International IIAS workshop
Mega-Urbanization
in Asia:
Directors of Urban Change in a Comparative Perspective
Freek
Colombijn
Peter J.M. Nas
Leiden, 12-14 December 2002
International Institute for Asian Studies
(IIAS),
Leiden
University, The Netherlands
Never Ending Tokyo Projects:
Catastrophe? or
Rebirth?
Towards the Age of Community Design
Dr. Shuji Funo
Department of Architecture and Environmental
Design
Faculty of engineering
Kyoto University
Yoshidahonmati, Sakyo-ku
Kyoto, Japan 〒601-8501
Tel=fax
+81-75-753-5776
E-Mail i53315@sakura.kudpc.kyoto-u.ac.jp or funo@archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Never Ending Tokyo Projects:
Catastrophe? or
Rebirth?
Towards the Age of Community Design
Dr. Shuji Funo（Kyoto University）
Introduction
Tokyo was only a small castle town
at the beginning of 17th century but now is the capital, the largest
metropolis in Japan, which has the population of over 12 million. It is considered that the urbanization of
Tokyo followed the orthogenetic process until the end of Edo era because Japan
had closed the country from 1641 to 1853. only opening a port of Desima,
Nagasaki to the Dutch. Japan had continued to be positioned at the periphery of
European World Economy though silver exported through Desima had contributed to
the development of European World Economy.
It might be interesting subject to be investigated historically that the
population of Tokyo in the mid 17th century had already reached 1 million,
which was competitive to those of European large cities like London, Paris
etc. Tokyo was a huge village-like mega
city (huge urban village) in the mid 19th century.
The urbanization process of Tokyo from the Meiji restoration
(1868) up to today is divided
into several stages. Restructuring of Edo to modern capital Tokyo is the first
program for the new Meiji government.
Industrialization began in 1880s and Tokyo started to be suffered from
urban problems from 1890s. The first urban planning law and building code were legislated
in 1919. Tokyo received critical damages by the Great
Kanto Earthquake (1923). During wartime (1931-45), the urbanization of Tokyo was interrupted,
but became the metropolis of East Asia. Japan expanded its territory to Asian
regions constructing several colonial cities in Manchuria, Korean Peninsula and
Taiwan(Formosa) where many experimental projects were realized based on the
imported modern urban planning technologies.
Despite the
greatest damage during the war, the postwar reconstruction of Japanese economy
was completed roughly ten years after the end of the war. There were enormous
concentrations of population and industries in and around Tokyo, the population of which exceeded over 10 million in early 1960s.
However, Japan's period of intensive economic growth gave way to a
period of low, stable growth with the energy crisis in the 70s. The focus
had been considered to be going to shift from outward urban expansion to the
fuller development of already urbanized areas. But the bubble economy attacked the whole
islands of Japan from the end of 1980s. Nobody could controll the
activities of speculation. And the bubble economy had gone. The paradigm in
terms of urban planning is shifting again. Tokyo is now suffering from the huge debt in
the age of bubble economy.
Many architects, planners and government
officials in various levels for these 150 years launched many plans and
projects to develop, improve and control Tokyo.
But almost all projects could not be accomplished or could only be
implemented partly. It is usual in everywhere that the original ideas, visions
and concepts are changed or distorted. I
will firstly pick up several projects, so called ‘Unaccomplished Tokyo Projects’
to discuss the questions: (1) what do the directors of
new urban developments in Asia envision for the future, and (2) how do the
directors manage to realize their ideas? We might recognize the same problems of
Japanese urban planning system from the beginning.
Tokyo had become a global city, which give
influences to international financial markets in 1980s during which Japan had
been grasping hegemony of World Economy as I. Wallerstein says[1]. Tokyo was completely connected to global
networks, so the urban issues Tokyo faced were shifted to be in different
dimension from other Japanese Cities.
Nobody control this phase of the
global city. But the built environment of the city itself is of course
important as living space and sites for services.
I would like to concentrate on the
problematic of Tokyo after bubble economy and touch upon the new movement of community
based planning in Japan after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which revealed the weak points of the tradition of urban planning system in
Japan.
I would like to leave the general
matter on Tokyo to several books written in English we have until now. Roman
Cybriwsky revised his book “Tokyo: The Changing Profile of an Urban Giant”(1991)
to “Tokyo: The Shogun’s City at the Twenty-First Century”(1998)[2]
from which you can get good information on contemporary Tokyo and basic
bibliography on Tokyo. P.P. Karan and Kristin Stapleton (ed. 1997) [3], “The
Japanese City” includes 3 articles on Tokyo.
Jinnai Hidenobu wrote an excellent
book “Tokyo”[4]
from the viewpoint of a special anthropology.
We have “The Global City New York, London, Tokyo”[5]
by Saskia Sassen from the view of World Economy.
Ⅰ. An Overview of Tokyo:
1.
Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Tokyo Metropolis is located at approximately the center of the
Japanese archipelago in the southern Kanto Area, bordered to the east by the
Edogawa River and Chiba Prefecture, to the west by mountains and Yamanashi
Prefecture, to the south by the Tamagawa River and Kanagawa Prefecture, and to
the north by Saitama Prefecture.
The Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area is made up of Tokyo and the
three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba. It is a surprise that around 26.3% of Japan's total population live in Metropolitan Area.
Tokyo is a vast self-governing unit consisting of 23-ku (ward), 26
cities, 5 towns and 8 villages and is divided into two major areas, 23 ku area and Tama area. The Tama Area is adjacent to the 23-ku areas. It has become
urbanized but is also blessed with an abundance of ponds, rivers, forests, and
other natural environmental advantages. However the Tama area is merely a
bedroom town area for people commuting to the 23-ku areas at present. Each ku is an administrative area of the city. The total area of all
23 ku covers about 621 square kilometers.
Although it is not known well, Tokyo has
several islands that have a total area of about 406
square kilometres. The population remains steady with about 30,000 persons. This area possesses a pristine natural
environment abundant with marine resources. Being geographically isolated and
financially weak, with a small administrative scale, the islands are faced with
serious problems related to improving basic living standards through further
development of marine and air transportation network services and medical care
facilities. Agriculture and fisheries, which support the island economy, are
faced with a shortage in labour.
2. The Population of Tokyo
The population of Tokyo Metropolitan Government is up to 12.17
million (as of October 1, 2001), which is 9.5% of Japan's total population, the
largest population of any of the 47 prefectures. Tokyo's area, 2,187.0 square kilometers or 0.6% of the total area of
Japan, is the 3rd smallest of the prefectures. The population density is 5,565
persons per square kilometer; Tokyo is by far the most densely populated
prefecture in Japan. The 23-ku areas are home to 8.21 million persons, the Tama area 3.94
million and the Islands 27,000. Tokyo has 5.518 million households, and the average household comprises
2.2 persons.
The population movement between Tokyo and other prefectures in 2000
showed 444,000 persons moving into Tokyo while 391,000 persons moved out, a
total movement of 835,000 persons for a net population increase of 37,000
persons. Regarding total movement, the trend of depopulation has been
prevailing since 1967, with the exception of 1985. In 1997, there was a net
population increase for the first time in 12 years, and 2000 again showed a net
increase. Looking at the total movement
between Tokyo and the three adjacent prefectures (Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa
prefectures), 208,000 came into Tokyo with 205,000 moving out, a total movement
of 413,000 persons or 47.6% of the total, for a net population decline of 3,000
persons. As far as natural
population movement is concerned, births numbered 101,000 with deaths numbering
84,000 for a net increase of 17,000 during 2000. The degree of net increases
has been declining yearly since 1972, with the exception of 1994 and 1996.
