Changwon is taking the next step towards sustainable transport by promoting the uptake of electric vehicles to combat local air pollution and carbon emissions.
Through public-private partnerships, various incentives, and new regulations, the city of Changwon aims to restore clean air and reduce CO2 emissions by replacing existing vehicles with environmentally friendly electric vehicles (EVs). The city has installed 31 quick-charge stations, and, from January 2017, a new regulation requires all new buildings to install EV charging facilities. The city plans to supply 3,000 mobile chargers to multi-unit houses and public facilities by the end of 2017, and add 50 additional public charging stations by 2018.
The EV fleet rollout is part of the city’s plan to become an “Environmental Capital” by 2020. After first installing EVs for public use, the city now offers briefing sessions and trial rides for interested companies and individuals to promote and further disperse the technology. The goal is 5,500 EVs on the road, 1% of all registered vehicles, by 2020.
389 tons of CO2 emissions have been avoided since the introduction of the EVs
The challenge
Changwon is situated in a basin that exacerbates the negative effects of air pollution, and has experienced twice the global average temperature increase. After implementing South Korea’s first bike-sharing system, the city now turns towards making cars more sustainable.
Co-benefits
Economic: The policy will boost the regional economy as increasing numbers of locally manufactured EVs are sold.
Environmental: Shifting to EVs will help to prevent further warming of the city, and will also reduce air and noise pollution associated with traditional vehicles.
Health The deployment of EVs will help to reduce levels of local air pollutants.
About Changwon
Changwon is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. Changwon has a population of 1.07 million as of 2015 making Changwon South Korea’s 9th most populous city. Changwon is a port city and Korea’s first planned city, modeled after Canberra, Australia and uses accessible urban planning including a large number of parks and separate residential and industrial areas. The city has also branded itself an “environmental capital” with the municipal government actively participating in climate change conferences and committing to the development of sustainable policies like the globally recognized bike-sharing program, Nubija.
