Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town: Panasonic’s challenge towards building a sustainable society

In November 2014, Panasonic, the electronics maker, opened the doors to a sustainably designed “Smart Town” in Fujisawa City, a suburban city approximately 40 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Planning of the town started some seven years prior to 2014, and the project is expected to be completed in another four, coinciding with the company’s 100th anniversary in 2018.

This large-scale suburban development project, too, has been conceived with a 100-year time frame in mind, though Panasonic’s company fundamentals leading up to the present and paving the way into the future could not be more different. Panasonic has led the world in the development, manufacture, and sales of electronics, but a city development project was something they had never engaged in before.

To this day, the product cycle of electronics has gotten shorter by the year, and new products need to be introduced regularly every six months or so. Because business plans are being made according to the product cycle, mid-term projects are usually expected to finish within three years at the longest.

This case will discuss how and why Panasonic had started town management business, and what is necessary for sustaining the town for 100 years or more.