Toyota to build prototype city of the future
A fully sustainable city with buildings made mostly of wood to minimize carbon footprint, using traditional Japanese wood joinery, and combined with robotic production methods.
Rooftops covered in photo-voltaic panels to generate solar power, in addition to power generated by hydrogen fuel cells.
Residences will be equipped with the latest in human support technologies, such as in-home robotics to assist with daily living. The homes will use sensor-based AI to check occupants’ health, take care of basic needs, and enhance daily life, creating an opportunity to deploy connected technology with integrity and trust, securely and positively.
This is not a city for a fiction story. It will be the prototype city of the future that will be built on a 175-acre site at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan by Toyota Motor Corporation.
According to Toyota’s website (https://global.toyota), it will be called the Woven City and it will be a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Toyota has revealed its plans to build the prototype city of the future that is envisioned as a “living laboratory” that will test and develop technologies such as autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes, and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment.
“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. 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... maximizing its potential,” said Akio
Toyoda, president, Toyota Motor Corporation.
For the design of Woven City, Toyota has commissioned Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). His team has designed high-profile projects: from Two World Trade Center in New York and Lego House in Denmark, to Google’s Mountain View and London headquarters.
To move residents through the city, only fully-autonomous, zeroemission vehicles will be allowed on the main thoroughfares.
Both neighborhood parks and a large central park for recreation, as well as a central plaza for social gatherings, are designed to bring the community together.
Toyota believes that encouraging human connection will be an equally important aspect of this experience.
Toyota plans to populate Woven City with Toyota employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists, and industry partners. The plan is for 2,000 people to start, adding more as the project evolves. The groundbreaking for the site is planned in early 2021. (PCC)