According to the January 1, 2001 Basic Registry of Residents,
Tokyo's population of 11.823 million fell into three age categories as follows:
juveniles (ages 0-14) numbered 1.427 million; the working age population (ages
15-64) numbered 8.471 million; and the aged population (65 years old and over)
numbered 1.905 million. These represent 12.1%, 72.8% and 16.1%, respectively,
of the overall population.
According to the National Census in 1995, the Working Age Group,
when broken down into 3 industrial groups, showed 31,000 persons (0.5%) in
primary industries of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 1.615 million
(25.6%) in secondary (mining, construction and manufacturing) industries and
4.547 million (72.1%) in tertiary industries of commerce, transportation,
communication and services.
According to the National Census in 1995, the working population,
broken down into 4 employment groups, indicates that 29,000 persons (0.5%) were
employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries; 1.544 million (24.8%) in
manufacturing and transportation related employment; 1.784 million (28.7%) in
sales and services; and 2.867 million (46.1%) in clerical, technical and
management occupations.
The National Census in 1995 lists the
daytime population of Tokyo as 14.572 million people, which was 2.837 million
more than the nighttime population figure at 11.735 million. The difference is
caused by the population of commuting workers and students, constituting a
daytime influx from the 3 neighboring prefectures (Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa
prefectures). Taking the nighttime population as a base of 100, the daytime
population factor is 124, indicating that the daytime figure is over 1.2 times
the nighttime level.
|
Fig. I-4 Trends of Population of Tokyo and
Gross Metropolitan Product
|
The daytime population, broken down by area, shows 11.191 million in
the 23-ku area, 3.348 million in the Tama Area and 32,000 persons in the
islands. Their respective factors are 141, 89, and 101, with the 23-ku figures
noticeably higher. Remarkably, the three Tokyo core ku - Chiyoda-ku, Chuo-ku
and Minato-ku - have a factor of 1,030 (nighttime population 243,000 persons
with a daytime 2.5 million) indicating that their daytime population is more
than 10 times the nighttime population.
3. A Brief History of
Tokyo
The origin of the city[6]
goes back to the foundation of a small castle called Edo in 1457, which was
built by a
feudal lord named Dokan Ohta in the region. But had been only a
small castle town before the end of 16th century. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)
occupied the town in 1590 and made it the central governmental city since he established a military government,
the Tokugawa Bakufu (Shogunate) at Edo, in 1603,
although Kyoto,
where the Emperor resided, was still the formal capital of Japan. The Edo era lasted for nearly 260
years until imperial rule was restored (the Meiji Restoration) in 1868.
Tokugawa Shogunate closed country to foreign
countries except Dutch[7]
from 1641 to 1853. Japan had no migrants from outside during so-called Sakoku (closed
country) era. Political authority in Japan was divided among a centralized, bureaucratised
military regime (the shogunate) and some 250 bureaucratised feudal domains. It is thought that Tokyo might be a unique
example in terms of urbanization in the process of formation of Modern World
System.
Although I have no
space here to describe the detail process of urbanization of Tokyo, as the
centre of politics and culture in Japan, Edo grew into a huge city in the
eighteenth century. According to the reliable record, Edo was consisted of
about 300 neighbourhood units in Kanei Period (1624-44), which increased up to
933 n.u. in 1713, and 1678 n.u. in 1745.
The estimated population is 350,000 in 1695 and 500,000 in 1721. This is the point for later discussion that
Edo was the special city for administration and a half of the inhabitants belonged
to the class of Busi (knight) who formally resided in the country. So the total
number of inhabitants in Edo was over 1 million in the end of 18 century, which
is beyond those of London and Paris. It
is said Edo was the largest city ---it might be better to say the huge urban
village---in the world in early 19th century in terms of population.
When the Tokugawa
Shogunate came to an end in 1868, Edo was renamed Tokyo, which means Eastern Capital. Following the Meiji Restoration, the Emperor moved from Kyoto to
Tokyo, which at last became the capital of Japan both in name and reality.
Japanese society was opened to the world and suffered from drastic
changes. During the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japan began
its voracious absorption of Western civilization. Social structure was rapidly
transformed according to destruction of old regime of Edo period. In 1869, Japan's first railway, between Tokyo and Yokohama, was
opened, and the first steam locomotive started running in 1872 on the line from
Shimbashi to Yokohama. In 1885, the cabinet system of government was adopted
and Japan established the political system of a modern nation-state with the
drafting of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1889.
Industrial
Revolution in Japan started in 1880’s and Tokyo absorbed a huge number of populations
from rural area, the population of which reached to about 2million at
the beginning of 20th century. Three
famous slum areas were formed within Tokyo from 1890s.
During the Taisho
era (1912-1926), the number of wage earners increased in Japan's cities and an
increasing proportion of citizens came to lead consumer lifestyles. It is thought that Japanese Economy
was involved in World Economy in 1920s.
In September 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake
struck Tokyo and the fires caused by the earthquake burned the city centre to
the ground. 140,000 people were reported dead or missing and 300,000 houses
were destroyed. After the earthquake, a city reconstruction plan was formulated
but because the projected costs exceeded the national budget only a small part
of it was realized.
The Showa era (1926-1989)
started in a mood of gloom because of Great Kanto Earthquake and economic
crisis. Japan was just in front of Wartime
(1931-45). In 1927, however, Japan's first subway line was opened and in 1931,
Tokyo Airport was completed in Haneda and in 1941 the Port of Tokyo was opened.
By 1935, the number of people living in Tokyo had reached 6.36 million,
comparable to the populations of New York and London at that time.
In 1941 the
Pacific War broke out. In 1943, to prosecute the war, the dual administrative
system of Tokyo-fu and Tokyo-shi was abolished and they were consolidated to
form Tokyo Metropolis. (The Metropolitan administrative system was thus
established and a governor was appointed). In the final phase of
World War II, Tokyo was bombed 102 times, including the heaviest air raid of
the war on March 10, 1945, in which many citizens lost their lives and
property. The war came to an end on August 15, 1945 when Japan accepted the
terms of the Potsdam Declaration. Much of Tokyo had been laid waste by the
bombings and by October 1945 the population had fallen to 3.49 million, half
its level in 1940.
In May 1947, the
Constitution of Japan based on the doctrine of democratic sovereignty and the
Local Government Act was promulgated. The first Governor of Tokyo was elected under the new system. In 1949, Tokyo Metropolis started
the 23-ku systems. Japanese economy steadily recovered during the 1950s, in part
due to the special procurement demand arising from the outbreak of the Korean
War in 1950, and in the 1960s Japan entered a period of high-level economic
growth. In 1962, the population of Tokyo broke the 10 million mark. In 1964,
the Olympic games were held in Tokyo and the Shinkansen was opened,
forming the basis for Tokyo's current prosperity.
By the beginning
of the 1970s, the excesses of high-level economic growth became apparent in
environmental problems such as air pollution, river pollution and noise
pollution. At the same time, the Oil Crisis of 1973 brought
the period of high-level economic growth to a halt.
