Disaster-resilient green community, Sendai

November 2011

Kokusai Kogyo Group, together with Sendai City Council, Tohoku University and collaborating companies (hereinafter the Study Team), has launched a study on development of low-carbon communities and smart houses, to bring about an environmentally-friendly and disaster-resilient community in the Tagonishi re-zoning area in Sendai.

Fig. 1 Covering approximately 16.3ha, Tagonishi is located around 7km northeast of central Sendai with easy access from Sendaiko-Kita interchange and Route 4.

Re-zoning in Tagonishi has been underway since June 2009. Under the recovery plan for Sendai City, which suffered enormous devastation following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, Tagonishi is being considered as a candidate for disaster public housing and collective relocation as well as an eco-friendly model town to realize new disaster-resilient and environmentally-friendly lifestyles. Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd., in collaboration with Sendai City Council and Tohoku University, submitted successful proposals that focused on: recovery from the tsunami, creating low-carbon communities, and disaster-resilient community development, in response to public advertisements for two projects, the environment ministry's FY2011 Project for Sustainable Urban Redevelopment, and the economy, trade and industry ministry's FY2011 Project for Dissemination of the Smart Community Concept.

1) FY2011 Project for Sustainable Urban Redevelopment (under the Ministry of the Environment)

The Study Team, in its search for innovative solutions for disaster-resilient, low-carbon community development, as well as technologies to reduce CO2 emissions and increasing greenery, will investigate the feasibility of:

2) FY2011 Project for Dissemination of the Smart Community Concept (under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

The Study Team, in collaboration with home builders (Seiyo Housing Corporation and Hokushu Co., Ltd.), government-industry-academia in Sendai City, and timely participation of companies with leading-edge technologies and products, will work towards advanced communities, namely Smart Villages, by investigating

	Fig. 2 Artist's impression of a Smart Village

Utilizing the knowledge and technologies that we have accumulated so far, such as total solutions combining geospatial information technology and land design technology, disaster prevention and risk reduction expertise, and solar power generation, Kokusai Kogyo Group, as part of the Study Team, will make every effort towards recovering from the tsunami and the creation of green communities that are low-carbon and resilient in the face of disasters, for the peace-of-mind of residents.

- Wind simulation analysis	- Concept for incorporating wind and light into living spaces
Fig. 3 Example of an environment-friendly living space incorporating natural light and wind (Source: Tohoku University)