Woven City is Toyota’s 176-acre city where it tests new technology and ideas about the future of the urban environment. And it holds lessons for how any city can innovate.
Just south of Mount Fuji, on a modest 176-acre site once occupied by Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji automotive factory, a groundbreaking urban experiment is underway. Launched in 2024, Phase 1 was completed last year and houses 360 residents, most of them Toyota employees and their families, as well as some researchers and retirees. It will ultimately be home to some 2,000 residents.
Read more: Toyota has built a fully functioning Japanese city to use as a laboratory
The $10 billion Woven City near Mount Fuji is where Japanese automaker Toyota plans to test everyday living with robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous zero-emissions transportation.
Daisuke Toyoda, an executive in charge of the project from the automaker's founding family, stressed it's not "a smart city."
"We're making a test course for mobility so that's a little bit different. We're not a real estate developer," he said during a recent tour of the facility, where the first phase of construction was completed.
The 175-acre site, built at the base of a world-admired landmark, will serve as a futuristic "living laboratory" for robotics, AI, and autonomous vehicles.
Toyota’s ambitious $10 billion (£8 billion) "smart city," Woven City, is poised to welcome its first residents later this year.
Situated at the base of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the 175-acre site is envisioned as a futuristic "living laboratory" for robotics, AI, and autonomous vehicles.
Woven City near Mount Fuji is Toyota's bold initiative to experiment with robotics, AI, and autonomous transport in an urban environment. Spearheaded by Daisuke Toyoda, the project is not a 'smart city' but a mobility test course, aligning with Toyota's innovative history and future ambitions.
Toyota has embarked on an ambitious venture with Woven City, located near Mount Fuji, to explore the integration of robotics, artificial intelligence, and emissions-free transport in daily life. Leading this pioneering effort is Daisuke Toyoda, a member of the automaker's founding family, who emphasizes that this is not a typical 'smart city.'
Read more: JP: Toyota's Woven City: A Futuristic Urban Experiment Unveiled
Imagine a city where self-driving electric cars whiz along roads designed exclusively for them. The sidewalks are a mix of people and robots going about their daily business. A drone flies overhead to deliver your latest Amazon package of toothpaste, thankfully, as you used up the last of yours that morning. But your house knew that already, and it placed the order for you.
In fact, your smart house not only knows, but can automatically set exactly what temperature you like, your preferred mood lighting, play your TV shows when they're on or DVR when they're not, and even notify your humanoid robot to start cooking your favorite meal for you as you're on your way home from work.
Read more: JP: Woven City is a real-world test bed for tomorrow's tech