taxis, offered a sneak peek at this ambitious vision.

A video presentation on Busan’s proposal to host World Expo 2030 using a diorama of the coastal city at Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center on Thursday [SHIN HA-NEE]

BUSAN - When the four-person air taxi took off from a landing site and soared through a hole in the ceiling, the open waters of the North Port came into view through the virtual reality (VR) headset.

Busan promises a future of air taxis and floating cities in its all-out bid for World Expo 2030. And a virtual ride on urban air mobility (UAM), or so-called flying taxis, offered a sneak peek at this ambitious vision.

On Thursday, a day after the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) delegation visited the North Port for an on-site inspection of the proposed expo venue, the Busan city government and the World Expo bid promotion committee hosted a press event to brief reporters on its plan to redevelop the port area.

A mock-up of an air taxi was installed by SK Telecom at the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center (BPEX) facing the North Port, for a virtual tour of the city in both the present and the future.

A mock-up of an urban utility vehicle by SK Telecom installed at BPEX for a virtual tour of Busan [SHIN HA-NEE]

“A UAM is not a single vehicle unit, but rather the transportation system as a whole,” said Wohn Dong-keun, a manager at SK Telecom’s UAM business team.

UAM vehicles will be all-electric and quieter than helicopters thanks to their multiple blades, explained Wohn.

Busan plans to deploy a UAM system on a commercial base to carry passengers from the airport to the expo venue in 2030 if it wins the bidding race.

In February, the Busan Expo bid promotion committee signed a memorandum of understanding with SK Telecom, Hanwha Systems, Korea Airport Corporation and T Map Mobility for the joint UAM project.

The virtual tour began with the actual footage of the North Port and ended with an imagined view of the city in 2030, with the fully completed opera house and expo pavilions and an artificial island floating on the sea.

The world’s first floating city — Oceanix Busan — is scheduled to be completed in 2028 ahead of the hoped-for expo.

The BIE delegation visited the North Port on Wednesday, for the third presentation out of four planned through Thursday. The presentation, under the theme of "city and site," focused on the venue, visitors and transportation in the North Port area.

Wearing virtual reality headsets, the eight members of the delegation took a simulated flight in a flying taxi.

“There will be no more traffic jams then,” Patrick Specht, president of the BIE's Administration and Budget Committee, said.

On Thursday, Busan was busy reinventing itself with the ongoing project to redevelop the port area.

“Hosting the expo has always meant that new resources had to be poured into new venues,” said Hwang Hyeon-ki, head of the World Expo bid promotion division’s lobbying support team of the Busan city government.

“But Busan will build the expo site as a part of the bigger project to renew the old part of town,” which makes the project less-carbon-heavy than a project that begins from scratch, said Hwang.

Planning for the redevelopment of Busan's North Port area began in 1996. The project will continue until 2035, according to Hwang.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]