Metropolitan Tokyo Needs a Grand Design based on Culture and Solidarity
TORIUMI Motoki / Associate Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University
October 31, 2013
Tokyo has been chosen to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games, leading some to advocate a total urban renovation of the capital region to coincide with the event. However, it would be impossible to get the relevant parties to agree to a blueprint for Tokyo's future within such a short time span, let alone implement it, and should not be attempted in the first place.
For an example of urban planning, let us look to France. Marseilles, which had been regarded as an absolute laggard among declining French cities, reemerged in 2013 as a European Capital of Culture. The resurgence was based on the Euroméditerranée Project, an urban design concept that envisions a hegemony of European cities facing the Mediterranean, which had its start in the early 1990s. Considering that a city such as Marseilles with an urban population of 1.5 million spent a quarter of a century planning its redevelopment, the idea of undertaking a major remodeling of metropolitan Tokyo with its 30 million population within a few years is simply unrealistic.
In that sense, the blame rests heavily on Japan's successive administrations; they should have drawn up a grand design for Tokyo with or without the Olympics. Meanwhile, irrespective of such public negligence, private enterprises have gone ahead with their own urban renovation projects to maximize their profit. While that may be sound economic activity, whether the resulting composition of their projects has created a metropolis that combines functionality, disaster prevention capacity and aesthetic value is open to question.
Take the Linear Shinkansen (maglev bullet train) as an example. The planned station of origin is set in Shinagawa, which lies outside the city center. However, in principle the starting station should be built in the deep underground of Tokyo Station, despite the expected difficulties involved in such construction work. It would be highly consistent with the network of Shinkansen lines, conventional railway lines and the planned connecting lines to Haneda and Narita airports, as well as with the development of the surrounding business district that has been ongoing since the Meiji era. In other words, the government should have coordinated with each relevant parties to maximize their combined interests.
Incidentally, if I were to cite one project that is imperative to complete by the time of the Olympics, it would be the plaza in front of the Marunouchi wing of the restored Tokyo Station. This is where ambassadors dispatched to Japan from foreign countries board a carriage on their way to the Imperial Palace to receive their agrément (formal approval). It would be a shame if the government didn’t immediately start work on upgrading what amounts to the "face" of the country. In any event, the government should formulate a redevelopment plan based on a vision for metropolitan Tokyo around 2030. Today there is a greater need than ever before for a comprehensive discussion on the ideal state of our capital region as it finds itself in the midst of globalization, including measures for addressing the side effects, such as the social divide created by globalization.
What then would be Tokyo's ideal Grand Design circa 2030? Details aside, I would like to suggest that the plan be based on the old yet new value of culture.
In the overall ranking of global cities compiled by the Mori Memorial Foundation, Tokyo is perennially left in the dust of London, New York and Paris, perched in its permanent place at fourth, and culture has been cited as its weak point. Tokyo has no facility that ranks alongside the British Museum or the Louvre, and its small and medium-sized cultural facilities lie dispersed in no apparent order. Let us place this in the context of the Linear Shinkansen. While the plan is to redevelop the area surrounding new Shinagawa Station, the location does not offer an adequate connection to Japan's world-class railway network. If so, we could instead concentrate cultural facilities such as national museums and concert halls in this area and turn it into a city of culture as a twin to "Ueno no Mori." Moreover, there is no need to wage a war of attrition within the metropolitan area by offering the same content. We should develop a cultural policy that is rooted in the history of each city by creating a museum for railways, or bonsai, for example.
I already mentioned the resurgence of Marseilles, but planning is also underway for the future revival of metropolitan Paris. In fact, the city of flowers is on the decline in terms of its socioeconomic reality. To bring about a breakthrough, in 2007 the President took the initiative and declared the formulation of a Grand Paris plan, which roughly translates to a vision for a grand and large-scale redevelopment of metropolitan Paris. It is particularly noteworthy that what began as a debate in central government served as a catalyst in bringing forth constructive proposals from various quarters, and encouraged by active media coverage, eventually developed into a truly national debate.
This is in stark contrast with Japan, where there is little debate on the redevelopment of metropolitan Tokyo. Yet, it is essential to have a transcendent discussion that sums up the individual discussions on topics such as government intervention aimed at minimizing the fallacy in the combination of private development initiatives, a strategic approach for avoiding futile competition with similar policies being pursued by neighboring prefectures, giving airports and harbors a unique character within East Asia, a development policy for transportation infrastructure based on interlinking roads and railways, and issues related to housing and culture. As in France, any debate led by the central government will be met with objection from the provincial regions. That is fine as long as it leads to deepening the discussion.
