HKUST Public Policy Bulletin Issue No.11

Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Overcome Mobility Challenges Caused by Population Ageing:

A Case Study of Japan

 

Gregory TRENCHER, Masaru YARIME, Jeongsoo YU

 

 

In today’s era, population ageing is an accelerating trend affecting all countries, especially in the global north and eastern Asia. The ageing and shrinking population can cause negative impacts on economic growth, medical and fiscal systems, and the socio-economic vitality of communities and cities. Overcoming these challenges is now an important task for technology. With the development of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), mobility becomes a particularly important area where technological innovations are expected to address problems.

 

Japan, home to the world’s most rapidly ageing population, has been testing novel mobility technologies and services in response to population ageing and shrinkage. This provides an ideal opportunity to observe how emerging technologies can tackle mobility challenges. This policy bulletin introduces a study by G. Trencher et al. (2024) that examines Japan’s experiences...

     

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    Authors

     

    Gregory TRENCHER is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies at Kyoto University in Japan. His research focuses on decarbonisation and energy policy and the governance of energy and sustainability transitions. Current projects are investigating topics such as fossil-fuel phase-outs, company decarbonisation behaviour, next-generation mobility and smart cities. He serves on the editorial board for Energy Research & Social Science and as an editor for Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. His research has been published in Nature Communications, One Earth, Environmental Research Letters, PLOS One, Climatic Change and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

     

     

     

    Masaru YARIME is an Associate Professor at the Division of Public Policy and the Division of Environment and Sustainability at HKUST. He also has appointments as an Honorary Associate Professor at the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Public Policy at University College London and a Visiting Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo. He is interested in exploring data-driven innovation to address sustainability challenges and implications for public policy and governance. He serves on the editorial board of Sustainability Science, Environmental Science and Policy, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities - Innovation and Governance, and Data & Policy.

     

     

     

    Jeongsoo YU is a professor at the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, the Graduate School of Environmental Studies and the Green Goals Initiative at Tohoku University in Japan. He is interested in cross-sectoral research fields, which include carbon zero and circular economy policies, Life-Cycle-Assessment, developing a plastic sorter, and SDGs education, focusing especially on integrated waste management and sustainable recycling, such as End-of-Life Vehicles, E-waste, and plastic waste, among others. His research has been published in Waste Management, Waste Management & Research, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Journal of Urban Management, Recycling, Sustainability, Societies, Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

     

    Further reading

    Trencher, Gregory, Masaru Yarime, and Jeongsoo Yu. "Using emerging technologies to tackle mobility challenges caused by population ageing: Experiences from Japan." Technological Forecasting and Social Change 208 (2024): 123729.