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Japanese Smart Communities as Industrial Policy Chapter j 21 449

in energy use is achieved via the reduced need for motorized (especially
single-car) transport in favor of public transit, cycling, and walking. The
reduced spatial footprint of the community also leads to less energy used to
move water around, plus lower per capita costs to maintain roads and other
critical infrastructure, in addition to other energy savings. This integration of
spatial planning with energy has been underway over the past three years and
has linked most of the central agencies together, enhancing the effectiveness
of planning and spending through reducing overlap and other sources of
administrative inefficiency.

CONCLUSION
We have seen that Japanese policy makers foster the diffusion of such com-
munities through “whole of government” planning, focused on resilience. The
smart communities discussed in this chapter are just a few examples of a
paradigm unfolding throughout Japan. Japan’s smart communities encompass
residential districts, industrial clusters, roadside stations (michi no eki), and
other areas designated for disaster resilience and local revitalization. These
districts center on distributed energy systems, smart and inherently local
network infrastructuresdfor power as well as DHCdthat maximize energy
efficiency and the uptake of local renewable resource endowments, including
solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and waste heat. The smart city is the linkage
of these districts. Japan’s projects also stress strong stakeholder engagement,
smart communities being a key focal point for Japan’s robust and integrated
policies for intensifying local revitalization, disaster resilience, compact cities,
and the deployment of alternative energy.
Japan’s combination of challenges, including disaster threats, dependence
on conventional energy, unprecedented demographic change, and declining
economic competitiveness, greatly outweighs what other developed countries
face. Japanese technocrats are fully aware of these crises and how they
interact. Because Japan is rich, technologically sophisticated, and a unitary
state, it has the capacity to respond and maximize positive externalities. The
competitiveness and resilience that follow from focusing on smart commu-
nities could be key to a Japanese economic renaissance.

REFERENCES

ABI Research, April 27, 2017. China, Japan, and South Korea Lead Asian Smart City Initiative
Deployments. ABI Research Press Release. https://www.abiresearch.com/press/china-japan-
and-south-korea-lead-asian-smart-city-/.
ACEJ, June 2016. Cogeneration White Paper, 2016. Advanced Cogeneration and Energy Utili-
zation Center, Japan (in Japanese).
Amari, J., July 2016. Will smart cities save Japan? The Journal of the American Chamber of
Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). https://journal.accj.or.jp/metro-wise/.