Challenges such as climate change, mobility, affordable housing and digitalisation concern all metropolises – Berlin and Tokyo can learn a lot from each other in dealing with them. Tokyo has already implemented impressive, innovative smart city solutions to make the metropolis future-proof.
Due to the 30th anniversary of the city partnership between Berlin and Tokyo, Governing Mayor Kai Wegner traveled to the Japanese capital with a 39-strong delegation from 28 Berlin companies and institutions. The aim of the encounter under the title “Berlin – Tokyo 2024: Innovative Solutions for Resilient Cities” was to revitalize the city partnership and expand the exchange on sustainability and innovative future technologies.
There were numerous program items on the agenda during the four-day trip: visits to the companies Mitsubishi Electric and Fujitsu, participation in the AsiaBerlin Summit and the SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 innovation fair. The presentation of the Urban Tech Republic was also part of the delegation: Frank Wolters presented the collaborative concept at the AsiaBerlin Summit and then discussed society in the context of smart cities with the Japanese building construction and planning company Takenaka.
There were also many opportunities for insights into exciting projects. The delegation visited, among others, the Haneda Innovation City, the Toyosu Smart City, SUSTIE – a test facility for zero-energy houses and the showcases at SusHi Tech Tokyo, where innovative technologies such as robotics, drones and algae cultivation are used.
The trip also focused on exchanges with Japanese companies in order to provide impulses for future joint projects: Mitsubishi Electric and the state of Berlin, represented by Tegel Projekt GmbH, signed a declaration of intent to cooperatively advance smart city applications. The aim of the desired partnership is to develop solutions for digital infrastructures and to develop reproducible concepts, for example for the energy-efficient operation of buildings.
We are pleased to be able to further strengthen Berlin as an innovation location through the cooperation and to take the partnership with Tokyo to a new level.
