Overview of Tokyo’s urban design

This blog is a companion to thetokyofiles.com, my primary site. Here I will document the current state and history of Tokyo’s urban design elements. I like to think of this as a “Tokyo urban planning museum”. Lofty goals, I know.

A working list of interesting and/or important features of Tokyo’s urban design, urban planning, and development:

Geographic features

Rivers and streams (see: the tokyo files: rivers 東京の川)
Reclaimed land (e.g. Odaiba)
(9) Slopes (zaka) 坂
Imperial palace
Notable bridges (Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Gate Bridge; Ryōgoku Bridge)
High city, low city (yamanote / shitamachi)

Natural disasters and prevention

Earthquakes (1923 Great Kanto Earthquake)
Earthquakes: cross-braces on buildings / seismic retrofit 耐震補強
Fire: (23) Street fire extinguishers;
Flood control (see: Tokyo’s water infrastructure)
Flood control: (27) River embankments and floodplains 堤防と氾濫原
(26) Disaster Prevention Parks 防災公園 (bosai koen)

Elements of street design

Rivers and streams
Canal system (including funabansho 船番所)
Bridges and intersections as building-block
Narrow alleyways between houses
(25) Traffic calming in Tokyo 交通静穏化
(11) Narrow streets
「碁盤の目」 “Eyes of a Go board” street layout (referenced)
Wide streets (e.g. new districts like Odaiba; Meiji Dori in Shinjuku)

Trains and subways (and “Transit-oriented development” TOD)

Multiple “city centers” (e.g. Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Yurakucho)
Yamanote loop
Ubiquity of transit (point to a map at random…)
Rental prices – impact of proximity to stations
Station bars and restaurants
Department stores (e.g. Isetan, Mitsukoshi)
Underground shopping centers at stations (see: article)
Malls at train stations / ekinaka 駅ナカ / role of train companies in development (e.g Atre malls)
(8) Train crossings 踏切 (fumikiri)
(22) Coin lockers
See: Tokyo Station City: The railway station as urban place
See: Culture and commerce thrive under Japan’s elevated train tracks
See: Life under the tracks: Tokyo’s newfound fascination with eateries, bars and artsy spaces under elevated railway tracks is paying off big time

Trains and subways: History

Privatization
Electric rail
Toden electric streetcar era
Train station names
Tunnels
Former trains: impact on urban design; Example (14)
See: Map of Tokyo-area private railways

Bicycle infrastructure

Bicycle parking 駐輪場

Embellishments and street life

(13) Street gardening 路上園芸 (potted plants, etc.)
Bottles of water (to keep cats away) 猫よけ / ペッ景 (example)(example 2) (example 3)
(6) Provisional spaces
Community bulletin boards 町内会用屋外掲示板
Sento, public bathhouses (Twitter)
(21) Public toilets / bathrooms in parks
Safety workers at construction sites
Cute traffic cones (see: The New York Times)
Fixes and improvisations (“Fixes“)
(15) Outdoor closets
5pm chime
Trash collecting truck / Yakiimo man 焼き芋（やきいも）

Retail commerce

(30) Shotengai shopping streets 商店街 (全国商店街支援センター Japan Shopping District Support Center)
(30) Shotengai entrance signs / “glory arches” 栄光のアーチ
Shotengai street lamps / lamps that look like jewels 宝石になった街路灯
Covered shopping streets
The Ginza
Convenience stores コンビニ (conbini) (map)
Vertical retail & restaurants / mixed-residence building 雑居ビル
Tiny restaurants
Restaurant chains
Vending machines
Store shutters

Pleasure and sin

Asakusa (historical entertainment district)
(17) Yoshiwara pleasure district (red light district / Soaplands)
Snack bars, Hostess clubs, etc.
Love hotels
Pachinko, Karaoke
(20) Smoking areas 喫煙所

Tokyo Architectural Forms

See separate section: Japanese architecture
木密 [モクミツ] / mokumitsu = short for 「木造住宅密集地域」 “Wooden dense residential area”
Signboard architecture (kanban kenchiku)
Apaato and mansions
Earthquake design
(2) Narrow houses due to neighboring rivers
Lifespan of houses / buildings (source 1, source 2)

Tokyo Urban Planning History

Edo era
Samurai estates
Tokaido and the stages and gates
Low city / high city
Farmland clustered around rivers
Meiji-era Land Tax Reform 地租改正 chisokaisei (1873) (Tweet)
Earthquake of 1923
Tokyo’s streetcar era (entry 1)(photos)
Japanese military sites (Okubo rifle shooting range 大久保小銃射撃場)
Allied occupation and land reform
Post-war black markets (link)
Elevated highways
Tokyo Olympics 1964 (source 1)
Metabolism
Minoru ]Mori 森稔 and mega-projects
Tokyo Olympics 2020

Reclaimed land and conservation areas

Odaiba
Koto-ku / city of canals
Haneda Airport
Reclaimed rice paddies 田んぼ (tanbo) たんぼ (e.g. Ota-ku)
Conservation areas (e.g. 水谷田んぼ Mizutani tanbo in Saitama)
Satoyama 里山: woodlands / cultivated lower slopes (Wikipedia)
“Urban countryside” 「都会の田舎」 `Tokai no inaka’

Narrow building next to a former river in Oimachi, Tokyo.

