The research and development of the Kashiwa ITS Smart City is being conducted in Kashiwa City, which has the necessary conditions for a demonstration field.

Kashiwa City, with a population of approximately 400,000, is located in the northeast of Tokyo, approximately 30 minutes from the city center. The city has been developing in recent years as a new bedroom community, centering on Kashiwa Station (central urban area), where several large commercial facilities are located, and Kashiwanoha Campus Station (new urban area), which opened in 2005 when the Tsukuba Express train service started. The area has also been developing as a new bedroom community in recent years. It is also a core city in the region, with busy national highways No. 16 and No. 6, and faces many traffic problems.

The Kashiwanoha Campus area, home to academic and research institutions such as the University of Tokyo, Chiba University, and the National Cancer Center, formulated the “International Campus Town Concept” in 2008 with the aim of creating an international academic city.

In 2011, the area was selected as a “Future City for the Environment” by the Cabinet Office, and new urban development is underway with themes of the environment, health, interaction, and the creation of new industries. The Urban Design Center Kashiwanoha (UDCK), the city’s urban development hub, is at the center of a variety of social experiments that are raising citizens’ awareness of urban development.

In the Kashiwa ITS Smart City initiative, where collaboration with the local community is a key element, Kashiwa City is the best field for demonstrating the environmental improvements and urban development that are being carried out in concert with the citizens.