At CES 2025, Toyota announced the completion of the first phase of construction of the “Woven City” mobility testbed. The giant test site is located in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The first phase is scheduled to officially launch in the fall of 2025 or shortly thereafter. But what will this project be used for? Who will live in this small city?
Toyota has completed the first phase of the Woven City project
Toyota actually announced its transformation into a mobility company at CES in 2018. In 2020, it introduced the Woven City concept. The construction of Woven City, implemented in cooperation with Woven by Toyota (WbyT), started on February 23, 2021, on the site of the Higashi-Fuji plant. The first phase of the project, the construction of the co-creation spaces, was completed in October 2024.
We can say that the most prominent feature of Woven City, a concept city, is its environmentally friendly and human-centered design by obtaining LEED Platinum certification. It is also the first LEED certification for a community in Japan. It’s hard to say that Woven City is just a testing ground. Because it is said to function as a “co-creation” center where innovative products and services are developed.
In addition to Toyota and its group companies, external companies, startups and individual entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to test and implement their innovations in this field. In fact, among the companies that will participate in the project in the first phase will be
- Daikin Industries: Testing pollen-free spaces and personal functional environments.
- DyDo DRINCO: Creating new value through innovative vending machine concepts.
- NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS: Creating food environments inspired by new food cultures.
- UCC Japan: Exploring the potential value of coffee through future café experiences.
- Zoshinkai Holdings: Developing innovative educational methods and learning environments.
Meanwhile, the residents of Woven City will be called “Weavers”. In the first phase, approximately 360 people, including Toyota and WbyT employees and their families, will join the community. This number will grow to a total of 2,000 people in the second phase and beyond. By fiscal year 2026, the general public is planned to be involved in the project by joining as “Weavers”.
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