Toyota has announced it is building the “prototype city of the future” in Japan, called “Woven City”.
It will be a fully connected eco-system where researchers can try out autonomous vehicles, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment.
The city will be powered by clean energy produced through hydrogen fuel cells and solar panels on building roofs.
The name Woven City comes from the ‘weaving’ together of 3 different types of streets: one for faster-moving vehicles, one shared between pedestrians and personal mobility vehicles and one for pedestrians only.
The city will be located at the base of Mount Fuji on an 175-acre, ex-factory site in Higashi-Fuji.
Buildings will be predominantly constructed of timber using a combination of traditional Japanese joinery techniques and robotic production.
All homes will be equipped with the latest in human support technologies including sensor-based artificial intelligence that can monitor people’s health.
Announced at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Toyota said 2,000 people will live in Woven City. These will consist of Toyota employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, scientists and industry partners.
It will be designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels who designed the Lego House in Denmark and Google’s Mountain View Headquarters.
Construction is expected to commence in 2021.