In the 1980s, Tokyo again enjoyed
rapid economic growth through internationalisation and the emergence of the
information society. Tokyo became one of the world's most vital and attractive
major cities, boasting advanced technology, information, culture and fashion,
as well as a high level of public safety. On the other hand, this rapid growth
exacerbated urban problems such as environmental pollution, traffic congestion
and disaster protection measures. Furthermore, from 1986, land prices and
stocks shot up through the "bubble economy."
At the beginning
of the 1990s the bubble economy collapsed and, with the continuing economic
recession since then, tax income has decreased and the Metropolitan
Administration now faces a critical situation.
Now, standing at
the dawn of a new historical starting point at the beginning of the 21st
century, Tokyo are suffering
from financial difficulties derived from due bill in the age of "bubble economy".
Ⅱ. The Unaccomplished Tokyo Projects[8]
It might be convenient to divide the development of modern urban
planning in Japan into several stages as follows for retracing the urban
projects related to Tokyo. I would like to pick up several Tokyo projects from
each stage and discuss their backgrounds and results. We shall reconfirm the
same issues underlain in Japanese urban planning system repeatedly.
1 Development of Urban Planning in Japan
(1)
The period introducing the European way of urban reform
(1868-87):
One
of the most urgent tasks of Meiji New Government is to remodel Edo to a modern
capital competitive to European capitals like London and Paris. Central
government invited and hired the foreign engineers[9]
to make up the new face of Japanese capital before catching up with the level
of industrialization in western countries. The modernization of Tokyo in the
Western image was a prime objective.
Two
projects are symbolic in this period. One is of Ginza commercial block project,
which refashioned the entire Ginza district in red brick after the great fire
in 1872. Brick structure was adopted not only for fire protection but also for
a showpiece giving a European flavor.
Brick structures, however, were abandoned soon because of a frequent
earthquake in Japan. Newspaper at that time condemned the Ginza project that is
not suitable for Japanese climate and induces beriberi.
The
other is Hibiya Governmental Offices Concentration projects (1886-87) at
Kasumigaseki. Herman Ende and Willhelm Beckman from Germany were invited to
plan and design the central district of Tokyo. The project was not implemented
by objection James Hooprecht, a civil engineer, who had planned Berlin Plan in
1862, because of financial pressure. H.
Ende abridged the project and only two buildings were constructed on the site,
half of which is now Hibiya Park, which is the first western type of public
park.
(2) Tokyo Shikukaisei Jorei (Tokyo Urban Improvement Ordinance) period
(1880-1918):
The
first legislation in Japan to facilitate city planning, Tokyo Shikukaisei
Jorei, was enforced in 1888. It was made of 16-point initiative that created a
city planning board and set in motion various improvements to infrastructure,
especially in the downtown area. The greatest attention was given to road
construction. The model was Great Reform of Paris by Baron Georges-Eugene
Haussman(1809-91). However, because of outbreaks of cholera, attention became
to given to supplying water and removing sewerage. The great reform plan of
road network was interrupted[10].
(3)
The period establishing the urban planning system (1910-1935):
The
Toshi Keikaku Hou “Town Planning Act” was adopted in 1919 with the first “Municipal
Area Building Law” in Japan. Toshi Keikaku that means urban planning in
Japanese was firstly used in the late 1920s. The emphasis continued to be on
infrastructure to establish a modern industry. The act and building law adopted
the zoning system to delineate fire-protection zones and to identify districts
within the city for the special use. It also provided for land adjustment such
as the straightening of roads and property lines in suburban areas that were
soon expected to change from farms to houses. The concept and method of land
readjustment were introduced from Germany.
“New
Tokyo” Plan was launched by S. Fukuda, a city architect-engineer in 1918. He
estimated that the population of Tokyo would be 6.76 million after 50 years (1961)
and the area would be 3.6 times of the area at that time, on the assumption
that the density should be 250 persons/ha.
“New Tokyo” Plan individually proposed were only on the paper.
The first true
test came with the Great Kanto Earthquake[11]
of 1923. Goto Shimpei, mayor of Tokyo, was put in charge of reconstruction and
drew up the plan. He was a national figure who had experiences as an administrator
in Taiwan and had proposed grand plans for the city just before the emergency.
His plan included laying out new street lines and wider streets, reorganization
of the rail network, improvements to water and sewer systems and creation of
open spaces. However, only a few elements of the master plan were actually
accomplished, because the cost was to have been considerable and because of
opposition by powerful landowners. The issues of land acquisition are the point
of urban planning from the beginning.
The
Dojunkai (Foundation for Restoration after Great Kanto Earthquake) established
based on the donation from foreign countries became the first body supplying
public houses in Japan. Japan began to build collective houses called apartment
with detached and semi-detached houses by Dojunkai. Dojunkai also started slum
upgrading projects and carried out the land readjustment projects
(4) The
period during wartime (1931-45):
Ironically
speaking, we had the only chance to realize the idea of modern urban planning
in the colony like Taiwan (Formosa), Manchuria (North Eastern China) and Korean
peninsula. Datong City Plan and Dalian Plan in China are famous Japanese
colonial projects. Japanese architects considered the colony as experimental
field to realize the idea of modern architecture and modern urban planning.
Colonial urban planning recalls us that urban planning with top down process
needs the political power of states for realizing the idea. Architects and
planners learned a lot from Nazi’s planning idea in this period.
“Tokyo
Green Belt Plan” was proposed by a committee of central government in
1939. The plan including the green belt
that circled the whole Tokyo, protection of scenic spots and in part air
defense, had no time and money to be implemented.
(5) The period of reconstructing
(1945-54)
|
The Japanese metropolises received the greatest damage during the war.
Something of the same can be said about what happened after the end of World
War II. It is not a wonder that the
authority had prepared the reconstruction plan after war. Ishikawa Eiyo, Tokyo government’s chief
planner prepared a “War Damage Rehabilitation Plan” that adopted a symmetrical
radial and ring-road network for Tokyo with spaced green belts and separation
of land uses through zoning. However it is too idealistic to be implemented.
Land readjustment projects were planned in many districts of Tokyo but
it took much time to be decided. Much competition related to reconstruction
programs were held, but nations ruined economy did not allowed their
implementation.
Just
one year after the war, the Special City Planning Law was enacted and
large-scale reconstruction plans were laid for several cities. The Capital
Construction Law was passed in 1950. This law established the Capital
Construction Committee, a national organization devoted to the goal of Tokyo's
reconstruction, determined the Emergency five-year Capital Construction Plan.
However, under the severe economic conditions that prevailed, it was impossible
to effectively realize these plans and they were left for the next generation
to solve.
(6) The period of urban development (1955-68)
The postwar reconstruction of economy was completed roughly ten years
after the end of the war. There were enormous concentrations of population and
industries in the metropolises, particularly Tokyo, and depopulation in the
provinces. Problems such as the rapid expansion of urbanized areas, shortage of
housing, increased land use prices and confusion in land became manifest in the
metropolitan areas, and their solution became an extremely urgent policy issue.
A Capital Region Development Plan came to be seriously considered in
order to control such excessive concentration of population. To this end, a
Capital Region Development Law was enacted in 1956 to replace the Capital
Construction Law of 1950.
