Toyota has built the city of the future, and it wants you to move in*

Back in early 2020, Toyota announced plans to build its own city on the site of its former factory at the base of Mount Fuji. It was to be known as Woven City and would be a home for scientists, inventors, engineers and researchers to develop and test new tech in a real-world environment.

And now, five years later, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda has confirmed that phase one of the build is complete. Apparently the first of the 2,000-odd residents will begin moving in later this year, with Toyota employees (plus their families and pets) filling the early spots.

You don’t have to work for Toyota to live in Woven City, though. In fact, at CES 2025 Akio (introduced with his proper title ‘Chairman and Master Driver' and bearing the same same tie he wore five years earlier) announced plans for a competition that will allow inventors and startups to pitch for scholarships and a site to test their new ideas.

“If any inventors out there are looking for a really big space to work in, please keep us in mind,” said Toyoda at CES. “By combining Toyota’s strengths with those from different industries, we will be able to create new products and services that we could never achieve on our own.”

Fancy it? Certainly looks like a picturesque place to live. Best make sure you don’t mind interacting with robots, though. They’ll be all over the place.

Thankfully Toyota hasn’t totally forgotten the cars, although don’t expect a city where everyone drives either a GR Yaris or a Land Cruiser. Only low to zero emission, autonomous vehicles will be allowed in Woven City, and their use will help to develop Toyota’s all-seeing AI-based driverless tech.

Toyota said Woven City demonstrates its “long-term commitment to shaping the future of mobility” and Toyoda himself admitted the project probably wouldn’t make the company any profit.

“Will it make Toyota any money? Maybe not, but that’s okay,” he said. “As global citizens, Toyota has a responsibility to invest in our collective future. To share what we’ve learned with others, and support new ideas that benefit the planet and its people. That is why we created the Woven City.”

Phase one of the project (which broke ground back in February 2021) encompasses around 50,000sq m of land, but it will eventually expand to 708,000sq m when complete. There are also plans for Toyota’s flying car project to eventually provide a taxi service between Woven City and Tokyo. Cities designed by carmakers, it’s the future folks…