3.
LAYERING DENSIFICATION EXTENSION TABLE OF CONTENTS Thematic analysis: From concepts analysis to our sit of study Introduction: Toyosu, at the heart of Tokyo’s transformation 1. Project site analysis Tokyo bay’s landfills, a territory of metropolitan stakes The key elements of Tokyo’s spatial organisation The Olympic facilities in Tokyo bay: Towards a real estate bubble? Is Toyosu a landfill standing outside of the dynamics of the bay? 2. Toyosu: a landfill in regeneration The dynamics of a progressive urban development Toyosu, a sectorised territory where new practices are taking place From Chuo-Ku Tsukiji Market to Toyosu Tokyo Central Wholesale Market Key assets to highlights High potential landscape Toyosu’s way of life A diagnostic with three major statements 3. The strategy Toyosu from the ‘land of plenty’ to the productive district The three main linesof action of our project Toward mixed neighbourhoods The Market district: a productive and lively urban area Improving open spaces continuity and their relation with the inhabitants The requalification of the dynamic centre DUPONCHEL Vincent Conclusion : Enhancing a new metropolitan district
Business controller , Veolia Water Technologies Grenoble Management school
JABAUD Eléonore Bibliography
Urban planner Sciences Po Paris
KENDE Charlotte Landscape engineer Blois Landscape school
MARIAU Agathe Architect Lyon Architecture school
PEREZ-MARSERES Arthur Architect Nantes Architecture school
Toyosu is waiting: suspended for the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games it will celebrate and the arrival of the new Tsukiji market on its land. This grafted earth in the Bay of Tokyo contains great variations of density, between vacant parcels and large towers of popular habitat, important fluctuations in function varying between industrial, tertiary and commercial areas. It also presents strong alternations in terms of need and representations: If the Tsukiji market is relocated, it is because of the large open spaces it will benefit here, whereas families of the middle class settle there for its efficient public transport connections with the centre and the quality of life it offers. Without evoking identity or coherence, thereupon would it be necessary to compose this space in a more harmonious way in order to enhance these differences and to recreate a significant territory. To insure a functional territory and prove that Toyosu is not only land reserves bound for real estate development projects, the necessity to take up the functional stake of Tsukiji market and Tokyo 2020 arises and will have to be thought through multiple temporalities and numerous scales. Without a global thought about this territory, Toyosu’s land is likely to be transformed into a juxtaposition of unrelated functions and populations that would co-exist without dialogue.
On the left Toyosu22 : wild garden and view on Harumi
THEMATIC ANALYSIS From concepts analysis to our site of study
EXTENSION, DENSIFICATION, LAYERING All the work we developed was based on a theme associating three key concepts: layering, densification and extension. The first step of our research led us to explore these concepts in order to address an urban issue and help us choosing a relevant project site among all the options the Tokyo metropolis could offer. These three concepts are rich of various interpretations and hard to coin in a basic and simple definition. In urban planning, the notion of extension refers to the growth of an urban area towards its surrounding environment. Pushing its limits away implies the absorption of close by cities or the settlement on new territories (on the sea for instance, like polders or landfills). At a building scale, this concept is close to the notion of densification, as it means increasing the living space of a plot vertically or horizontally.
to form a whole. On the social ground, layering refers to the geographical logics of distribution and to the mental representation of the populations according to economic, social and political aspects. On physical ground, layering translates the vertical organisation of the city by investing underground or aerial spaces. On the functional ground, it describes all the activities and uses, which concentrate and overlap in one place, in synergy or without visible consistency, to answer population’s needs. Finally, the idea of layering is linked to an historical dimension that is not only related to patrimonial conservation of architectural forms nor spatial organisation of a place, but can also be seen as the urban form inherited from the past or the conservation of specific toponyms. In that case, the emphasis will be put on the dialog between the existing and the forecasted.
The concept of densification must be understood as a dynamic and evolving trend through time. When density, according to Françoise Choay’s definition, sets a “ratio between a statistic indicator (population, housing…) and an area”1, densification is related to demographic and economic cycles. It is also interesting to highlight the Anglo-Saxon distinction between ‘density’ (as defined above) and ‘crowding’ (which relates to an individual’s subjective experience of situations involving density). Therefore, this concept is not only a quantitative notion but also a sensible one, which depends on someone’s perception of an urban environment.
