This book offers a complex and problem-based analysis of the past, present, and future of smart cities in Japan’s energy transition.
With 92% of Japanese living in urban areas and a goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Japan’s energy future will depend largely on how its cities can become smarter, greener, and more resilient. To reach these ambitions, a collective effort is required, with actions coming from Tokyo to Kumamoto, from Yokohama to Sapporo, and throughout dozens of Japanese smaller and bigger urban structures. The book addresses the key issues that have emerged or may emerge in various Japanese cities that are pursuing smart energy initiatives. The authors examine several issues including international cooperation, heating decarbonisation, foreign direct investments, city planning, housing policies, or technology-related risks in the context of Japan’s energy transition.
Drawing on case studies from different regions of Japan and sectors of Japanese economy significant for reaching carbon neutrality, this book will be a valuable resource for all interested in energy transition, climate action, and smart cities, where Japan and Japanese smart cities serve as excellent benchmarks.
This book offers a complex and problem-based analysis of the past, present, and future of smart cities in Japan’s energy transition. This book will be a valuable resource for all interested in energy transition, climate action, and smart cities, where Japan and Japanese smart cities serve as excellent benchmarks.
Foreword (Winston Chow) Preface (Maciej M. Sokoowski and Fumio Shimpo)
Acknowledgements (Maciej M. Sokoowski and Fumio Shimpo)
1. Smart Cities and
Japans Energy Transition: Connecting Yesterday with Tomorrow (Maciej M.
Sokoowski and Fumio Shimpo)
2. Japanese Smart Cities in the Context of Local
Decarbonisation and International Cooperation (Muneki Adachi and Klaudia
Pryjmak)
3. The Role of Inward and Outward FDI in Sustainable Smart Cities
(Jesper Edman)
4. Smart Cities and Dumb Solutions: The Risks of
Technology-Reliant Solutions for Decarbonisation in Japan (Jordan Carlson and
Gregory Trencher)
5. Deepening the City-Region Divide in 21st Century Japan:
Smart Cities as a Tool to Achieve Administrative Neoliberalisation (Kie
Sanada and Marco Zappa)
6. Learning the Characteristics of Vacant Houses:
Smart Solutions for Japanese Municipalities (Yuki Akiyama)
7. Legal System
and Public Policy of Smart Cities in Energy Transition: Germany Japan
Contexts (Fukuzo Hasegawa)
8. Heat Decarbonisation: A Solution for the Future
Compact Cities in Japan (Makoto Tajima)
9. Satellite Applications for
Sustainable Urban Energy (Damian M. Bielicki)
10. Energy Transition in
Japans SDGs Future Cities: Toyama, Sapporo and Kumamoto (Hiroshi Ito)
11.
Smart City Development Underway: Lessons from Shin-Sapporos Smart City
(Carin Holroyd)
12. Democratic Legitimacy of the Smart City: A Case Study of
Yokohama (Yuichiro Tsuji)
13. Sustainable Smart City Tokyo: Between Problems
of the Past and Chances of the Future (Maciej M. Sokoowski and Fumio Shimpo)
Maciej M. Sokoowski, PhD, DSc, is a Specially Appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management of Keio University and is also affiliated with the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. Professor Sokoowski has extensive experience in energy law and the energy sector; he has authored 100 papers and reports, including three solo books on energy regulation, combined heat and power, and the energy transition. Professor Sokoowski is a fellow of several institutions and networks, including the Sustainability College Bruges, the SI Network for Future Global Leaders, the Polish Electricity Association, the Australian Network for Japanese Law, the Japan Association of EU Studies, and the Japan Society of Public Utility Economics. Professor Sokoowski is also a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Cities and is responsible for Chapter 4: How to Facilitate and Accelerate Change. He has been awarded numerous distinctions, including the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship, the Swedish Institute Visby Programme scholarship, and the Prime Minister of Polands Research Award. In 2024, Professor Sokoowski was named one of Stanford Universitys Worlds Top 2% Scientists.
Fumio Shimpo, PhD, is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Policy Management of Keio University. Professor Shimpo is an active scholar in the fields of data protection, privacy, information law, AI, and robot law in Japan. He serves as the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Association of Law and Information Systems, the executive director of the Japanese Constitutional Law Society, a board member of the Japan Society of Information and Communication Research, the director of the Law and Computer Society, and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Information and Communications Policy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. He was previously the commissioner for International Academic Exchange at the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan (20182023) and the former vice-chair of the OECD Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (20092016).
