WEBVTT

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I am the fourth speaker
to give a speech in Japanese.

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(Laughter)

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Please bear with me.

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Let me introduce myself first.

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My name is Masayuki Takeuchi.

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I am the project leader for GREEN FLOAT,

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our environment-friendly
future city concept.

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I work for the Shimizu Corporation.

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I am in charge of technology
for urban planning and buildings.

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Before talking about the concept
for future cities

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I would like to talk about
what we can do with architecture

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to cope with earthquake problems.

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First earthquake.

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Some places in Tokyo very far
from the epicenter of the earthquake

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had a lot of damage such as
collapsed furniture or ceilings.

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No matter how sturdy
we make our buildings,

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I'm afraid it doesn't guarantee
the safety of people's lives.

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This is the Great Buddha of Kamakura.

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Actually the history for our earthquake
countermeasures began here.

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About 90 years ago,
in the Great Kanto Earthquake,

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this Buddha statue suffered damage.

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Several decades after that happened,

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in the reconstruction of the statue,

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a new technology called
"seismic isolated structure"

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was used for the first time to prevent
its damage in another earthquake.

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That technology isn't
as difficult as it may sound.

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Between the Buddha statue and the pedestal

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a sheet of stainless steel plate
was inserted, that's all.

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When an earthquake occurs

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the whole body of the statue slides
sideways on the stainless steel sheet,

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leaving the statue intact.

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But today's seismic isolation technology

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is a little more advanced than that.

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The concept is that of converting tremors
into a gentle swaying motion like a willow

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by isolating the building
from the ground movement

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during an earthquake.

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The part that actually sways like a willow

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is the damping rubber structure
under the building like this.

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This is called "seismic isolation rubber"
that can sway as a willow does.

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In a big earthquake,
it can stretch up to 50cm.

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I think that when the quake
occurred this time in Tokyo

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that rubber structure in the buildings
must have stretched between 5~10cm.

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Because of this, the building
above it sways slowly.

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As you see in this slide the building
on the left is an ordinary one.

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It shakes, the furniture in it falls over,
and the ceiling collapses

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when an earthquake occurs
and the ground shakes.

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The one on the right
is a seismically isolated building.

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Because of the damping rubber
under the building,

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the building on top of it gently sways
as if it were on a big ship.

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So, the ceiling and the furniture
would be safe.

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We can ensure our safety by investing
only 3% of the total cost in this.

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About 2,500 buildings in Japan
are seismically isolated.

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So, you may ask, what would happen
to the existing buildings without it?

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This picture shows historical buildings
you must be able to identify easily.

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These were jacked up
long after their construction

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to put a damping rubber beneath them.

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So this protects the buildings
from earthquake damage.

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Recent new seismic isolation technology
is not only for sideway shakes

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but also for vertical jolts.

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The seismic isolation technology
is finally getting into 3D.

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Next is environment.

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Have you ever imagined that an earthquake
would rob us of this much energy?

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On the Yahoo top page

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that we now have "Electric Forecast"
instead of Weather Forecast

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is well known.

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I am sure you work in offices

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with the lights off
when it is sunny outside.

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Have you ever seen this kind
of window blind?

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This window blind is computer programmed

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to allow sunlight in
according to the height of the sun

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by controlling the angle
of the blind slats.

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This blind would help light up
your office a little bit more

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even when you don't use
the electric lights in your office.

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We can also contrive the way

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to control the condition
of the air inside a building.

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Cool air usually comes out of the ceiling
through the air ducts,

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cooling the whole room at full blast.

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However, remember that when we get
into a tunnel, it feels cool inside,

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although no cool wind is coming in.

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It's because the cool temperature
of the materials used in making the tunnel

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robs our bodies of heat.

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This principle is embodied
by a radiant cooling system.

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Making the surface of the ceiling
- in this case it's metal - cool,

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lowers the room temperature,

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making our environment comfortable.

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Some of you may not like
a cool draft blowing directly on you.

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With this it won't happen.

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Comfortable and very energy-saving.

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There is also technology for offices
that can detect where people are

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and adjust for those
who like a warm or a cool temperature.

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By using a sensor to detect such things

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we can save energy
and make offices comfortable

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without wasting electricity.