Rivers, streams, and canals

Canals of Edo Tokyo
- Ginza, etc: Canals of the Ginza: floating through time on Tokyo’s central waterways 東京江戸「水の都」
- Outer Moat Loop Road 東京都道405号外濠環状線
Irrigation, culverts 暗渠 (ankyo) and 公共溝 (“culvertization” 暗渠化)
Public drainage ditches; open drainage systems; railings along roads
Former / covered rivers and streams (see: Walking on water: the underground rivers of Tokyo)
“Green roads” (see post: Walking on water: the underground rivers of Tokyo)
Points of interest at confluence of former streams (e.g. Shibuya Station)
“River roads” (former rivers and the houses that were shaped by them)
Housing patterns
Concrete lining of rivers / river widening
Flood gates / Flood storage facilities
(27) River embankments and floodplains 堤防と氾濫原

Planned Communities (and Housing projects)

Garden cities: (4) Denenchofu, Seijo, (16) Tokiwadai
Streetcar suburbs
Danchi 団地
Company housing / company-owned housing 社宅 = しゃたく = shataku
Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba bedroom communities / New Towns
Edge urban centers: e.g. Musashi-Kosugi, Kawaguchi
Suburbs as part of urban fabric (not clean divide like American cities)
Depictions in film (e.g. Good Morning) (See: Danchi in film 映画における団地, Part I: 1958-1980)

Old aerial photo of the Denenchofu neighborhood in Tokyo.

Parks and sports

(12) Tokyo parks and cemeteries
(24) Micro-parks
(28) Future Tokyo: the new Miyashita Park, Shibuya 宮下公園
Park and playground designs
Tokyo Green Belt Initiative 東京グリーンベルト構想
Park as communal living room (e.g. french horn player)
Golf driving ranges
Running (e.g. Imperial Palace)
Rules regarding ball sports

Temples, and shrines

Temple land ownership
Temples and shrines on high land (Chiba area, e.g.)

Pedestrian culture

Sanpo (strolling / walking)
(11) Walking in the middle of narrow streets
Waiting for cross-walks / fumikiri
Pedestrian overpasses (Tweet)
(22) Coin lockers

Cultural values and behaviors

Child safety: children walking to school by themselves (see: Why Are Little Kids in Japan So Independent?)
Child independence (see: Putting the wheels on my first errand: はじめてのおつかい Hajimete no otsukai)
Free play and adventure parks
No eating in public / on trains

Demographics

Street design for elderly (PDF)
Safety measures for children (example)
Relationship between ‘Salaryman’ lifestyle and urban design

Cars and roads

Taxis
Car parking
Tolls
Parking lot and driveway “tube slopes” 鉄管スロープ (Twitter)

Mega projects

Land buying process
Hillside Terrace (Daikanyama)
Sunshine City サンシャインシティ
Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi)
Roppongi hills (What Would Jane Jacobs Think If She Saw the Process of Building Roppongi Hills?)
Sky Tree
Toranomon hills and MacArthur highway
(18) Saitama Super Arena and Keyaki Hiroba Plaza けやきひろばプラザ
Shinjuku Eastside Square 新宿イーストサイドスクエア

Theory and imaginative plans

Metabolism (A Plan for Tokyo, 1960)

Industry

Fishing
Factories & light industry (Kawasaki, Kawaguchi, Koto-ku, etc.)
Factory train lines
Energy (nuclear, etc.)

Government and law

Administrative units (23 wards / ku, etc.) (See: A brief history of Old Tokyo)
Which governments have jurisdiction?
(1) Sunshine rights 日照権
Zoning laws / Land taxation
Land ownership / inheritance/ abandoned land / vacant lots / redevelopment
(7) Daishindo 大深度地下 (deep underground) land-use law
(3) Koban police boxes / the social function of police
(5) Gated communities
Act on Countermeasures against Water Damage in Specific Cities 特定都市河川浸水被害対策法
Manual concerning installation and management of spill control facilities installed along with housing development 宅地開発に伴い設置される流出抑制施設の設置及び管理に関するマニュアル

Neighborhood typologies

Tokyo station / Ginza
Mixed-use neighborhoods
Residential city with at-grade train crossings (e.g. Ikegami line)
Danchi 団地 & housing complexes
郊外住宅地 = suburban residential area
Large blocks with new apartments / buildings (e.g. Tenno isle; Odaiba)
Garden cities and upscale suburbs (Denenchofu, Seijo, Tokiwadai; “luxury villas” 高級別荘 at Sakura-shinmachi)
Western suburbs

Tokyo Sprawl

Train network
Contribution of housing complexes to sprawl
Narita Airport (protests: Farmers’ League Against Narita Airport)
Commuter culture: as seen in film (e.g. “Wisdom on the Hill”)
Number of commuters and where they come from

Tokyo Urban Planning Controversies

Gentrification / ‘high-rise gentrification’ (Twitter)
Sprawl and crowded subways
Narita airport (see above)

Map of topics discussed in this blog:

Glossary:

都市デザイン = urban design (toshi dezain)
都市環境デザイン Urban environmental design
環境デザイン Environmental design
東京一極集中 = Tokyo centralization / Tokyo over-concentration
都市化 = urbanization
街づくり = town planning, urban development, community development
アーバンデザイン = urban design
アーバンデザイナー = urban designer
都市設計
都市整備 = urban development / urban improvement

the tokyo files: urban design 東京の都市デザイン

Tokyo's urban design, urban planning, and how it got that way