Woven City: Toyota Is Building ¡®City Of The Future¡¯ And Here Is What Life In It Will Be Like

What comes to mind when you think of life in the future? Self driven vehicles, robots, smart homes and artificial intelligence driven efforts will probably be the most common answers. The problem with imagining such a future is that there is nowhere in the world that these technologies are integrated so as to form a part of human lives. Japanese auto maker Toyota now wants to change that.

How, you ask? Toyota wants to build an entire city from the ground up at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Spread across a 175-acre site, the unique establishment would be called Woven City and will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The purpose of its existence, as explained above, would be to bring together the technologies of the future under one roof.

Toyota Woven City

"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," says Akio Toyoda, president, Toyota Motor Corporation.

Let us have a look at just how connected the various elements of the city would be:

Streets

Toyota plans to categorise the roads/ streets of the Woven City into three types:

- For fast vehicles

- For both fast and comparatively slower vehicles

- For pedestrians and personal mobility like e-scooters

The idea to segregate the street types on the basis of vehicles to be driven on those would help the company designate specific areas for autonomous or driverless vehicles.

Buildings

Naturally, a city of the future will also take care of its energy demands in a green way. Thus, Toyota envisions the Woven City to be fully sustainable. For this, it plans to make all the buildings completely from wood using traditional Japanese wood joinery and robotic production methods. This would help minimise the carbon footprint of the construction of these buildings.

To generate energy, these buildings will have rooftops covered in photo-voltaic or solar panels. This and the power generated through hydrogen fuel cells will be the perpetual source of energy for the entire city.

And what city can be sustainable without any greenery, right? So Toyota will use native vegetation and hydroponics on the outside of the buildings throughout the city.

Homes

Once a citizen is inside his/her home, the latest in human support technologies will be awaiting them. This includes in-home robotics as well as sensor-based AI for connected technologies that would be able to map one¡¯s health and take care of their basic needs around the house.

Mobility

Toyota only envisions the most advanced vehicle technology to run on the streets of the Woven City. This means that only fully-autonomous and zero-emission vehicles will be allowed for on the main highways. Meanwhile, transportation within the city will be taken care of by Toyota e-Palettes that debuted in CES 2018 and are now to be used in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Recreation

No city is complete without a proper recreational establishment for its citizens. Toyota aims to meet these needs with neighbourhood parks, a large central park and a central plaza for social gatherings.

The social gatherings will eventually help in exchange of ideas of the people living there, which brings us to our next point - who will live in the Woven City?

Residents

The plan is to populate Woven City with Toyota Motor Corporation employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists, and industry partners. At first, 2000 people will start living in the city and more will be added as the project evolves.

The mentioned ones will live as full-time residents and researchers who, apart from living there, will be able to test and develop technologies such as robotics, autonomy, personal mobility, artificial intelligence and smart homes in a real-world environment.

Toyota will start with the groundbreaking of the project in early 2021. Apart from the Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), who has been assigned to come up with the design of the entire Woven City, Toyota is also open to partners who would want to collaborate on the futuristic project. This involves commercial and academic partners as well as scientists and researchers who would like to conduct their own research in this city.

If given a chance, would you like to live in such a city? What is the best aspect you would be looking forward to? Let us know in the comment section below.