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This is cutting-edge technology
for offices right now.

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We will complete the construction
of the new headquarters building

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for our company next spring.

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All those technologies
I have just mentioned

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are incorporated into this building.

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Energy usage and CO2 emission can be
reduced by about a half in this building,

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so, we call this a "carbon-half building."

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Within our ambit after this
"carbon-half building"

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is a plan to make a "zero-energy building"

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using a lot of natural energy.

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The word "building"
isn't visible in this slide,

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but it's "zero-energy building" or ZEB.

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Beyond that, GREEN FLOAT
- I'll talk about that after this -

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will even absorb CO2
from around the structure.

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That is to say that our goal is
to aim at a "carbon-minus building."

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What I've talked about so far
are the technologies

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that we can incorporate
into architecture right now.

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So, do you think

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that these technologies would make
the environment of our future cities

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rosy and safe?

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Do you think these would ensure that?

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I think the answer is no.

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Unfortunately, it wouldn't go that way
unless the current situation changes.

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That means that no matter how hard
individual buildings tried

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to accommodate new technologies,

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there would never be
a big paradigm shift.

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Now is the time for us
to have a distinct paradigm shift.

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We need to consider a city as one unit

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to solve the safety
and environmental problems.

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That is the way to adapt to the new era.

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We have been proposing the concept

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of an environmentally friendly city,
GREEN FLOAT, for the past 3 years.

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The current dense living conditions on
the 30% of the Earth's surface that's land

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is causing many
environmental problems worldwide.

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So, this project is to focus on the oceans

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that take up 70% of the Earth's surface.

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Japan is a country
with advanced environmental technologies.

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Japan is also surrounded by oceans.

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With all the most advanced technologies -

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environmental technology as in GREEN,

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and ocean technology as in FLOAT -
incorporated into it,

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this is a completely
new concept for cities.

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We are innovating technologies,
aiming at breaking ground for it in 2025.

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Please watch the video.

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(Video starts): GREEN FLOAT
is a new conceptual model

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for environmentally friendly cities.

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The idea is to construct
artificial islands in the equatorial ocean

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with the aim of achieving self-sufficient
and carbon negative cities

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with zero waste.

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On the Equator it's hot,
but the temperature is stable.

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Also, the Equator isn't prone to typhoons

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so that the climate is stable, too.

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The idea is to build towers
like this, 1,000m high

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At that elevation it's cooler,

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we'd create "cities in the sky"

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with a year-round temperature
of 26 degrees C.

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Each cell of GREEN FLOAT
has a radius of 1km, a walkable distance.

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One cell is defined as one town,

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and a module consisting of cells
is defined as a city,

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and one unit consisting of modules
is defined as a country.

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As its population increases,
it could grow like water lilies.

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The part between 700 and 1,000m high
is the urban area.

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On the periphery, there are
residencies and hospitals.

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In the center, there are offices
and commercial facilities.

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The tower has a plant factory
which grows vegetables.

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In the lower part, cereals are grown,

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and in the shallows, fish
and seaweed are cultivated.

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The CO2, waste water and garbage
from the urban area

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become nutrients
for the plant factory below.

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They also become nutrients for arable
and marine cultivation at the bottom.

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In other words we want
to achieve a natural cycle,

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where the city gets back fish
from the shallows,

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cereals from the fields,
vegetables from the plant factory.

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In consideration
of the marine environment,

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to ensure sunlight is not blocked
from going into the ocean depths,

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GREEN FLOAT drifts slowly as it floats
with the ocean currents,

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instead of being fixed in one place.

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Smart marine construction techniques
using the buoyancy forces of seawater

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will enable it to be built
safely and efficiently.

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The main issue is how to construct
new cities and buildings;

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that is, the technology needed to build
floating cities or aerial cities.

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Another issue is how to create
a new environment on the Earth.

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This involves such fields

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as satellite solar power
and waste circulation.

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We also have to think
about new economic systems

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such as trading in CO2 emission rights

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and systems
for international coordination,

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as it wouldn't be fair for the cities
to belong to individual countries.

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So, the three big themes are construction,
the environment, and social systems.

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(Video ends)

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I have introduced GREEN FLOAT,
a new paradigm,

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with the idea that a city
is considered as one unit.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)