“Tokyo Review 011” Toranomon area-3
“MacArthur Road” and the system for duplex use of road space
Toranomon Hills is one of the three buildings constructed by means of the “Loop Road No.2 Shimbashi – Toranomon District Category-2 Urban Redevelopment Project.” The Tokyo Metropolitan Construction Bureau implemented this project. Mori Building Co., Ltd. is a partner of the project substituting the Tokyo Metropolitan Construction Bureau, who had ordered and supervised the design and construction of the Toranomon Hills. Mori Building Co., Ltd had acquired the building and now manages it.
At the same time as the Toranomon Hills opened in June 2014, the tunnel between Shimbashi – Toranomon which is a portion of the “Loop Road No.2” and the “Shin-Tora Dori Avenue” on the ground level opened to the public. Actually, the initial motivation for implementing this redevelopment project was the desire of the Tokyo metropolitan officers who wanted to open this section of the “Loop Road No.2”.
Among this loop road, the 1.4 kilometers section with a width of 100meters between Shimbashi and Toranomon is said to be a part of the city’s road network plan based on the GHQ guidance in 1949 shortly after the war. It was called the “MacArthur road” among the people.
However, there are objections to this episode. According to this theory, it is said that this road originally was proposed by Count Goto Shimpei and his partners in the “Imperial reconstruction plan” formulated in 1924 after the Great Kanto Earthquake. It was once opposed from the Imperial Assembly, but later the Ministry of Domestic Affairs revived it and the space for this road had been gradually cleared out by the “building evacuation” during the Pacific War. The purpose was to secure empty zones that prevents the spread of fire caused by air raids. After the war, the road with 100m in width was reauthorized as the “Loop Road No.2” as the city planning. It is said that the GHQ led by MacArthur had nothing to do with the plan, but rather against it.
In any case, this road which was decided in the city planning in 1946, had been revised to become 40 meters in width in 1950. Since then, for over 60 years this project had no progress. The numbers of landowners have been tolerating the restriction of the building rights in the planning road area. Actually, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government could not carry out this project despite their willingness because of the high land price of this area. The price was high because it is close to Shimbashi Station and Nishi Shimbashi – Toranomon business district, which made it difficult to secure the budget necessary for the land acquisition.
Under such circumstances, in 1989, the system for duplex use of road space (the system that allows buildings to occupy the space over roads) had been created through the revision of some concerning laws. The basic principle of the road is that the space for a road is exclusive for the road throughout heaven and earth. This system enables the exception to define the “duplex use area” in the road area under certain conditions by the district planning. A building can be built regarding this “duplex use area” as the building site. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government thought that this new system would enable the implementation of the project by reducing the land acquisition costs.
In the next post, I would concretely explain how the plan of the buildings advanced.
