Panasonic opens doors to smart town.

On a bright sunny morning, after several days of rain and chilly winds, Panasonic Corporation flagged off recently what could emerge as a new business for it, the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST).

Fujisawa, a town 40 km from Tokyo, from where one can sight the country's storied Mount Fuji, is the site of the Japanese conglomerate's experiment with sustainable living.

On a 47-acre disused factory site in the Kanagawa prefecture, Panasonic will eventually invest 60 billion yen (around $500 million) by 2018, when the site will see around 1,000 homes spring up, and around 3,000 people will live there.

Masahiro Ido, Executive Officer of Panasonic Corp, who made a presentation on the city to media from around the world, said the town will generate 30 per cent of its power requirements from solar energy and will share services such as electric cars and electric-powered bicycles. Already 100 families have moved into the SST and been living there since April when the project was soft-launched.

HBL