This Plan was modeled on the Great London Plan by Sir Patrick
Abercrombie’s concept for London and was based on the idea of strong controls. In
order to carry it out, a law promoting the construction of industrial satellite
cities and another restricting factory location in existing urbanized areas was
passed in 1958. These industrial satellite cities were intended to be similar
in function to English New Towns, but most of them were built as new industrial
developments in the suburbs of exiting cities.
Earlier, the Japan Housing Corporation (now the Japan Housing and Urban
Development Corporation) had been established in 1955 as semi-public
organization to carry out large-scale housing construction and housing site
development in metropolitan areas. This represented a task force for
constructing large housing development and new towns, and its activities
ushered in a new era in new town construction in Japan.
The construction of new towns, gathering
momentum, received great attention. New towns were built one after another in
the suburbs, being intended for middle-income level families. The New
Residential Built-up Area Development Law and the Law for the Infrastructure
Development of New Cities are notable as measures that dealt realistically with
metropolitan development. There were various advances in city planning and
national land planning.
However, it should be noted that the new towns that were created were
very different from the self contained New Towns of England that provided both
places of work and housing. This was in a sense the inevitable result of the
conditions prevailing in Japan at the time and an expression of the nature of
planning in Japan as well.
It soon became clear that the Capital Region Development Plan was
unrealistic in that it underestimated the pressures of industrial and
population concentration in the metropolises. In particular, the idea of green
belts was totally ineffective in the face of the sprawl into the suburbs in the
1960s. As a result, a reevaluation of the plan became necessary. The Capital
Region Development Law was revised in 1965, and the second Capital Region
Development Master Plan was established in 1968.
Kenzo Tange proposed “Tokyo Plan 1960” following K. Kikutake’s “City
on the Sea”(1958) and “Tower City”(1959). “Tokyo Plan 1960” that insisted the
linear structure in place of radial system was the project that changed the
former policy of city planning. Many architects including K.Kurokawa (“Rurban
City”, “Spiral City”), F. Maki (‘Group Form’),…who had belonged Metabolism
Groups launched the ideal projects for the future city emulously as well as the
Master Architect in the modern age. A.
Isozaki also proposed the project called ‘The City in the Air’.
The prominent urban projects by star architects were only proposed for
two or three years in the beginning 0f 1960s. Realization seems out of their
concerns because of their proposal were lacking for procedure and money for
implementation. We can say their image of future city was temporarily realized
as the formation of the sites for Expo’ 70.
It is a rare case that K. Kikutake’s “City on the Sea”(1958) was
realized as “Aqua polis” in 1975.
The 1964 Tokyo Olympics transformed landscape of Tokyo radically by
constructing Shuto Kosoku (Metropolitan highway) and many facilities like
National Gymnasium. However, little was done to build a better living
environment at that time and citizens had suffered severe water shortage and
air pollution in the late 1960s.
(7) The period establishing
new urban planning system (1968-85):
“Town Planning Law” was revised in 1968,
when the urban planning system was barely established.
Japan's period of intensive economic growth gave way to a period of low,
stable growth with the energy crisis. The focus had been considered to be going
to shift from outward urban expansion to the fuller development of already
urbanized areas.
Paradigm concerning urban planning and housing shifted from large scale
projects to small scale projects, from new construction to urban renewal, from
high rise flats to low-middle rise town house, from quantity of dwelling units to
quality of life and so on. The idea of ‘B (Bebaungs)-Plan’ was introduced in
this period.
Planning in Tokyo began to move in new directions after mid-1960s, the
reason why citizens had become fed up with the poor condition of the city and
the slow pace of improvements to their neighborhoods. Minobe Ryokichi, a
university professor who had been criticizing the urban policy as a
Socialist-Communist coalition was erected as the governor in 1967. He talked about clean rivers and blue skies and
promised to work toward a more healthful Tokyo. He became a popular two-term
governor until 1979 that reoriented much about planning in the city but almost
brought the city to bankruptcy.
(8) The period of anti-planning in
the age of “bubble economy”(1982-1993):
What came after the stable growth period was bubble economy. Nobody
could expect the bubble economies attack the whole islands of Japan from the
end of 1980s.
Suzuki Shunichi occupied the seat of
governor after Minobe in 1979 and served four terms till 1995. He called his
vision for the city ‘My Town Tokyo’. His administration put together a series
of three comprehensive plans: 1982, 1986 and 1990. The biggest difference from
the previous administration was an emphasis on the CBD and other major
commercial districts, where construction of large, showy projects was intended
to advance Tokyo as an international business center and metropolis.
Criticism of Suzuki-era planning focused on its affinity for large,
flashy construction projects said to be] too expensive and maybe even
unnecessary.
(9) The period of community
design after “bubble economy”(1995-):
But
the bubble economy has gone. The paradigm in terms of urban planning is
shifting again. There will be fewer large-scale projects and greater interest in
creating communities and enriching the people's immediate environment; instead
of plans concerned with hardware, i.e. facilities. There will be greater
interest in creating urban culture.
Then
Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 revealed the weakness of the tradition of
urban planning in Japan.
The waterfront became a principal issue in the
gubernatorial election of 1995.
Promising voters to cut back on
waterfront construction erected Aoshima Yukio, known as a TV comedian. The stop
of ‘World City Exposition Tokyo’96- Urban Frontier’ symbolize the end of the
age of bubble economy and infinite expansion.
2 The Fundamental Issues of Japanese Urban Planning System
We
can summarize and point out general issues of Japanese city and urban planning,
looking back the history of urban planning of Tokyo.
a The lack of originality:
We
have always been importing the concepts and systems of urban planning from the
western countries. We introduced the way of Baron Haussmann's grand project of
Paris in 19th century at the beginning, Nazi's idea of national land planning
during the world war II, the concept of Greater London plan after the world war
II, German B-plan in the early 80s, and so on. It is not bad to learn the
foreign systems, but it does not necessarily work well in different context. We need the ideas and methods rooted in
realities in Japan.
b The absence of subjectivity in urban planning: passiveness of people:
Who plan and design the city is not clear in Japan. Local government
that is controlled by central government cannot decide any matter related urban
planning. In addition, we have not
established the systems of people's participation and advocate planning.
c The weakness of financial background specialized in urban planning:
We have not special funds for
urban planning. That depends on the budget year by year. The policy may easily be change by the mayor
who also be replaced by election. The unstable planning board is also
problematic. The officials in local government move from one board to another
board frequently. We need the professionals in urban planning in and by urban
planning board.
d The immaturity of public sense that limit the private right for urban
planning:
Japan is said to be the freest country as for designing the building. It
is because that no close relation between the building code and the urban
planning law (block regulations). Cityscape
is getting chaotic though architects who are responsible for the coordination
enjoy the freedom.
e 'Scrap and build' urban
process:
We have been repeating scrap and built process for this half century
after the war. Urban planning had neglected the urban
historical heritage. The poorness of
urban stocks is a big problem for the future.
Ⅲ. Urban Policy and Strategies of
Tokyo: The Problematic:
1
Post
Modern City Tokyo: Tokyo at its Zenith
(1)
Supersaturate City: Disappearance of Frontier
In the
mid-1980s, Tokyo reached to a kind of climax or a saturation point in terms of
horizontal expansion. So-called “Tokyo Problem” and ‘Tokyo Reform’ were a main
topic of those days. Many scholars and critics discussed the issues derived
from monopoly of Tokyo and the possibilities of moving capital. It is abnormal
that about 1/4 of the total population of Japan live in Metropolitan area of
Tokyo.
