As larger cities can struggle with implementing their Smart City development ideas due to their sheer size, this paper shall take a look at the case of Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town. Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town is a project lead by Panasonic, with the goal of constructing a small scale Smart City for roughly 1000 households in Kanegawa prefecture, Japan.
The initial time-frame of the project ranged from 2011 to 2018. The analysis for the Smart City project shall look at the development of Fujisawa during and after this time-frame. To create a basis for analysis, firstly the Green Growth model will be looked at with a short overview and possible criteria derived from it. As secondary criteria the concept of Smart Cities will be presented, starting with a short outline of the concept and following up with a small analytical framework. These criteria shall then be applied to the case of Fujisawa SST, with the main focus lying on the Green Growth Model. Finally the results and possible implications for other cities will be summed up.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. A Green Growth Approach to Fujisawa’s sustainable development
2.1 An overview of the Green Growth Model
2.2 Criteria of Green Growth
3. Smart Cities’ role in fighting Climate Change
3.1 An overview of Smart Cities
3.2 Criteria and restrictions for analysing Smart Cities
4. A Green Growth Analysis of Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town
4.1 How Smart is Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town?
4.2 Does Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town meet the criteria of the Green Growth Model?
5. Conclusion
6. References
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the applicability of the Green Growth model within the context of modern smart city developments, specifically focusing on the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST) project. The research investigates whether such technology-driven urban planning effectively aligns with ecological sustainability targets or if it faces inherent limitations in implementation.
- Green Growth models and their socio-economic implications.
- Definitions and analytical frameworks for Smart City development.
- Infrastructure and resource efficiency in small-scale urban projects.
- Data transparency and evidenced-based sustainability reporting.
- Challenges in scaling private-public smart city initiatives.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1 How Smart is Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town?
The Fujisawa SST project undertaken by Panasonic and other companies initially was started with a planning stage in 2006. This planning stage is essential to the employed Smart City strategy, as it stressed the importance of underlying concepts, especially sustainable development, rather than cherry-picking individual technologies to then try and implement. Although the time-frame for construction was set from 2011 to 2018, the city aims for a long-term perspective of at least 100 years. By implementing this private-public joint project, Fujisawa wants to reduce total carbon emissions by 70%, a 100% CO2 emission reduction for citizens houses, a renewable energy share of at least 30% and water consumption for daily living by 30%, compared to 1990.
As underlying concepts, five ‘lifestyle-aspects’ where identified: Energy, Security, Mobility, Wellness and Community.
For Energy, Fujisawa planned achieving energy self-sufficiency by installing photovoltaic systems, storage cells and home energy management systems in all housing units to maximize efficient use of renewable energies. Regarding Security, Fujisawa takes on the challenge of constructing a virtual gated town, which can be described as a gated town without the drawbacks of regular gated communities, as effective lighting for the night-time and security cameras are used to replace walls and gates. Mobility in Fujisawa is to be realized via a ‘Total Mobility Service’, which covers shared services for electric cars, electric motorcycles, and power-assisted bicycles as well as battery stations where rechargeable batteries can be rented. The Wellness aspects aims to create a linked system of elderly- and nursing care together with medical and pharmaceutical services, so that optimal care can be provided for each citizen. As to Community, Fujisawa aspired to design an easily accessible information network, which publishes frequent reports for energy saving practices along with building community centres and all over town to establish a sense of community and foster the spread of knowledge.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the global challenges of climate change and the emerging role of smart cities as a solution, setting the stage for the case study of Fujisawa SST.
2. A Green Growth Approach to Fujisawa’s sustainable development: The chapter explores the theoretical foundations of the Green Growth model and defines the criteria necessary for a sustainable economic transition.
3. Smart Cities’ role in fighting Climate Change: This section provides a definition of smart cities and establishes an analytical framework consisting of eight key criteria for evaluating their environmental efficacy.
4. A Green Growth Analysis of Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town: The author applies the previously defined frameworks to the Fujisawa project, assessing to what degree it achieves both smart city goals and Green Growth targets.
5. Conclusion: The final section synthesizes the findings, noting that while Fujisawa SST provides a model for urban development, the lack of accessible data and the reliance on specific housing types limit its scalability and full alignment with Green Growth principles.
6. References: Provides a comprehensive bibliography of the sources cited throughout the paper.
Keywords
Green Growth, Smart City, Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Development, Urban Planning, Panasonic, Innovation, Environmental Policy, Technology, Carbon Emission Reduction, Infrastructure, Sustainability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper examines the intersection of Green Growth theory and smart city development, using Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town as a practical case study to assess its environmental and economic impact.
What are the central thematic fields?
The core themes include modern environmental policy, technological innovation in urban settings, sustainable resource management, and the role of private-public partnerships in city development.
What is the primary research question?
The research seeks to answer how well the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town satisfies the specific criteria of the Green Growth model and the general requirements for a functional, sustainable smart city.
What scientific methodology is applied?
The paper utilizes a qualitative document analysis, establishing an analytical framework based on established Green Growth criteria and applying it to the project’s stated strategies and goals.
What does the main body cover?
The main body details the theoretical background of Green Growth and smart cities, followed by an in-depth evaluation of Fujisawa SST's performance across various categories like energy usage, security, and community infrastructure.
How is the work characterized by its keywords?
The work is characterized by terms such as Green Growth, Sustainability, Smart City, and Innovation, reflecting its interdisciplinary nature between ecology, urban policy, and technology.
How does Fujisawa address energy self-sufficiency?
Fujisawa implements a strategy that utilizes photovoltaic systems, home energy management systems (HEMS), and dedicated storage cells within all residential units.
What is the main limitation identified in the analysis?
The primary hurdle identified is the lack of verifiable, publicly available data, which makes an objective evidence-based evaluation of the project's targets difficult to confirm.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2022, Smart Cities as a Green Growth model. The case of Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1243321