Another feature of the Grand Paris plan is that it also upholds - in the name of social solidarity - the effect of sustainable job creation resulting from the construction of public housing and public works. In view of the planned increase in the consumption tax, we would also be able to present such a viewpoint of solidarity in our grand design for Tokyo.
Motoki Toriumi is an Associate Professor specializing in Urban Planning at the Tokyo Metropolitan University.
For an example of urban planning, let us look to France. Marseilles, which had been regarded as an absolute laggard among declining French cities, reemerged in 2013 as a European Capital of Culture. The resurgence was based on the Euroméditerranée Project, an urban design concept that envisions a hegemony of European cities facing the Mediterranean, which had its start in the early 1990s. Considering that a city such as Marseilles with an urban population of 1.5 million spent a quarter of a century planning its redevelopment, the idea of undertaking a major remodeling of metropolitan Tokyo with its 30 million population within a few years is simply unrealistic.
In that sense, the blame rests heavily on Japan's successive administrations; they should have drawn up a grand design for Tokyo with or without the Olympics. Meanwhile, irrespective of such public negligence, private enterprises have gone ahead with their own urban renovation projects to maximize their profit. While that may be sound economic activity, whether the resulting composition of their projects has created a metropolis that combines functionality, disaster prevention capacity and aesthetic value is open to question.
Take the Linear Shinkansen (maglev bullet train) as an example. The planned station of origin is set in Shinagawa, which lies outside the city center. However, in principle the starting station should be built in the deep underground of Tokyo Station, despite the expected difficulties involved in such construction work. It would be highly consistent with the network of Shinkansen lines, conventional railway lines and the planned connecting lines to Haneda and Narita airports, as well as with the development of the surrounding business district that has been ongoing since the Meiji era. In other words, the government should have coordinated with each relevant parties to maximize their combined interests.
Incidentally, if I were to cite one project that is imperative to complete by the time of the Olympics, it would be the plaza in front of the Marunouchi wing of the restored Tokyo Station. This is where ambassadors dispatched to Japan from foreign countries board a carriage on their way to the Imperial Palace to receive their agrément (formal approval). It would be a shame if the government didn’t immediately start work on upgrading what amounts to the "face" of the country. In any event, the government should formulate a redevelopment plan based on a vision for metropolitan Tokyo around 2030. Today there is a greater need than ever before for a comprehensive discussion on the ideal state of our capital region as it finds itself in the midst of globalization, including measures for addressing the side effects, such as the social divide created by globalization.
What then would be Tokyo's ideal Grand Design circa 2030? Details aside, I would like to suggest that the plan be based on the old yet new value of culture.
In the overall ranking of global cities compiled by the Mori Memorial Foundation, Tokyo is perennially left in the dust of London, New York and Paris, perched in its permanent place at fourth, and culture has been cited as its weak point. Tokyo has no facility that ranks alongside the British Museum or the Louvre, and its small and medium-sized cultural facilities lie dispersed in no apparent order. Let us place this in the context of the Linear Shinkansen. While the plan is to redevelop the area surrounding new Shinagawa Station, the location does not offer an adequate connection to Japan's world-class railway network. If so, we could instead concentrate cultural facilities such as national museums and concert halls in this area and turn it into a city of culture as a twin to "Ueno no Mori." Moreover, there is no need to wage a war of attrition within the metropolitan area by offering the same content. We should develop a cultural policy that is rooted in the history of each city by creating a museum for railways, or bonsai, for example.
I already mentioned the resurgence of Marseilles, but planning is also underway for the future revival of metropolitan Paris. In fact, the city of flowers is on the decline in terms of its socioeconomic reality. To bring about a breakthrough, in 2007 the President took the initiative and declared the formulation of a Grand Paris plan, which roughly translates to a vision for a grand and large-scale redevelopment of metropolitan Paris. It is particularly noteworthy that what began as a debate in central government served as a catalyst in bringing forth constructive proposals from various quarters, and encouraged by active media coverage, eventually developed into a truly national debate.
This is in stark contrast with Japan, where there is little debate on the redevelopment of metropolitan Tokyo. Yet, it is essential to have a transcendent discussion that sums up the individual discussions on topics such as government intervention aimed at minimizing the fallacy in the combination of private development initiatives, a strategic approach for avoiding futile competition with similar policies being pursued by neighboring prefectures, giving airports and harbors a unique character within East Asia, a development policy for transportation infrastructure based on interlinking roads and railways, and issues related to housing and culture. As in France, any debate led by the central government will be met with objection from the provincial regions. That is fine as long as it leads to deepening the discussion.
