Sumitomo’s smart city ambitions extend throughout Asia
Japanese company Sumitomo and Vietnamese developer BRG Group have established a real estate development company through a JV scheme, with the main goal of building a smart city in the Dong Anh district in northern Hanoi, Vietnam, Sumitomo said in a release.
The smart city project site lies to the north of Nhat Tan Bridge located halfway between Noi Bai International Airport and the center of Hanoi City. The project is divided into five phases and Sumitomo Corporation will develop the residential area with BRG in the first phase. The project is expected to start after obtaining approval from Hanoi City government.
The project area will be composed of hospitals, schools, disaster prevention facilities, security systems and commercial facilities.. In addition, by introducing 5G technology, face recognition system and blockchain technologies, the area will feature smart city services, contributing to the sustainable development of Hanoi City, the Japanese company said.
Both Sumitomo Corporation and BRG Group will spend 450 billion yen ($4.21 billion) to develop the smart city project on the outskirts of Hanoi.
The project is expected to kick off next year with the construction of about 7,000 apartments and homes. Office buildings and large commercial facilities are expected to be constructed in the second phase. A rail station that links to Hanoi’s city center and the international airport is planned for a future phase of the smart city initiative.
The two partners will deploy Internet of Things (IoT) technology to promote energy savings as well as other additional services.
The president and CEO of Sumitomo Corporation, Masayuki Hyodo, said that the company aims to develop similar smart city projects in high-growth areas of Asia.
Under its medium-term management plan 2020 initiated in April 2018, Sumitomo Corporation included social infrastructure as one of its growth areas, and intends to place increased focus on urban development, smart city projects, and various infrastructure projects. “Through this project, by responding to the urbanization demand driven by its economic and population growth, we hope to contribute to the development of Vietnamese economy and industry while building a city where everyone can enjoy a comfortable and exhilarating everyday life,” Sumitomo said.
