South Korean car maker Hyundai is showcasing the future of cities through a virtual exhibition.

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has opened the virtual exhibition to the public as a reference model for greenfield smart city and other future city concepts.

The virtual exhibition recreates a reference model first revealed at World Cities Summit in August and other concept studies. The reference model and other concept studies were developed in collaboration with academia.

The virtual exhibition consists of the greenfield smart city reference model the group debuted at the World Cities Summit forum in Singapore and various concept studies on the future cities. The model is a collaboration between HMG and HyunJoon Yoo Architects. The reference model is a research project that will serve as a steppingstone for Hyundai’s effort to provide smart city technology that benefits 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, HMG executive vice president. “The reference model represents a functional design that revolves around supporting the mobility of people and things.”

HyunJoon Yoo, head of HyunJoon Yoo Architects, added: “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. The virtual exhibition will enable more people to experience the HMG Smart City.”

And Youngcho Chi, HMG president, said: “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 cities based on a deep understanding of cities we live in, and 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 forest at the centre of the city, reducing the gross area developed by humankind.

The concept’s road infrastructure lies in the underground layer where autonomous mobility transports 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 smart grid pipelines to buildings.

The group previously announced its vision for future cities and related smart mobility at CES in 2020. Since then, the group has rapidly developed a range of smart mobility offerings.

The virtual exhibition also includes other city concepts 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 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 like for desert environments facing high heat and sandstorms. The group also explored various scenarios of PBVs interacting with building structures and how to cover up PBVs in an aesthetically pleasing way.

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