Toyota to build prototype future city in Japan

Source: Smart Cities World Published: January 7, 2020 Author: Sarah Wray

Woven City will be home to 2,000 residents and researchers who will test and develop smart city technologies.

Toyota has revealed plans to build a prototype ‘city of the future’ on a 175-acre site at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.

Pitched as a "living laboratory," Woven City will be home to full-time residents and researchers who will test and develop technologies such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence (AI)

"Building a complete city from the ground up, even on a small scale like this, is a unique opportunity to develop future technologies, including a digital operating system for the city’s infrastructure," said Akio Toyoda, president, Toyota Motor Corporation, announcing the initiative at the CES tech trade show in Las Vegas. "With people, buildings and vehicles all connected and communicating with each other through data and sensors, we will be able to test connected AI technology in both the virtual and the physical realms, maximising its potential."

Initially, 2,000 people – mainly Toyota employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists and industry partners – will live in Woven City and this number will grow as the initiative develops.

Toyota is inviting commercial and academic partners as well as interested scientists and researchers from around the world to come and work on their own projects in the real-world incubator.

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