Enhancing the well-being of local residents. The Fujisawa City Smart City Project: Co-creation by industry, government, academia, and the community.

This installment of the series "The Future Map of Area Economies" introduces initiatives aiming for sustainable regional development, such as building unique business models leveraging area characteristics and activities contributing to revitalizing the local economy.

This fifth installment covers the "Mirai Toshi Lab," a resident-participation social verification facility established within Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (Fujisawa SST) in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The lab tests innovative technologies and services through industry-government-academia collaboration to enhance local residents' well-being. Daisuke Ayai, Senior Director, Business Transformation Division 1 ,Dentsu Inc., Motoki Ano, Head of Cross Innovation Division, DENTSU SOKEN INC. Research & Consulting Inc., and Teppei Yasuda, Executive Officer and Head of Innovation Business Division , Ignition Point Inc. We introduce their vision for future town development through co-creation with residents.

Establishing a Social Demonstration Facility Aimed at Improving Local Residents' Well-being

Q. In October 2024, the resident-participatory social verification facility "Mirai Toshi Lab" opened within the commercial facility "Shonan T-SITE" at Fujisawa SST. What kind of facility is this?

Ayai: Fujisawa SST is a smart town that opened in 2014. On approximately 19 hectares of land formerly occupied by a Panasonic factory, a consortium of 37 organizations (as of June 2025), including Fujisawa City and Panasonic, has been promoting town development through public-private collaboration. Dentsu Inc. has participated as a lead member since the project's conceptual stage. It has now grown into a community where over 2,500 people live. With the opening of a senior residence with approximately 560 units and a multifunctional community sports facility in 2024, the development phase of Chapter 1 of the town has been completed.

While many town development projects conclude once construction ends, Fujisawa SST aims to be a sustainable town lasting 100 years. To ensure the town remains adaptable to changing times and environments, various unique mechanisms and town development visions are shared among industry, government, academia, and residents, with development continuing today. For the next decade of town development, the focus shifts to challenging the "evolution and development of the town as a soft asset," promoting town management and co-creation incubation with the goal of enhancing the well-being of local residents. The engine driving this is the resident-participatory social demonstration facility, "Mirai Toshi Lab."

This "Mirai City Lab" will serve as a space for providing and trialing innovative services and cutting-edge technologies developed through industry-government-academia collaboration, all aimed at enhancing well-being.

Q. The "Well-being City Research Consortium," which aims to solve social issues surrounding cities, is promoting the "Mirai City Lab." What led to its establishment?

Yasuda: Securing a venue for proof-of-concept testing is a major challenge when developing new technologies and services. At Ignition Point Inc., we had been conducting research with Professor Aoki of Keio University on remote rehabilitation and remote care, and we felt the need for proof-of-concept testing. During this time, we heard about the "Mirai City Lab" concept from Mr. Ayai of Dentsu Inc. We wanted to evolve it beyond just remote rehabilitation and care into a place where we could involve residents in proof-of-concept testing for social issues like the super-aging society. Therefore, five companies (Ignition Point Inc., DENTSU SOKEN INC., Terra Axon Inc., Think-i Holdings Inc., and EAGLYS Inc.), with our company as the lead coordinator, established the "Well-being City Research Consortium" and are planning various exhibition content and events at the "Mirai City Lab".

Q. What significance did Keio University SFC Research Institute and DENTSU SOKEN INC., participating in the Well-being City Research Consortium, see in joining the project?

Aoki: Beyond recognizing its potential as a testing ground for remote rehabilitation and remote caregiving, we saw value in elucidating the process by which seniors moving into the completed senior residences at Fujisawa SST integrate into the community. Anticipating similar situations arising nationwide, we joined the project hoping it would serve as a pilot study for community building.

Ano: DENTSU SOKEN INC. focuses on "Social Evolution Implementation," supporting corporate and societal challenges through cutting-edge technology. This project contributes to SDG Goal 11 ("Sustainable Cities and Communities"). We were also drawn to the opportunity for industry-government-academia collaboration in developing AI and technology for remote rehabilitation and remote care, areas where core technologies are still emerging. Ultimately, we hope to connect the proof-of-concept experiments conducted at this facility to services for the general public.

