If you’re keeping a close eye on Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, then you’ll want to know about this $10 billion driverless city in Japan that’s nearing completion.
Built to house 2,000 people, the mass human experiment sits at the foot of an active volcano – Mount Fuji – on Honshū Island, Japan.
Imagined by Toyota, ‘Woven City’, which is still under construction, will be driverless.
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The ambitious and sustainable utopia has been labeled a ‘living laboratory’.
First announced in 2021, construction started the same year.
Since then, Toyota has been hard at work constructing Woven City – which is nearing completion.
In fact, residents expect to move into ‘smart homes’ there before the end of 2024.
These homes will be powered almost exclusively by hydrogen in a bid to reduce emissions.
Toyota will use the site to test prototypes of renewable and energy-efficient driverless cars.
What better place than in a driverless city, right?
The cars will be guided by sensors in lights, buildings, and roads across Woven City.
The ‘E-palettes’ will allow the car manufacturer to gather data from the self-driving vehicles to understand automotive and pedestrian traffic patterns.
“Building a complete city from the ground up, even on a small scale like this, is a unique opportunity to develop future technologies, including a digital operating system for the city’s infrastructure,” Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s president said.
“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 virtual and the physical realms, maximizing its potential.”
However despite the cutting-edge tech and intention of Woven City, the Japanese multinational company has decided to maintain a traditional feel to its infrastructure with Japanese-style wood used throughout.
On the flipside – robots will act as the artisans behind those touches as well as doing the heavy labor.
The announcement about Woven City comes hot on the heels of an update on Neom’s progress in Saudi Arabia.
The latest progress video of The Line is the clearest indicator of its scale yet – and it’s very impressive.
An ETA on completion was also revealed for the groundbreaking city.
Those in charge of the Neom giga-project recently revealed they’d added a unique futuristic golf resort to their plans.
