Hakuhodo and Mitsui to collaborate in developing smart cities

Sep. 17, 2020
  • News

Will jointly develop urban services for Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart Cities and implement them in Japan and abroad

Tokyo—September 17, 2020—Hakuhodo Inc., Japan’s second largest advertising company, is pleased to announce that its MIRAI Business Division, a unit that develops new businesses, will collaborate with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”, headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) with the aim of realizing Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart Cities (urban development in which sei-katsu-sha play a central role) and have begun working together toward implementation of new businesses.

Hakuhodo’s MIRAI Business Division is dedicated to collective business creation. It collaborates with companies across industry boundaries, governmental bodies, and a variety of other partners, with the goals of finding solutions to major social challenges that cannot be solved by one company alone and creating new lifestyles for the future.

With a view to realizing smart cities in which sei-katsu-sha play a central role, an area of the smart city domain on which Hakuhodo is focusing particular attention, the company established the Smart Citizen Vision Project in May 2020 and through this is working with a variety of partners on joint research, business development, trial experiments and other activities.

Mitsui has as one of its Materiality “Enhance quality of life.” Toward providing solutions to the various social issues facing cities, Mitsui is advancing sustainable urban planning, providing a variety of services and infrastructure that make the most of its comprehensive capabilities and creating new value through digital technology.

Going forward, the two companies will combine their respective strengths to realize creative urban planning based on sei-katsu-sha insight, that is:Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart Cities.

Specifically, we will work together to develop a variety of urban services that address future social challenges and meet the needs of sei-katsu-sha, with the aim of implementing them in multiple cities in Japan by 2025. Subsequently, we will expand this to cities nationwide and overseas as a model for Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart Cities from Japan.

As a first step, we plan to implement new services in such fields as mobility, energy, and the circular economy, which are set to be launched in the Shibuya area of Tokyo this fall, toward realizing a Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart City in the area.

Hakuhodo’s MIRAI Business Division will continue to collaborate with companies, local authorities and a variety of other partners to contribute to the creation of brighter future lives for sei-katsu-sha.

What are Sei-katsu-sha–Driven Smart Cities (cities in which sei-katsu-sha play a central role)?
From technology-centered smart cities to sei-katsu-sha–centered smart cities. Through new urban services that realize the cities and lifestyles that sei-katsu-sha seek and creative urban planning in which sei-katsu-sha play a central role, we aim to create a next-generation model for sustainable smart cities.

Examples of topics the companies will address
Livable cities (Cities where people can live fulfilled lives)
□ Mobility □ Entertainment/Sports □ Healthcare/Welfare
Sustainable cities (Cities where people come together to reduce the burden on the environment)
□ Energy □ Circular economies □ Sharing economies
Creative cities (Creative cities where all can participate)
□ Community co-creation □ Data for good □ Education

 

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Read Mitsui & Co., Ltd.’s Topics page here.

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