However, new
frontiers were sought for further development of Tokyo because of affluent
money to be invested. The first target was unused public land within the
central district and down town. Large real estate company launched many
redevelopment projects and many winklers attacked and purchased the downtown
area. There were the districts whole building had disappeared.
The second
frontier is the sky. Tokyo still has more space in the air than New York. The
Manhattan Project, which renews the CBD, was launched.
The third frontier is the
underground, so called geo front. The
project to create a city with 500,000-population underground of Tokyo was
proposed seriously.
The fourth
target was waterfront where the dockyards, factories and son had been located
on. ‘World
City Exposition Tokyo’96” planned on waterfront was named ‘Urban Frontier’.
(2) A Global
City: 24 hours city
Tokyo became one of the global financial centers,
which attracts international businessmen in 80s. The demand of office space for them was one
of the reasons that need bubble economy. Tokyo is now completely involved in
international networks and active for 24hours.
Tokyo
invited a huge influx of foreign workers she had never experienced before. The registered number of foreign
residents reached 327,000 (as of October 1, 2001) and represented 2.5% of the
total population that seems less than those of the city in developed
countries, but 1.3 times more than the total
figure 10 years earlier.
(3) Cyber
city: Artificial City
We are
losing the opportunity to contact directly with nature in our daily life. Every space in Tokyo becomes to be
artificially controlled by computer. Aluminum
sashes which can airproof the space tightly had been prevailed 100% all over
Japan in the 60s, which means all dwelling units are now air-conditioned. So
called intelligent office buildings became in fashion in 80s. Domed stadium
where indoor climate is freely controlled completely and football game can be
played even in storm might be the model of the future city.
(4) Virtual
City: Temporary City
Paradigm seems to be shifted again from a huge city to compact city,
from flow to
stock, from newly build to maintenance………..
However, scrap and build process is still going on in Tokyo which is
losing the historical memory of the city. We are living in the image of the
city, denying the reality, or in virtual reality. Tokyo is l a temporary metropolis like a huge
site for international exposition.
(5) The
Death of City: The City Completed
The city
might be completed at the critical point it will be saturated. But does it mean
a death of the city if it will lose the frontier? The real city is limited
physically and cannot be expanded infinitely. The global environmental issues
teach us we need the maintenance system of the urban space based on the natural
ecology.
The system
of production and consumption of spaces are economically controlled by investment
technology. If we have one possibility
to shift the mechanism of producing spaces, the system will be based on
eco-system in the region.
2 The Tokyo Plan 2000
New governor of Tokyo Metropolitan
Municipality, S. Ishihara, a famous novelist, the
former congressman and
opinion leader, is now launching new policies some of
which resist the orientation of central government, with powerful leadership.
He set 16 policy goals, the first of
which is “Create
an Urban City that Facilitates a Balance of Job and Residence” which is consisted of two strategies:‘Promotion of
inner city residence’ and ‘Fundamentally
reform the Metropolitan housing system’. The former strategy includes bringing
workplaces and residential areas closer together in the Tama (suburban) area. In short, it is insisted
that residence and work place should be near.
The second goal related to
urban planning is “Improve
Tokyo's Convenience as a City with the Smooth Interaction of People, Goods, and
Information” which is consisted of several strategies: ‘Resolve
chronic traffic congestion early’, Aim for the improvement of
public transportation services and collective development, ‘Create an efficient inter-city distribution
system’ and so on.
Two goals above are expectant treatments
needed from the beginning. The third goal “Create
a Hometown with Abundant Nature and Culture” is also old-fashioned slogan, but one of the strategies ‘Create the "face" of Tokyo’ backed by its history, culture, and
geographical features seems a
new flavour. The strategies include (1) Improvement of the
"face"・Shore protection improvement ・Restoration of the Tokyo JR
Station and revitalization of gardens that are cultural assets ・Underground electric
cables and road landscaping, (2) Utilization of the "face" ・ the establishment of facilities such as open terrace cafes at the
water's edge or on wide pedestrian paths ・Guides that are easy to understand
for pedestrians, (3) Communicating the "face"・"Tokyo Location Box
(tentative)". All are the strategies of the community design level.
Following goals are not directly related to urban design and physical planning.
Goal 4:Nurture Unique and Talented Human Resources
Goal 6: Promote
Management Innovation in Enterprises, New Businesses, and Startups to
Revitalize Industry
Goal7 “Decrease
the Level of Danger in the Area and Create a Safe City” i.e. ‘Create an earthquake-resistant city structure’ is common goal of local government after Great
Hanshin Earthquake. Local government are
expanding designated areas for fire prevention by
introducing a new fireproof districts system. Suggest and call for the national government
to establish a new fireproof districts system that takes into consideration the
characteristics of areas with closely packed wooden houses and designate new
fireproof districts that are especially important in terms of fire prevention. In areas especially
vulnerable to the spread of the fire, evacuation routes (mini fire containment
zones) will be formed while preventing fire from spreading
when an earthquake occurs.
Goal 8 “Improve
the Urban Environment and Protect the Health of Citizens” through ‘Take thorough measures with respect to
diesel-powered vehicles’ and ‘ Promote detoxification of PCBs’ is one
of the most sensational strategy citizens pay attention to.
Goal 9 “Decrease
Environmental Load and Create a Sustainable Society” is new
goal in the age of Global Environmental Issues.
To
introduce new energy sources for a decreased environmental load, to alleviate the heat island
phenomenon and to establish an adequate disposal system for
industrial waste are thought to be needed but the visual image of the
city are not drawn yet.
Gaols 10-14
below are related to social infrastructure and networks.
Goal 10 ” Promote
the Longevity of Social Infrastructure and Keep City Functions”
Goal 11 “Promote
Care Ability of Community and Create a Society That Supports Independent Living”
Goal 12 “Create
a Society Where Children Can Grow up in a Healthy Environment”
Goal 13 “Create
a Society Where Those Who Are Willing to Work Can Have Jobs”
Goal 14 “Provide Citizens with Appropriate Information
so that They Can Take Proper Actions”
Lastly, “The Tokyo Plan 2000” declared two goals.
Goal 16 “Create
an Appealing Tokyo and Become a Peerless International City”
3
Lessons from Great Hanshin Earthquake
In the early
morning on January 17, 1995, we had experienced the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The building collapsed killed over 6,000 people, flying objects (furnitures)
and the fires. About 300,000 people have lost their houses and were compelled
to live in the temporary shelters until the end of August 1995 when the
emergency houses were barely completed. Just after the Great Hanshin
Earthquake, I walked through the area damaged 30 km from east and west several
times. What I saw was the death of the city
or the dying city. I had never known it could happen that the city dies.
And at the
same time I saw the scene that the city is going to be rebirth. I knew the
importance of unity, autonomy and solidarity of urban community. The Great Hanshin Earthquake taught us many
things in terms of urban planning and urban communities.
(a) The Power
of Nature
Those who
live in the metropolis in the developed countries tend to believe we can
completely control the nature. But we understand that is not correct when we
have disasters, i.e., floods, typhoon and earthquake. We are likely to forget
the fears of the nature. As the speed of urbanization grows faster, the ・waste land and swampy land that was formally unsuitable for human
living have been being developed.
Cutting the hills and reclaiming the sea was thought to be killing two birds
with one stone. Nevertheless, we never forget the power of the nature.