Q. What are the project's strengths?

Ayai: The "Mirai City Lab" initiative organically integrates various elements: extending healthy life expectancy, developing and testing technologies for remote rehabilitation and care, and fostering community. A major strength is the ease of turning ideas into reality through synergies. This is made possible by the presence of Dentsu Group companies with expertise in planning and executing new ventures, Keio University SFC Research Institute and partner companies handling R&D, and the real-world field (Fujisawa SST) serving as the testing ground.

Demonstrating Remote Rehabilitation to Support Elderly Individuals with Low Care Needs

Q. Please tell us about specific initiatives being advanced by the Mirai City Lab.

Yasuda: Primarily, we focus on: "facilitating local resident participation and feedback collection for industry-government-academia collaborative R&D projects," "exhibiting and trialing advanced technologies and services through the Well-being City Research Consortium," and "providing forums to promote exchange among local residents, academic institutions, and private companies."

The aforementioned remote rehabilitation and remote care are examples of this. One challenge in our super-aged society is the breakdown in the balance between demand for and supply of care for the elderly. Among them, the number of individuals who, while having a low care dependency level, find daily life difficult without third-party support is expected to increase significantly.

To support these individuals online, we are advancing the social implementation of remote rehabilitation. We plan to initiate efforts to provide rehabilitation by remotely operating equipment installed at the "Mirai City Lab" from Keio University's Shonan Fujisawa Campus.

Aogi: Regarding community building, we collaborate with Professor Yuko Tokuyama's research group at Keio University SFC to hold health promotion events. In April 2025, we implemented exercise programs including abdominal pressure training, rhythmic gymnastics, and putter golf with students. Every Thursday, students are stationed at the "Mirai Toshi Lab," running health support programs. Many students with strong engagement skills and an interest in community building participate, and we are also experiencing high educational effectiveness.

The goal of these events is to foster an atmosphere where people feel comfortable dropping by the "Mirai Toshi Lab" casually. We aim to build a community here and eventually pass the baton to local residents who can take on leadership roles. To ensure the community's sustainability, we are also exploring the creation of systems that encourage generational succession among leaders.

Ano: We're also planning gamification using cards to help children and seniors build a multigenerational community. Additionally, we're exploring several mechanisms that contribute to well-being for those who actually visit the "Mirai Toshi Lab."

Yasuda: I am also participating in this project as the representative of Terra Axon, an AI venture company and member of the Well-being City Research Consortium. At Terra Axon, we are currently tackling the challenges of maintaining graves and Buddhist altars in a super-aged society, focusing particularly on transferring the personality of the deceased into artificial intelligence. We hope that by demonstrating the potential for new graves and altars where people can consult an AI that inherits the deceased's thoughts and experiences, we can contribute to realizing the "Mirai Toshi Lab" vision of implementing well-being in society through the fusion of cutting-edge technologies.

Supporting Resident Health Through Technology and Community

Q. Could you share your future outlook?

Aoki: My belief is that "human interest ultimately comes back to one's own body." By "body," I mean health. I want to challenge myself to create a model that supports health not only through technology but also through community.

Fujisawa City has a population of about 440,000, with one-quarter being seniors aged 65 and over. We no longer live in an era where one can get by solely on pensions. Many likely think, "I can't work full-time, but I want to work a little. If I'm going to work, I want to contribute to the community." I would be delighted if we could successfully create opportunities for people to work for the community through the "Mirai City Lab."

Starting in 2022, "Comprehensive Inquiry Time" became a required subject in high schools, where students research various themes and write papers. We expect that involving high school students thinking about local challenges could lead to new and exciting projects.

Though just launched, Mirai Toshi Lab is already receiving positive feedback from businesses and local residents. This reflects the high level of interest in solving challenges related to our super-aging society and well-being. As a co-creation hub for smart cities that builds a future of physical and mental health through both technology and community, Mirai Toshi Lab's approach seems poised to become a model case for other regions.