Another feature of the Grand Paris plan is that it also upholds - in the name of social solidarity - the effect of sustainable job creation resulting from the construction of public housing and public works. In view of the planned increase in the consumption tax, we would also be able to present such a viewpoint of solidarity in our grand design for Tokyo.
Motoki Toriumi is an Associate Professor specializing in Urban Planning at the Tokyo Metropolitan University.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
いまこそ文化と連帯の首都圏整備計画を
鳥海 基樹 / 首都大学東京准教授
2013年 10月 31日
東京が２０２０年夏のオリンピック大会の開催都市に選ばれ、それまでに東京大改造をという主張を耳にする。しかし、数年で首都圏の将来像を関係各方面と合意しながら描き出し、改造を施行することは不可能だし、やるべきでもない。
フランスの都市計画から例を引くと、フランスの凋落都市のトップランナーと呼ばれたマルセイユが２０１３年には欧州文化首都となって復活を遂げたが、その都市デザイン構想であるユーロメディテラネ計画（意訳すれば欧州地中海都市覇権構想）は１９９０年代の初頭に描かれている。マルセイユのような都市圏人口１５０万人程の都市ですら四半世紀をかけて都市計画を進めたのだから、人口３０００万人を超える東京首都圏を数年で大改造できるはずがない。
かくのごとく考えると、我国の歴代政権の責任は重い。つまり、オリンピックの当落に関わらず首都圏のグランド・デザインを描いておくべきだった。他方、かかる公的怠慢をよそに民間企業はそれぞれの収益の最大化のための都市開発を進めており、これらは健全な経済活動ではあるが、それらの合成が本当に機能性、防災性、そして美しさを兼備した首都圏を構築しているかは疑問の余地があろう。
例えば、リニア新幹線の始発駅は都心を外れた品川とされているが、難工事が予想されるものの、本来は東京駅の大深度地下に建設すべきであろう。新幹線、在来線各線、建設計画のある羽田・成田両空港との連絡線、さらには明治以来営々と進められてきた周辺の業務地区整備との整合性も高い。つまり、政府が各主体の利益の合成を最大化する調整をすべきであった。
因みに、オリンピックまでに完成必須のプロジェクトを挙げれば、復元のなった東京駅丸の内駅舎前の広場整備である。外国から我国に赴任した大使は同駅舎で馬車に乗り換え皇居でのアグレマン取得に向かう。国の顔の整備なのだから、本来は国がこの位直ぐにやらないと恥ずかしい。ともあれ、政府は２０３０年頃の首都圏を見据えた整備計画を描くべきだろう。グローバリゼーションの中で、同時にそれのもたらす社会格差等の副作用対策も含め、首都は如何にあるべきか、包括的議論が今こそ必要ではないか。
では、首都圏のグランド・デザイン2030は如何にあるべきか。詳細はさておき、価値観として、わたくしは古くて新しいそれである文化を挙げたい。
森記念財団が策定している世界の都市総合ランキングで、東京は常にロンドン、ニューヨーク、パリの後塵を拝し不動の４位だが、弱点として指摘されるのが文化である。東京には大英博物館やルーヴル美術館に匹敵する施設がなく、さらに中小規模の文化施設が脈絡なく分布している。先刻のリニアの問題に絡めると、新始発駅周辺を再開発する構想があるが、ここは東京が世界に誇る鉄道網との連絡は万全ではない。であれば、国立博物館や音楽ホールなど文化施設が集中する上野の森と並ぶ双子の文化都市にすれば良い。他方、首都圏内部では同じコンテンツで消耗戦を展開せず、鉄道博物館や盆栽美術館のような地域の歴史性に根差した文化政策を展開する必要がある。
マルセイユの復活を前述したが、パリ首都圏は逆にいま未来に向けた再生計画を立案している。花の都パリも、社会や経済の実態としては凋落傾向にあるのである。その打開のため、２００７年に大統領主導で策定が宣言されたのがグラン・パリ計画（意訳すると偉大にして大規模なパリ首都圏整備構想）である。特記したいのが、中央主導で始まった論争が各界の生産的提案の触媒になり、マスコミ各社が積極的に報道したこととも相俟って、まさに国民的議論になったことである。