It is very
important to survey the sites carefully and assess the environment in detail
when we construct the new towns.
On the
other hand, we can reconfirm the splendid power of the nature. I'd seen the
trees in front of houses that protected them from fire. It is also very
important to use the potentialities of the land and the natural surroundings.
(b) The
Limitations of Urban Development Strategies
Those who
were damaged the most severely this time are the weak of the societies living
in the inner city, the handicapped, the urban poor, the foreigners and so on.
The fact reveals the results and evidences that the local governments had not
improved inner areas that had needed environmental improvement programs. They
had given priorities over the developments of the new town like promoters and
developers, because it is more effective to develop the city from the
economical viewpoints. As a result, they had ignored and putted off the urban
renewal projects. The Great Hanshin Earthquake reveals the limits of urban
growth ・development
strategies.
(c) The
Weakness of the Networks of Urban Infrastructures
The faults
of systems of infrastructures are also recognized. All the railroad lines and
trunk roads run from east to west and those from north to south are very few
because of the conditions of topography.
The
systems of water, electricity and gas supply services, had the same faults.
There are no alternatives and double systems. We need multi-pole network
systems in place of one-pole centered systems.
(d) The
Scarcity of Public spaces
The most
useful facilities to recover the urban communities are public (elementary and
secondary) schools for shelter and convenience stores for food supply.
Neighborhood facilities are very important in case of emergency as well as in
daily life. It was very serious that hospitals, offices of local government, ・fire station and police station were destroyed. We knew that the
We should build public facilities based on the high
standards.
The
scarcity of urban public spaces (parks, playgrounds, sport fields) was fatal
because we had even no spaces to build emergency houses after disasters.
(e) The
Importance of the Autonomy of Urban Settlements
The
situations that people only had been seeing their houses being burned and
hearing the call for help without anything to do because of no means were
miserable. We need water, foods and other daily necessaries in the neighborhood
units. We had buried the well and covered the river for convenience, so there
was no water around us to put out the fire.
The urban settlements should be self-supported. The autonomy of urban
community is so important to help each other.
(f) The Possibilities
of Volunteers in Urban Planning
The
volunteers worked hard and well to recover the damage. Japan had no volunteer
system, but volunteers gathered spontaneously. We recognize Non-Profit
Organization has to be organized as a network system to help the daily life as
well as emergent situation.
The
reconstruction programs after Great Hanshin Earthquake do not necessarily go
well because of many reasons. Community architecture has not roots in Japanese
society yet. People's participation and bottom up process are inevitable in
urban development, especially in urban renewal.
Conclusion
Nobody control a global city like Tokyo.
Nobody knows who are pressing the urban changes of Tokyo. Something invisible
which we might say World Capitalist System in a word, guides the directions of
transformation of Japanese capital.
However we can try to list up
several directors who have keys to influence the directions of the urban
changes of Tokyo. Governors should be basically responsible for the future of
the city. Strong leadership of governor
even in case of Mega city like Tokyo is needed for realizing the idea though a
giant bureaucratic system regulate the decision making process. The brains of governor including so-called
people of experience also have the possibility to be the directors. We have moreover various actors as directors
such urban planners; architects; road-builders; city
administrators; real estate developers; financiers; non-governmental
organizations; scholars; and visual, performing and literary artists.
Construction industry including real
estate agents had strong influence in making decision of urban projects because
it produced over 20% of GDP in the period of bubble economy. But the situation
is now drastically changing the basic structure is still preserved in
countryside. The tertiary industries
leaded by information technology industry are going to have the power to policymaking
and over 70% of population belongs to the tertiary sector. Governor cannot neglect the citizen’s
initiative in terms of urban planning.
I will list the directors or systems
to influence the urban changes in Japan in the following. We find no profession
is responsible for visualizing the future plan of the city. I myself think the
talent of “architect” to draw the spatial system is still needed in any levels
of urban planning and design.
(a)
Market
Economic power still seems to be a
driving force to change the urban form. But nobody is responsible for the
results. Many new office buildings flats are now under construction in the
areas on waterfront despite a long recession. The number of high-rise flats
newly constructed in 2002 is said to be unprecedented.
The rumor of “2003 problems” that
many companies will move from the inner city to the waterfront and many old
office buildings will be left unoccupied is now spreading. And several
companies specialized in conversion of old office buildings to dwelling units
were established and are watching for business chances. The production of urban
spaces is basically influenced by the speculative activities of real estate
agents and investors.
(b) Housing
Industry
The production of dwelling units is
closely related to business fluctuations. 1.9 million units were built in 1973
but the number of units newly built decreased drastically to 1.15 million in
1974 because of oil crisis. In the period of bubble economy, the number rose up
to 1.7 million, now down to 1.1 million. This kind of mechanism dominates
cityscapes. Central government, therefore, control the number of dwelling units
newly constructed every year by reforming a taxation system, for example,
reducing of inheritance tax, acquisition tax and transfer tax.
(c) Subsidy
The central government has great power
to give a subsidy to the local government for implementing the urban
projects. The planning system in Japan
is based on top down system where the bureaucrats have the right to make
decisions. All local governments, which have only 30% rights of
self-governance, should get the budget from central government in carrying any
project.
Decentralization and restructuring are
urgent tasks we should realize in every field of policy making.
(d) Zoning: Building regulations
Legislation is almost only issue to be
discussed in terms of urban planning, especially zoning with height and volume
regulation is a cue to control building activities. Central government has
established the special board called “Urban Rebirth” and decided to deregulate
building code and urban planning law to stimulate the building activities.
Local government can now rezone the areas and decide the special district for
restructuring. However, local governments, which are suffering from financial
pressure, have no margin to propose the new projects.
(e) Governor or Mayor
Some of governors of 47 prefectures including Tokyo seem to be getting
the voice and the initiative to central government.
Governors and mayors should get the more rights and freedom to manage
and plan the city. The main roles of mayors for these years are to get
subsidies for constructing public buildings to distribute the money to building
and real estate industry, in place of getting votes at the time of election.
Now time is changing to self governance mayors have more leaderships.
(f)
Municipal Ordinance
Building
regulations are the same all over Japan although the requirements for buildings
differ region by region. Central
government in Japan does not want to admit the double standard within one
country. Local governments only legislate municipal ordinances under the
national laws. We need here again the powerful leadership and will of mayor to
implement the unique idea.
(g) Citizens: Participation
Citizen’s participation is basically needed in practice. A formal
procedure is prepared for people participation, but does not function
effectively. It seems that people does not like to participate in the process
of urban planning if it does not relate himself.
Supplementary discussion:
The Roles and
Tasks of Town Architects in Japan
In 2000, I published a book entitled "The Naked Architect: An Introduction
to Town Architect System in Japan”, in which I discuss the roles and tasks of
new profession in Japan called "Town Architect" or "Community
Architect".
The institution of "Town Architect" as it exists in Europe
varies widely from region to region, according to local governments. I am not
suggesting that current Western systems should be introduced directly into
Japan. The starting point here is how to deal with the issues faced by Japanese
architects. I developed the idea of system of "Town Architect" based
on my observations of the realities in which Japanese architects and planners
are working. My conclusion is that we need a new profession to act as a
coordinator, mediator and facilitator between local governments and local
communities. I am tentatively proposing to call this new profession "Town
Architect".
