During CES 2025 in Las Vegas, one of the world’s leading tech events, Toyota unveiled the completetion of the first phase of what will be a futuristic city, officially transforming the brand into a mobility company. Woven City, a $10 billion dollar project, is being built on the grounds of Toyota’s former Higashi-Fuji Plant, at Susono City in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan, at the base of Mount Fuji.
In its first stage, the project spans over 50,000 square metres and is designed as a “human-centric” hub. Toyota and its partners (Daikin, NISSIN and UCC Japan, amongst others) will put innovative technologies across mobility, energy and daily living to the test on-site. Internal testing will be complemented by external startups, entrepreneurs and academic partners.
“Woven City is more than just a place to live, work, and play,” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said in a press conference at CES. “Woven City is a place where people can invent and develop all kinds of new products and ideas. It’s a living laboratory where the residents are willing participants, giving inventors the opportunity to freely test their ideas in a secure, real-life setting.”
The project is the first one in Japan to receive the LEED for Communities Platinum certification, showing its environmentally conscious design. Sustainability will be at the heart of the experiments, which will be searching for innovative solutions for matters like transportation and urban living.
With the first building phase of the project completed, Woven City’s first residents will move in by the fall of 2025 or shortly thereafter. Those 100 initial residents will primarily consist of Toyota and Woven by Toyota staff and their families and will be called “Weavers”.
“They share a passion for the ‘expansion of mobility’ and a commitment to building a more flourishing society. Through their participation in co-creation activities, Weavers will contribute to realizing the full potential of Woven City,” Toyota said.
Another 260 residents will follow soon after to complete the first phase and the general public should be invited to the city somewhere in 2026. Over the years, capacity should grow to 2,000. In its final stages, the surface of Woven City is expected to reach 708,000 square metres.