Therefore, we have understood the concepts of extension, densification and layering as evolving processes, which led us to conceive urban organisations according to physical and sensible notions. Through these three concepts we question the genesis of urbanization and the multiple factors of city transformation, that is we question the notion of urban mutation. And this notion is particularly interesting when one thinks about Tokyo’s history. This city, resistant much more than resilient, survived through human and natural disasters which led the metropolis to rebuild and invent itself again and again in short period of time and endless cycles of urban regeneration.
When the concepts of densification and extension tackle physical dynamics, which shape urban space, layering defines that shape. It’s a notion which, like a palimpsest, refers to the various layers and levels of elements that interweave through time
We finally chose a landfill located in the Bay of Tokyo: Toyosu landfill, a part of the Koto district. Indeed, before even visiting the city, our first researches made us aware of the key role played by these artificial lands in the urban development of Tokyo and so from the very beginning of its foundation when, in 1590, shogun Tokugawa
1 Choay Françoise, L’Allégorie du patrimoine, Paris, Ed Seuil, 1992
densification
extension
layering MUTABILITY
Ieyasu decided to fill the south-east waters of the future castle in order to build the city around it. The nature of our site itself triggered our interest: a landfill. It is certainly not the most representative territory to describe Tokyo’s urban form but it is definitely emblematic and fascinating. ‘Invented’ territory, symbol of the efforts Japanese made to expand on the sea through artificial land developments. Like a revenge on natural elements which make this particular location on Earth strongly unwelcoming for the settlement of a global, reach metropolis. It is not either a curiosity or an attraction. The interest of this site doesn’t stand on picturesque. Altogether, Tokyo Bay’s landfills form a significant area on which the city was progressively built to such a point that, today, in some location, one would hardly tell that the high-rise buildings and highways are based on artificial lands. Moreover, a landfill perfectly correspond to the question we raise in order to help us explore urban regeneration through the issues brought by the notions of extension, densification and layering. A landfill is by nature an extension, and is subject of intense and fast transformations through time. The processes of densification and layering can also be observed in such site. Indeed, the shindens2 were slowly replaced by heavy industrial activities until the beginning of the XXIst century. And recently, these artificial lands have seen more and more Central Business Distrcits (CBD) and residential programs under development when parks and waterfront promenades supplanted remaining industrial activities. In Tokyo Bay’s archipelago, Toyosu (which means ‘land of plenty’), particularly hold our attention: it is a rather ‘young’ landfill (1923) that saw, in a brief 2
farming fields from the 19th to the 20th century
period of time, cycles of intense regeneration which are still in progress. Betting on its proximity with the city centre, Toyosu tries to assert itself as a new centrality but, at the same time, the landfill is chosen as the place of relegation for the Tsukiji market. Although it is located in the heart of the 2020 Olympic Games, not a single implantation of sport equipment is taking place on Toyosu even if large pieces of lands are still unconstructed. Furthermore, the real estate value stays slightly below the average that can be observed in the surrounding artificial lands, even though an intense development of residential condominiums and business districts can be observed. So it seems that Toyosu aims at continuing to develop a new piece of the active city without considering of taking advantage of the events of 2020. Because of the low value of the land, Toyosu is still considered as an outskirt district when its location and the many opportunities it bears could make it take a major position in the city. When many observers would turn down such site arguing that it lacks of consistency and pointing out its incompleteness, we see a precious field of study with tremendous assets that just need to be rearranged so its full potential could finally be revealed. All in all, we see a land of plenty. This interest is strengthened by the heavy trend one could observe since approximately two decades: the inversion of the ‘donut effect’ which is a massive return of populations towards the city centre. This tendency is marked by a strong densification built on an endogenous mutation strategy. Therefore, Toyosu’s 250 hectares offer thanks to their breadth, nature, location and urban development history a field of analysis particularly fertile to explore the questions of layering, densification and extension.
