The Sci-Fi fantasy could become a reality within the next decade.
Japan, a country renown for being at the forefront of technological innovations, is once again taking the lead in a long-awaited avenue of development.
Bloomberg reported last week that the country will be making a push to develop flying cars after it enlisted 21 companies into a government-led group to make the vision a reality within the next decade.
Within this consortium there are some very familiar names; Boeing, Airbus, Japan Airlines, Yamato Holdings (Japan’s largest delivery service) as well as Uber have all pledged a keen interest in getting this project off the ground. Uber’s involvement comes as no surprise. The billion-dollar company announced earlier this year that it would work with the U.S army to advance research on aircraft rotor technology that could be used in future flying cars, and has invested $23 million into a flying car hub in Paris that hopes to begin operations by 2023.
The role that Japan is hoping to take will be in terms of defining legislation and regulation. What, then, has motivated its government to opt for this? Having felt it had fallen behind in the electric autonomous vehicles industry, the government now wants to gain leadership in this field. If it wants to retain its place as one of the world’s most technologically advanced nations, this is precisely the kind of innovation that is needed. A more practical incentive is to ease traffic congestion and aid disaster and evacuation efforts made incredibly arduous by the country’s mountainous terrain.
This bold move will, with much hope, pay off. The benefits of this technology could not simply revolutionise transport but also our cities, just as the invention of the automobile did at the turn of the previous century. Buildings will naturally increase in height as resident will feel less of a need to be on the ground. Rooftop parking and landing will inevitably be introduced. This will free up huge amounts of space that would have previously been used for underground parking facilities. The dramatic decrease in cars on the road will lead to an obvious drop in congestion. Not only will journeys, either via air or road, become far quicker, but roads will likely become much safer. The cost of owning and running a car could therefore decrease. Without such a need for the huge swathes of land left aside for tarmac, city spaces could be completely reimagined, perhaps even freeing up more space for community areas and parks.
This move by Japan could make the Sci-fi fantasy, and the numerous benefits that accompany it, a reality much faster than was ever imagined- it is also serves as a reminder for us all: that innovation does not just come from the private sector; government must define and regulate the space in which these companies work as well.
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