Fujisawa

The more impressive technology becomes, the easier it is to get blinded by its benefits and to create technology for technology’s sake.

In the world of the Smart City, this danger is ever present. The whole idea of a Smart City – a place where technology is tied into the fabric of every-day living – is inspiring, a step into the technological future we have long been promised.

But cities are for living, first and foremost, and Smart Cities too. That means they should, theoretically, be built around the needs and lifestyles of actual residents, rather than the demands and offers of technology. Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (or Fujisawa SST for short) is an example of this bottom-up approach to Smart City development.

Fujisawa City, a seaside town in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, was once home to a major Panasonic factory. When the company decided to close the plant, rather than sell off the land to developers it opted to build a Smart Town, using the latest home-grown technology. Initial talks began in 2007 between Panasonic and the local council, with 18 other companies later coming on board.

According to Panasonic, the motivation for Fujisawa SST reflected a growing desire in Japan for renewable energy solutions, particularly following the earthquake of 2011. But rather than borrow from existing Smart City developments, the Fujisawa SST Town Development Council decided that Fujisawa should be based on “actual lifestyles, not technologies”.

“There are over 600 Smart Cities in the world,” Masako Wada, assistant chief of the Fujisawa SST Management Team, told The HinduBusinessLine (whose interest in the project was raised by India’s own 100 Smart City initiative). “We studied many of them and found out that many conventional Smart Cities focussed on a high level of infrastructure, were product- and technology-oriented, and focussed on smart energy only. We chose a different way. We wanted to focus on the residents’ life, be service-oriented and offer not just smart energy but also smart mobility, security, wellness and community,” she added. These five values have, as a result, become the five major themes around which the town has been built.

The Fujisawa Energy project, for example, means that all houses in Fujisawa SST have solar power generation systems and storage battery units, with an option to sell the surplus to the grid. “Fujisawa SST is intended to be a sustainable Smart Town that achieves independent and symbiotic energy management aiming for maximum energy efficiency through state-of-the-art Smart Houses designed to thoroughly promote self-creation and self-consumption of energy,” the Fujisawa SST website explains.

To increase security, Fujisawa SST is set up as a “virtual gated town”, using surveillance cameras, lights and human patrols, rather than heavy physical barriers. “The absence of physical walls relieves residents from psychological oppression and facilitates more efficient communication among the townsfolk,” Fujisawa SST explains. “Thus, the town will also provide ‘warm’ security based on mutual exchange and consideration.”

The town’s mobility services, meanwhile, offer residents the use of shared electric vehicles, electric scooters and electric-assisted bicycles, as well as rental car delivery services and battery stations for renting rechargeable batteries. The idea, the town’s website explains, is to “allow residents without their own cars to broaden the scope of their activities and help residents have more active lives”.

The concept of “wellness” in Fujisawa SST is based around the idea that social interaction helps citizens to live a healthier life, both physically and psychologically. Fujisawa SST has a Wellness Square where there are elderly care facilities, assisted residences for the elderly, clinics and nursery schools, all of which are linked to encourage interaction between users. “The elderly can pass down their knowledge and skills to children, and children can brighten the lives of the elderly,” the town’s website says.

At the same time, the local health system is managed using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which links up different aspects of healthcare (hospitals, clinics, sports clubs, pharmacies etc.) to provide services to residents as and when needed.

Finally, in terms of community, Fujisawa SST provides a “one-stop portal site linked to town information and other unique services”. The site includes everything from details of local services to reservations for mobility services and emergency information, as well as space for residents to share their own tips and advice.

This may sound rather idyllic  – another Smart City plan to add to the thousands in gestation. But Fujisawa SST is, in fact, already in operation: the 19-hectare town opened to residents in spring 2014, with 220 houses currently occupied. What’s more, last month Fujisawa SST won the Good Design Award 2015, courtesy of the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, with judges praising its “regional / community development and social contribution activities”.

Meanwhile, the Fujisawa SST Town Development Council is thinking of the future: building is scheduled for completion in 2018, when the town will host 600 detached houses and 400 condos, according to the HinduBusinessLine.

Impressively, Fujisawa SST even has a 100-year plan. “While 2008 – 18 covers construction, 2018 – 48 will be the town’s growth period; 2048 – 78 will be the maturation period and the last 30 years, i.e. ‘till 2108, has been marked as the evolution period,” Wada told The HinduBusinessLine

Panasonic, meanwhile, is already getting ready to take part in the development of another Smart City, in Yokohama.

Could the city of the future already be here?