INTRODUCTION Toyosu, at the heart of Tokyo’s transformation
Our workshop in Japan confronted us with several features of Tokyo as a changing city: the many dynamics of urban planning as well as the underpinning, complex organisation of the various stakeholders, altogether in very different practices that the ones we are used to in France. During our preliminary study, we first considered the concepts of densification, extension and layering, which led us to question the changes at stake in this city. We studied Tokyo by looking at the city’s goals, rhythms, temporalities, intentions, planning, and scales - especially in the Bay of Tokyo. The industrial lands of The Bay, who were on the fringes of the city twenty years ago,are now at the centre of the overall transformation of Tokyo. These lands have evolved as a response to postindustrial issues and the current problems of Tokyo. However, this territory, meant to host the future Olympic Games, is not evolving homogeneously. At the centre of the archipelago, the landfill of Toyosu clearly stands apart. ‘Land of plenty’ in Japanese, Toyosu has been the symbol of industrial renewal for Tokyo. The recent industrial offshoring has made room for service industries, huge estate transactions, wide-open spaces, all of which have become characteristics of the area. By its diversity and its vacant fields, Toyosu presents a surprising landscape in the heart of the metropolis.
Above designed from Rémi Scoccimarro map - 2007 On the left New pedestrian footbridge near the recent SKYZ tower
Moreover, its planning programme, separated from the Olympic Games and the large infrastructure of the Tsukiji market, creates several new urban issues. Indeed, the project of building a new wholesale market on Toyosu was decided a few years ago in order to make it benefit from a wider space. This is a major event for Toyosu, important as much for its surface area as for the major issues that it raises. These questions will first be answered by an analysis of the territory, organised in three steps: the first one will consider the relationship the important place the bay of Tokyo has taken during these last year, the second will focus on Toyousu and its role in the bay, then we will study the different sectors of the territory, in order to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, to finaly present our strategy.
PROJECT SITE ANALYSIS Tokyo Bay’s landfills, a territory of metropolitan stakes
THE KEY ELEMENTS OF TOKYO’S SPATIAL ORGANISATION Before analysing the main issues and stakes related to Toyosu landfill it is important to recall the key factors of Tokyo urban development to seek those with an influence on our project site. Urban sprawl and railroad infrastructures From the 19th century, railroad infrastructures development has been privileged compared to other means of transport. Railroad companies (ôtemintetsu) drew structuring axis of transport, initiating an urban sprawl process all the more intense that railroad entrepreneurs tried to diversify their activities by promoting housing, commercial and theme park operations. Scholar Natacha Aveline highlights this characteristic referring to Tokyo as a city “built through the railroads”1. The upper and lower town dichotomy organises Tokyo metropolis’ functions One of the key aspects of Tokyo spatial organisation is related to the traditional opposition of the upper town (the ‘Yamanote’ at the south-west) and lower town (the ‘Shitamachi’ at the north-east) inherited from the Edo era. The districts historically belonging to the lower town, in the vicinity of the castle neighborhood, were progressively transformed into a commercial area where Central Business Districts expanded near the central train station of Tokyo. Hence, the Toshin2 concentrates the majority of biggest Japanese company headquarters, the Tokyo stock exchange and the main political and administrative offices of the country. The competition between residential and business functions made it difficult for middle-class people 1 Aviline Natacha, Tokyo, métropole japonaise en mouvement perpétuel, article paru sur le site «Géoconfluences » le 20 septembre 2006. 2 the Toshin area represents the central part of Tokyo constituted with the following districts : Shinjuku-ku, Shibuyaku, Minato-ku, Chuo-ku, Chiyoda-ku, Bunkyo-ku
to find affordable housing in this area. Therefore, population is deserting the city centre to find better residential opportunities in the outskirts. The lower city became the place where heavy industrial activities were located and it turned into a large working class district progressing on Koto and Edogawa districts but also toward Saitama in the north. At that time, the waterfront and the landfills located in Tokyo Bay were outside the city qualitative urban development. During the 1980’s, a particular context can be observed, associating economic growth, land price inflation and a national policy aiming at speeding up private sector development : the‘Minkatsu policy. This policy led to imagine the creation of urban sub-centres named the ‘Fukutoshin’. The idea was to temper the high pressure on land use in the Toshin and offer to Tokyo metropolis extra business centres to participate in the economic growth and development. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) progressively implemented environmental laws and incentives in order to turn the large industrial activities areas into brand new business districts. The Tokyo Bay landfills became places of high interests and heavy investments in infrastructures and transport networks were made such as the Rainbow Bridge (1993) or the Yurikamome automatic train (1995). The creation of an ambitious project could start, a second version of the Shinjuku area : the Rinkaifukutoshin. At the same moment the TMG imagined a 300 hectares new business district on Tsukishima, Harumi and Toyosu landfills between Marunouchi-Ginza and Daiba.
