For the first time in recent memory, it feels as if society is taking steps to create something transcendental; adapting, innovating, and implementing technological ideologies in ways that our ancestors might be hardpressed to imagine. As we begin to understand the importance of interconnectivity between communities, individuals, and technology, Toyota has decided to humor our inclinations with one of the world’s first smart cities — a 175-acre site scheduled to break ground near Japan’s Mt. Fuji in 2021.
The company’s groundbreaking “Woven City” has been conceptualized as a living laboratory for full-time residents and researchers to live in unison, testing, creating, and refining technologies of the future under one interconnected umbrella. Virtually all of Toyota’s proposed residential areas, buildings, and vehicles will call upon the world’s leading proprietors for autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes, and artificial intelligence, acting as a bastion for humanity’s progression into the next leg of its journey. Within the city, three specific subsets of thoroughfare will be utilized: one, for fast-traveling, fully-autonomous, zero-emission vehicles; the other, a mix of low-speed areas adapted for personal mobility and pedestrian use; and the last, a park-like promenade that will accept foot traffic only. Plazas, homes, parks, and community centers will be built with fully sustainable wood joinery, as well as robotic production methods, and generate solar power for unparalleled efficiency alongside city-wide hydrogen fuel cells. In-home robotics will aid with daily living, while sensor-based AI will monitor individual health and help to enhance daily life. At the start, the Woven City will accept only 2000 residents, expanding into a larger number as the project evolves.
