Tokyo Builds Climate Resilience with AI and Citizen Action

Urban Biodiversity

At a high school in central Tokyo with a view of the National Diet Building, a group of students are passionately engaged in a rather unusual activity̶picking, observing, and at times even eating, weeds! Members of the Weed Research Club at Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School are working to uncover the potential of the diverse natural life quietly thriving in the corners of the city, and in doing so cultivating a new vision for how cities and nature can grow together.

These young botanists have their own original field guide, Flora of Hibiya High School, that they inherited from former members. They have used it to create a weed map of the school grounds and have even discovered rare plants onsite. "We once stumbled upon corydalis, a plant listed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's 'Red List of Threatened Species,' right on our school grounds. It had these bright yellow flowers that made it stand out, and when we looked it up, we realized it was endangered,” explains club president Tsutsumi Yugo. “Knowing a plant like that exists right here on school grounds made us feel a real sense of urgency. Since we've been lucky enough to find it, we want to protect it as much as possible, and make sure the research is documented properly."

Tsutsumi notes that observing these humble plants has gotten him thinking about how we can live sustainably with nature in cities and the mindset shift this requires. "Plants are fighting to survive too, but sometimes they do get in the way of human life. Ideally, I'd like them to coexist with us without causing us too much trouble."
 

AI-Assisted Resilience

For centuries, Tokyo has expanded toward the bay, creating one of Japanʼs busiest hubs for trade and daily life, but also areas that are at low elevations, including many “zero-meter zones.” Roughly 1.5 million people now live in areas that would flood with each high tide if not for protective infrastructure.

Physical defenses remain essential, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is now reinforcing them with digital transformation (DX). The initiative integrates new technologies into coastal protection in four key ways. First, an online Storm Surge Disaster Prevention Information System publishes tide levels, floodgate status, and live camera footage in real time. Second, a Storm Surge Risk Search Service allows residents to enter an address and instantly see how deep flooding could become in a major storm surge. Third, an AI-based model processes tide and weather data to forecast water-level changes up to fifteen hours ahead, supporting floodgate and pump station operations. Finally, TMG officials are building in-house capacity to use drones for rapid, safe inspection of facilities during disasters.

The TMG's approach is also being recognized internationally. In 2025, the cityʼs AI water-level prediction system was presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona.
Multilingual features have been added to the information systems so that residents and visitors alike can understand risks and prepare. The message is clear: disaster prevention is not only a local issue, but a shared responsibility.