“Today’s topics on Cities in Japan 001”
Prologue
Toward the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the development of the social infrastructures in Tokyo are making steady progress. Especially large scale urban development projects in the city centers are accelerating. In particular areas such as Otemachi-Marunouchi-Yurakucho, Yaesu-Nihonbashi, Toranomon, and etc. which had been authorized as the “National Strategy Special Zone” or the “Asian Headquarter Zone”, have several projects proceeding to raise the international competency of Tokyo.
Tokyo’s cityscape is constantly changing. The view from the Rainbow Bridge towards the city center has drastically changed compared to the view 20 years ago, making us feel the “Change in the times.” But still, when we imagine how the cityscape of Tokyo will be in 2020, our heart cannot help from skipping a beat.
On the contrary, in “rural areas” where the national land is divided into “urban areas” and broad sense “rural areas” (non-urban areas including fishing village, mountain side etc.), there are serious problems such as abandonment of cultivation, depopulation due to the lack of successors and marginal settlements. Considering these macroscopically in comparison with other developed countries, the development of the urban and rural areas in Japan may be considered to not be in equilibrium.
In recent years, the term “Sustainable Development” has come to be heard frequently in our country. However we need to be aware to not use “Sustainable City” because the lives of urban residents cannot solely exist without being supported by the rural areas which supply foods, forest resources and mineral resources. The concept of “Sustainable development coexisting with rural areas” shall be the correct expression.
When we visit rural villages in Europe, we can feel “richness” even though there are no flashy entertainment nor state-of-the-art large shopping malls. A typical village has a city hall, a church and a market square in the town center. A small shopping area has a grocery store, a hardware store and a guest house with the function of being the only restaurant in the village. Even in these small villages, you can catch a glimpse of the rich lifestyles, in which people head down to resort areas towing a trailer full of camping equipment behind their car during the long summer vacation.
Based on a key note like this, I would like to look into “Today’s topics on Cities in Japan” (urban planning and urban redevelopment) from now on.
