A new experimental “smart town” based especially around the technologies of solar energy and battery storage is being developed in Japan by Panasonic Corporation (along with other public and private partners), based on recent reports.
The new 1000-household-strong town recently had its grand opening — with the first residents moving in earlier this year in the spring. But the community won’t be fully complete until around 2018 or so. The town is located just outside of the country’s major metropolitan center, Tokyo.
“We are not simply aiming to develop a town underpinned by advanced technology-based infrastructure, but a town based on actual lifestyles,” as the Fujisawa SST project’s website puts it.
“We first put a 100-year vision at the center of our project and then established guidelines for town and community designs. Residents sharing the objectives of the town live, interact and exchange ideas for achieving better lifestyles. The town management company will take resident views into consideration, incorporate new services and technologies, and continuously support the sustainable evolution of the town. Actual lifestyle-based innovative systems will continue to bring energy in every aspect of people’s lives in terms of energy, security, mobility, healthcare, community and also in emergencies.”
The idea is that the town will grow increasingly sophisticated along with the wider world — technologically, structurally, etc. Resident feedback will reportedly be taken into account and reflected in managerial actions.
In addition to the use of solar energy and energy storage technologies, the town will also make use of “energy efficient appliances and lights, and many other green features.”
As Sustainnovate notes, Panasonic was recently a 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize finalist in the “Large Corporation” category, precisely because of actions like the development of this project.
Images via Fujisawa SST/Panasonic
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