対して、日本では首都圏整備を巡る議論はほとんどない。しかし、民間開発の合成の誤謬を最小化する公的介入のあり方、周辺県が進める類似政策による消耗戦を回避する戦略性、東アジアの中での空港や港湾の特徴付け、道路と鉄路の連携による交通基盤整備方針、そして住宅や文化の問題に関する個別的議論を総括する高踏的議論は不可欠であろう。フランス同様、国主導の議論は地方の反発を呼ぼう。しかし、そこで論議を深めることができれば、それはそれで良いではないか。
ところで、グラン・パリ計画では、公営住宅の建設や公共事業による持続的雇用創出効果が社会的連帯の名で謳われてもいる。消費税増税を踏まえ、かかる連帯の視座も首都圏整備計画は提示できるはずである。
（筆者は首都大学東京准教授・都市計画）
フランスの都市計画から例を引くと、フランスの凋落都市のトップランナーと呼ばれたマルセイユが２０１３年には欧州文化首都となって復活を遂げたが、その都市デザイン構想であるユーロメディテラネ計画（意訳すれば欧州地中海都市覇権構想）は１９９０年代の初頭に描かれている。マルセイユのような都市圏人口１５０万人程の都市ですら四半世紀をかけて都市計画を進めたのだから、人口３０００万人を超える東京首都圏を数年で大改造できるはずがない。
かくのごとく考えると、我国の歴代政権の責任は重い。つまり、オリンピックの当落に関わらず首都圏のグランド・デザインを描いておくべきだった。他方、かかる公的怠慢をよそに民間企業はそれぞれの収益の最大化のための都市開発を進めており、これらは健全な経済活動ではあるが、それらの合成が本当に機能性、防災性、そして美しさを兼備した首都圏を構築しているかは疑問の余地があろう。
例えば、リニア新幹線の始発駅は都心を外れた品川とされているが、難工事が予想されるものの、本来は東京駅の大深度地下に建設すべきであろう。新幹線、在来線各線、建設計画のある羽田・成田両空港との連絡線、さらには明治以来営々と進められてきた周辺の業務地区整備との整合性も高い。つまり、政府が各主体の利益の合成を最大化する調整をすべきであった。
因みに、オリンピックまでに完成必須のプロジェクトを挙げれば、復元のなった東京駅丸の内駅舎前の広場整備である。外国から我国に赴任した大使は同駅舎で馬車に乗り換え皇居でのアグレマン取得に向かう。国の顔の整備なのだから、本来は国がこの位直ぐにやらないと恥ずかしい。ともあれ、政府は２０３０年頃の首都圏を見据えた整備計画を描くべきだろう。グローバリゼーションの中で、同時にそれのもたらす社会格差等の副作用対策も含め、首都は如何にあるべきか、包括的議論が今こそ必要ではないか。
では、首都圏のグランド・デザイン2030は如何にあるべきか。詳細はさておき、価値観として、わたくしは古くて新しいそれである文化を挙げたい。
森記念財団が策定している世界の都市総合ランキングで、東京は常にロンドン、ニューヨーク、パリの後塵を拝し不動の４位だが、弱点として指摘されるのが文化である。東京には大英博物館やルーヴル美術館に匹敵する施設がなく、さらに中小規模の文化施設が脈絡なく分布している。先刻のリニアの問題に絡めると、新始発駅周辺を再開発する構想があるが、ここは東京が世界に誇る鉄道網との連絡は万全ではない。であれば、国立博物館や音楽ホールなど文化施設が集中する上野の森と並ぶ双子の文化都市にすれば良い。他方、首都圏内部では同じコンテンツで消耗戦を展開せず、鉄道博物館や盆栽美術館のような地域の歴史性に根差した文化政策を展開する必要がある。
マルセイユの復活を前述したが、パリ首都圏は逆にいま未来に向けた再生計画を立案している。花の都パリも、社会や経済の実態としては凋落傾向にあるのである。その打開のため、２００７年に大統領主導で策定が宣言されたのがグラン・パリ計画（意訳すると偉大にして大規模なパリ首都圏整備構想）である。特記したいのが、中央主導で始まった論争が各界の生産的提案の触媒になり、マスコミ各社が積極的に報道したこととも相俟って、まさに国民的議論になったことである。
対して、日本では首都圏整備を巡る議論はほとんどない。しかし、民間開発の合成の誤謬を最小化する公的介入のあり方、周辺県が進める類似政策による消耗戦を回避する戦略性、東アジアの中での空港や港湾の特徴付け、道路と鉄路の連携による交通基盤整備方針、そして住宅や文化の問題に関する個別的議論を総括する高踏的議論は不可欠であろう。フランス同様、国主導の議論は地方の反発を呼ぼう。しかし、そこで論議を深めることができれば、それはそれで良いではないか。
ところで、グラン・パリ計画では、公営住宅の建設や公共事業による持続的雇用創出効果が社会的連帯の名で謳われてもいる。消費税増税を踏まえ、かかる連帯の視座も首都圏整備計画は提示できるはずである。
（筆者は首都大学東京准教授・都市計画）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