How Tokyo is advancing its smart and sustainable urban development through the 2020 Olympic Games.

With its highly developed technology, Tokyo is already one of the most innovative cities in the world. Since it – especially with regard to the 2020 Olympic Games – is constantly focusing on the further development of its high technologies, the Japanese capital could soon appear even more futuristic. In the past three years, the Asian metropolis has undergone a development process for which, according to JLL, the equivalent of 51.4 billion dollars has been invested in the renovation of districts and in technologies. This is probably the second most expensive preparation for the Olympic Games in history.

The planned measures cover the entire spectrum from practical to fantastic – including an artificial meteor shower and a flying car for the opening ceremony. However, Japan is counting on the skyrocketing costs for this innovative and technologically advanced sporting event to pay off.

It will not be an easy task in this notoriously overcrowded city: With 3.6 million daily commuters, Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world. Over half a million tourists are expected in the city for the opening of the Games. And this may be the most significant impact of the 2020 Olympic Games: they will serve as a test of how smart technologies can help an overcrowded city manage capacity overruns without compromising efficiency. With an estimated six billion people expected to live in cities worldwide by 2045, the whole world will be paying close attention.

Jump-start for autonomous driving

As soon as tourists, athletes, and businesspeople arrive in Tokyo, the smart city experience is set to begin. A Japanese airline plans to deploy a self-driving bus on a bus route through the airport, and autonomous rollers are to be used in the terminals.

The Japanese government is supporting and accelerating plans to use driverless cars to transport athletes and tourists within the city, and a Japanese robotics company will offer an automated taxi service to shuttle visitors between the various stadiums and public transport.

The Olympic Games are a focal point for a government that is actively trying to advance its science and technology agenda, noted Naoko Iwanaga of JLL Japan Research at the World Economic Forum.

Everything in View

Security will be of utmost importance for the heavily frequented city. The city administration has teamed up with Japanese company Panasonic to connect cameras with an LTE network and project security threats onto a map. Security personnel will be equipped with technology that allows smartphones to be used as portable cameras, enabling video streaming to a central location. Security officers will also use artificial intelligence to analyze videos for security threats. A fleet of drones monitoring the area from a height of 50 to 70 meters will provide additional support for the cameras. In this way, a radius of three kilometers can be monitored.

A Tokyo-based company has developed facial recognition software that can check participants in less than 0.3 seconds when entering and leaving the facilities. By storing the facial images of all 300,000 athletes, journalists, volunteers, and coaches with official accreditation, long queues are avoided. In addition, the risk of losing IDs and, above all, the danger of forgery is reduced: both incidents that occur more frequently at major events of this kind.

Smart Stadiums

Once admitted, a look behind the scenes gives participants a first idea of what stadiums of the future have to offer. For smoothly functioning communication, Panasonic devices translate in real time and purchases are made via touchscreens or digital payment.

For those who cannot attend in person, there will be a virtual reality broadcast, allowing the opening and closing ceremonies as well as selected sporting events to be experienced up close and immersively around the world.

The new stadiums will be equipped with cameras that display the athletes’ heart rates. Other specialized cameras capture the athletes’ form and analyze the biomechanics of each of their movements. Projected onto television screens around the world, this gives viewers unprecedented opportunities to experience the athletes’ performances.

Automation as a Safeguard for the Future

The extraordinarily high effort for the Olympics is justified by the argument that these technologies will make an immense contribution to leading Japan into a secure and efficient future.

The Japanese government sees such technologies as a means to create an intelligent city that can serve the world as an international financial center even after the end of the Olympic Games.

Naoko Iwanaga of JLL Japan Research

For example, the self-driving cars developed for the Games will be marketed for everyday use by 2022. Japanese technology experts hope that the 5G coverage for the Games will help make Tokyo the world’s first 5G-connected city.

Some consider the preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games to be too elaborate and excessive. However, Japan sees the Games as an opportunity to overtake Silicon Valley. From 2015 to 2017, Tokyo developed more patents than anyone else in the world – and is thus entering a new level in the game.