Busan is building a "smart tree management" system utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. The initiative draws attention as a shift toward data-driven green space administration that goes beyond simple landscape management to link with urban safety and carbon neutrality policies.
The city announced Thursday that it will pilot an "AI-based smart tree management system" starting this month. The program will cover 8,000 trees, including street trees along Jungang-daero.
The project centers on transforming the existing labor-intensive tree survey method into a digital-based approach by combining vehicle-mounted LiDAR, high-resolution cameras and AI analysis technology. LiDAR, a technology that uses lasers to analyze the distance and shape of objects in three dimensions, is rapidly expanding in use across autonomous driving and smart city sectors.
The city plans to automatically collect and analyze growth information across approximately 25,000 square meters of Jungang-daero, including tree location, species, height, canopy width and the presence of dead branches.
Unlike conventional tree management that remained at the level of simple status surveys, this project focuses on building a "preemptive response management system" that analyzes pest outbreaks, stem decay and fall risks in advance. The city aims to accumulate and manage tree conditions as real-time data to detect warning signs early and improve maintenance efficiency.
The city also plans to build a "tree lifecycle management system" by linking post-management notification services that guide the timing of watering, fertilizing and pest control, along with pruning and replanting history management functions. Cases in which local governments adopt an AI-based integrated management system that goes beyond simple street tree surveys are rare, officials said.
The city is also reviewing plans to expand the data secured through this pilot project to urban green spaces overall, including parks, green belts and roadside flower beds. It particularly expects the data to serve as foundational material for carbon neutrality policies, such as mitigating urban heat islands and managing carbon sinks.
The project contract will run through December of this year. The city plans to decide whether to expand implementation after comprehensively analyzing operational results and budget efficiency.
"We will shift the existing labor-centered management approach to a data-based system to simultaneously enhance citizen safety and the quality of urban green spaces," Acting Mayor Kim Kyung-deok said. "Through scientific tree management, we will lay the foundation for realizing Busan as a low-carbon green city."