Part of the background from which I have developed the system of
"Town Architect" is the impact of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, from
which we may learn many lessons regarding urban planning and community development.
The Great Hanshin Earthquake demonstrated the fatal consequences of the lack of
public participation in urban planning processes in Japan.
There is another important reason for Japanese architects to
approach and advocate the local community. We are currently witnessing a change
from an age of "scrap and build" to an age of "maintenance of
stock". Japanese architects cannot survive if they enlarge their sphere of
work.
１．What is 'Town Architect'?
'Town Architect' here is defined simply
as a professional architect who is constantly engaged in town planning.
Although local government should take primary responsibility for town planning,
it is highly doubtful whether it can play an important role, due to the absence
of a framework for implementation of projects based on the real needs of the community*2.
It remains true that local government lacks autonomy in terms of urban
planning, though the situation has been changing since the unified
decentralization laws were enacted in April 2000.
The concept of 'Town Architect' is not new, and such work is being
done by many planners and architects in Japan. However, the 'Town Architect' must
have a real relevance for the needs of local communities, although he or she
should not necessary live in the area. It is a fundamental rule that the 'Town
Architect' must be constantly involved in the major issues of the community
development.
The architect is basically an advocate for the client, and at the
same time acts as a third party to coordinate the relationship between building
contractor and client. The reason an architect is considered to be a
professional, similar to a doctor or lawyer, is that the job is intimately
involved with life and property. The 'Town Architect' is an advocate for local community,
but does not only defend the benefits of local community, also acting to
coordinate the interests of both local governments and local communities.
The basic definition of 'Town Architect' is as follows:
A 'Town Architect' establishes the organization and proposes
meetings that promote community development. 'Town Architect' is an organizer, agitator,
coordinator and advocate for town planning.
B 'Town
Architect' is involved with the entire field of town planning, and need not be
a licensed architect in Japan. The chief of local government (mayor) could also
be called a 'Town Architect'
C 'Town
Architect' is here referred to mainly in terms of physical planning, i.e. the
form of towns and their spatial arrangement. However, we cannot separate the
"software" from the "hardware". Management and maintenance
of spaces is much more important than new construction. Nevertheless, we cannot
neglect the quality of community development and characteristics of a town
expressed as "townscape". 'Town Architect' is responsible for the
form of towns and townscapes.
D Anybody who
designs their own house can be a 'Town Architect' and architect. An architect
is any person related to the built environment. I believe a trained architect
has the ability to turn concepts into physical forms, and therefore should act
as a 'Town Architect'.
２．Why 'Town Architect'?
There
is a further reason why architects should take the role of 'Town Architect' and
become involved with urban planning. Western architects undertake urban
planning as a matter of course, but cases where architects have taken part in
urban planning are very rare in Japan. The architect is generally considered to
be a kind of carpenter or developer. Times have changed; the age of 'scrap and
build' has disappeared with the bursting of the bubble economy. The 21st
Century is said to be an age of 'stock'. We are already recognizing the limits
of the globe in terms of energy crises, resource and food shortages, and
environmental problems. It is obvious that we cannot continue to demolish
buildings so easily. We must utilize existing buildings and our architectural
heritage as much as possible.
Here
we draw upon statistical data to outline the situation architects are facing in
contemporary Japan. The proportion of GDP invested in the construction industry
in Japan reached 20% immediately after World War II; it was 14.8% in 1997, and
continues to decrease. The central field of industry in Japan has shifted from
agriculture to construction, but further alteration of the industrial structure
is inevitable. Current Japanese government policy is intended to reduce the
quantity of public works, in order to help the Japanese economy by cutting down
expenses and creating new industries through the introduction of IT
(Information Technology). The quantity of investment in the construction
industry in the USA was 74.2 trillion (billion) in 1997, which is approximately
the same as Japan (74.6 billion), although as a proportion of GDP it is only 7.6%.
In the case of European countries, the proportion is even less: 4.3%(B in
Britain and 4.5% in France.
It
seems highly likely that Japan will follow the pattern of Western countries in
terms of building preservation, even though the main construction material in
Japan (timber) is different from that of Europe (stone). If investment in the
building industry decreases to the same level as the USA, it is not unlikely
that the number of architects in Japan will be reduced to half in the near
future, or even to one third, similar to Britain or France. "To be, or not
to be" is the real question for Japanese architects.
It
is obvious Japanese architects must change their roles and the tasks from those
in 20th Century. Two new fields are extending before us: one is the maintenance
of the existing building stock, and the other is that of town planning, both of
which are based on the same background factors. The age of "scrap and
build" architects, designing only new buildings, is over. Architects will
be required to establish direct relations with the local community from the
very beginning of a project, and to be responsible for the maintenance of a
facility after completion. In any case, the architects' reason for being will
be based on their relationship with the local community, so architects should become
"Town Architects".
３．Japanese 'Town Architect'
In "Introduction", I listed the archetypal images of
"Town Architect". These are superintendent of building permission
(verification), design coordinator, commissioner system, master architect, inspector
etc. Here, I will again classify the images of Town Architect into several
levels according to their required roles and tasks.
A Qualified Architect
Japan currently has about 300,000 1st class architects, 600,000 2nd
class architects and 13,000 architects specializing in wooden construction, who
are legally qualified. There are 130,000 architecture firms in Japan, most of
which are small local offices deputizing the procedure of building checks by
local government in place of the client. In addition to architecture practices
specialized in design, there are also design-build organizations such as
general contractors with design departments. I intend to omit this latter group
in order to establish a simple base for the formulation of the System of Town Architect.
Estimating a total of 150,000 teams and 1 million licensed architects, the
primary question becomes: how do they get commissions? The point is, what roles
are to be allotted to local architects? Local architects who are commissioned
by local clients should take part in community activity and community planning.
The carpenters and various craftsmen in pre-modern society had very close
relationships to the local community, not only through repairing houses and
working in gardens, but also as consultants to the local community. Professions
such as the former local carpenters should be reinvigorated, and considered to
be Town Architects.
B Network with Local Craftsmen
Town Architect needs to cooperate with local craftsmen and builders to maintain
the local built environment by repairing and reconstructing houses. Interesting
concepts of professions such as House Doctor or Local Housing Studio have
already been proposed. Kyo-Machiya Sakuzigumi (Group for Maintenance of
Kyoto Town Houses), for example, went into action in1999.
C Superintendent of Building Permission
There are approximately 2, 000 superintendents in local governments all over
Japan, responsible for checking the drawings and documents of every building,
based on the Building Standard Act. As Japan has nearly 3,6000 cities, towns
and villages, not every local government has the necessary superintendent. I
base the idea of Town Architect on the existence of superintendents in each
local government. Superintendents of building permission may be seen as a
prototype for the Town Architect. Although superintendents of building
permission only control building activity, the Town Architect coordinates a
desirable townscape. Every local government should have at least one Town
Architect who is responsible for the local townscape and contributes to its
upgrading. We need at least outstanding 3,600 Town Architects in Japan. The
current 2,000 superintendents may have a detailed knowledge of building code,
but they are not specialized in design and therefore need the help of local
architects suitable to be considered a Town Architect.
D Commissioner System
We have several types of System of Town Architect. A Town Architect
has the most rights if he or she is mayor or vice-mayor, and is responsible for
all building activity. The system in which a committee consisting of several
architects responsible for townscape is generally called a "Commissioner
System". Japan has several examples of the commissioner system, including 'Kumamoto
Art polis', Creative Town Okayama and Toyama Project Creating Faces of Towns,
which are mainly organizations for selecting an architect to design a specific
public facility. Town Architect is rather similar to a town planning council,
building council and landscape council, of which the former two have a legal
basis. Unified decentralization acts were enacted in April 2000. The existing
council systems may be continued if they work effectively, otherwise a new system
should be formulated that will be called "System of Commissioner System.
E. Area Architect (Community Architect)"
One commissioner or one committee is usually insufficient to cover
the whole area supervised by a local government, so a substructure is necessary
for local communities. System of Town Architect needs area architects who will
serve the local community. It may be the case that local government or Town Architect
Committee send area architects to each community. There are already such
systems: various advisory systems, town planning conference system, sending
consultant system. The community may request work from their area architects.
４．The Tasks of 'Town Architect'
What are the tasks of Town Architect? In "Introduction", I
refer to various systems and methods that may be introduced, such as Town Watching,
Making of Town Plan after One Century, Open Hearing Selecting Town Architect
etc, most of which are related to the tasks of Town Architect. The most
important tasks are those which area architects can carry out as extension of
their daily work in the neighbourhood. The work of area architects is the basis
of Town Architect. If the commissioner system is introduced as a "System
of Town Architect", the commissioner's term of appointment should be
strictly decided, and his or her practical work as an architect should be prohibited
or limited during this term. Instead, the commissioner must be given wide
powers and guarantees for his or her works and status. It is crucial that local
governments initiate or support the Area
Architect System. Area architects give advice to citizens who are planning
to design their own house, and make proposals to the local government based on
surveys of the area. We already have various systems, known as Landscape
Advisor System or "Landscape Monitor System". The adjustment of
various ownership relations is an important task for the Town Architect in the
process of implementation. A town architect who has basic design ability and
has been trained in architectural practice should also study law and economics.
In some cases, Town Architect plays the role of coordinator between inhabitants
and developers.
It is of no use to discuss such systems only in the abstract. We
require a variety of systems adjusted to local conditions and values rather
than a single standard system. Learning from concrete instances is far more important
than discussion, even if these are only small projects.
The principles are:
1. Start from the details of the familiar built environment.
2.
Continuous effort is
most important. Specific events for campaigning are necessary, but will have
little effect if done in isolation.
3.
Consensus amongst the
local community is necessary to maintain the system.
4.
Participation.
5.
Disclosure is the
principal with which to forge agreement in the neighbourhood
community.
Designing common space
in the neighbourhood unit is the first step of the System of Town Architect. How to
solve and manage the physical relationship of neighbouring houses
is essential even in the case of designing an individual house. To establish a
common rule for two adjacent houses and to create an intermediate domain
between public and private space is the starting point of town planning[12].
[1] I. Wallerstein visited Kyoto to give us lecture titled ‘Geopolitical
Cleavage of 21st Century: What Future for the World?’ in which he
reviewed the constellation of world system for the last 3 decades in 20
century.
[2] Roman Cybriwsky: “Tokyo: The Shogun’s
City at the Twenty-First Century”, John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
[3] P.P. Karan and Kristin Stapleton (ed.
1997) [3],
“The Japanese City”, The University Press of Kentucky, 1997. Roman Cybriwsky: “From
Castle Town to Manhattan Town with Suburbs: A Geographical Account of Tokyo’s
Changing Landmarks and Symbolic Landscapes”.
Kohei Okamoto:”Suburbanization of Tokyo and the Daily Lives of Suburban
People”. William Burton:”The Image of Tokyo in Soseki's Fiction”
[4] Jinnai Hidenobu: “Tokyo a spatial
anthropology”, translated by Kimiko Nishimura, University of California Press,
1995.
[5] Sakia Sassen: “The Global City New York, London, Tokyo”, Prinston
University Press, 1991.
[6] Archaeological evidence indicates that human settlement in the Kanto Plain
dates far back into prehistory.
[7] Grant K. Goodman: “Japan
and the Dutch 1600-1853”, Curzon, 2000
[8] Y. Ishida picked up 9 projects,
which were not implemented in his book under the title “The Unaccomplished Tokyo Projects”,
Tikumashobou, Tokyo, 1992. Here I
address the other projects in this chapter.
[9] J. Condor from England is respected as a father of Japanese modern
architects. He taught the first
generation of students at Kobudaigakko (Institute Technology) and designed a
considerable number of buildings.
[10] As for the Japanese urban planning in Meizi era (1868-1911), T.Fujimori: “Meizi
no Tokyo Keikaku”, Iwanamishoten, 1982
[11] It reduced some 60% of Tokyo to ashes. 104,619 people, most of which had
lived in the densely built up area, died or were missing as a result of this
disaster.
[12] Kyoto Community Design League
(Kyoto CDL): We decided to initiate a social experiment called Kyoto Community
Design League (Kyoto CDL) as a kind of simulation of the Japanese System of Town
Architect. The inaugural meeting of the Kyoto CDL was held on 27th April 2001. A
network of studios or laboratories of universities and colleges located in the
Kyoto Municipal Area, form the matrix of the League. Currently, about 25
professors from 10 universities have expressed their will to participate and
declared themselves in favor of the idea of the League. Several studios from
the Kyoto University School of Architecture, including those leaded by Dr. S.
Furusaka, Dr. M. Takada, Dr. T. Yamagishi and Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama, are
participating in the League, and the editorial board is promoting the
activities of the League.
Each
studio takes charge of their allotted area(s), and carries out a kind of annual
field survey, with a minimum observation period of one day, in order to make
records of the area using common formats (photographs, maps, video films). The
League holds general meetings twice a year, wherein each team reports the
status of the area and proposes possible prescriptions. All areas are expected
to be taken care of by every studio. Documents open to the public will be kept
in the headquarters of the League. If some studios manage to establish a close relationship
with the community in their area, they might be requested to implement a real
project. The reason why I propose the university studio as the basic
organizational unit is that they have staying power and a level of
responsibility and obligation to the local community.
The
organization of Kyoto CDL resembles that of Major League Baseball. A
commissioner with a secretariat manages the headquarters of the League, holding
general meetings and allocating the areas. 1. Participating Teams: The League
is basically open to any group (architecture offices, consultant, etc)). Its
matrix is a network of university studios and educational institutes, because
we can expect lasting participation. The only membership requirement is
successive participation. 2. Constitution of Team: Each team is headed by a
manager (teacher) and consisted of coach (secretary representative of students)
and players (students, community designers). 3. The work of Participating Teams:
A. Field Surveys (Area Watching): Making records of the area using the GIS
system. B. Making Karte (prescriptions)
of the area and proposals to the Local Community C. Participation in General
Meetings D. Implementation 4. Steering Committee: The steering committee
consists of coaches (students) leading the following tasks: A General
Meetings B Coordination of Teams C General Communication 5. Kyoto
Community Design League (Kyoto CDL) committee: The Kyoto CDL committee consists
of the managers of the teams and is headed by a commissioner with a
secretariat. A Registration of Teams B Allotment of Areas C
Holding of General Meetings, Symposiums D Keeping of Records E Action
Plan F Networking with Other Organizations
This idea of a
community design league based on regional inter-university cooperation is
easily implemented. The process and results of Kyoto CDL will be reported again
in the near future.
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