Above Rémi Scoccimarro map - 2007
The speculative bubble’s bursting : decline, densification and programmatic evolutions
favour one by one small scale operations and the most simple opportunities that are to seize.
The speculative bubble’s bursting in the midst of the 1990’s marks a brutal change of orientation and a painful awareness of the end of an era : a slow economic growth and the shrinking of the population (with its declining birthrate and increasing ratio of senior citizens) are the new reality that must be faced.
The economic crisis came along another issue : the inversion of the ‘donut effect’. It brought about a new logic of urban development from sprawl to densification. Today, one can observe the phenomenon of ‘Toshinkaiki’, which is the return of the population towards the city centre. Particularly, in the three main central districts of Tokyo (Toshin Chûô, Chiyoda and Minato) but this trend is noticeable across the whole metropolis.
All the financial balances of the projected subcentres operations are compromised and the programs must be totally amended as the need for business functions dropped brutally. Henceforth, CBDs are replaced by squares, parking lots, residential high-rise buildings and shopping malls or theme parks. In this context of strong uncertainty the organised planning strategy is abandoned to
The organisation of the 2020 Olympic Games certainly represents an opportunity for the TMG to define a new strategy that will suit in a better way the metropolis needs and revive the attractiveness the Tokyo Bay’s landfills initially aroused.
Chiyoda
Ginza Tsukiji market
Toyomicho Harumi Toyosu
Arumi
Odaiba
Koto
Tatsumi
Aerial photography of the Tokyo bay googleearth
THE OLYMPIC FACILITIES IN TOKYO BAY: TOWARDS A REAL ESTATE BUBBLE? The Olympic Village in Harumi and the Hydrogen City
Sport facilities in Ariake
The metropolitan government has taken the decision to design the Olympic village as a hydrogen city1: where electricity and hot water would be produced with energy from hydrogen. Once the games are over, this ‘clean’ energy will be used to supply a school, a shopping mall and other amenities built on the Olympic village’s site. The purpose is to create the greatest testing area for this new energy source. The metropolitan government hopes to design a new way of living, based on the use of hydrogen energy.
At the South of Toyosu, in Ariake, an important number of sport facilities are under construction : The Olympic gymnastic and bowling centre and the Olympic BMX course field. The Ariake arena will host volleyball and basketball events. These last games were originally planned to be hosted in Yokohama. The city already had the facilities for volleyball where the games could have taken place. However, the International Olympic federation has rejected the project. They demanded the construction of facilities conforming to Olympic standards, in opposition to the metropolitan government, who wanted to use existing infrastructures. Finally it was decided that the building would housed not only volleyball but also basketball. The initial budget of 40.4 billion of yen ($369 million) was reduced to 33.9 billion of yen ($310 million) in order to limit the delay in investment return for the state. It was not ruled out that the facilities could be sold to a private organisation after the games3.
The hydrogen stations will be built in 2020 in the Harumi district. Pipes will be installed around the buildings to supply the energy. Fuel cells will supply electricity and heat, thanks to the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Those pipes will also be used to supply the future buses transporting athletes and spectators during the games.
The Aquatic Centre The Aquatic Centre will be located in Tatsumi, at the east of Toyosu. It will consist of two buildings: The Olympic swimming centre, specially built for the games. It will host the swimming, synchronized swimming and diving events. Its capacity is 20 000 seats, reduced to 5 000 after the games. It represents an investment equivalent to 307 million dollars. The International Aquatic Centre of Tatsumi is an existing building, opened in 1993, hosting an Olympic pool that will be used during the games. Its capacity is 3 635 places. Due to its poor hosting capacity and insufficient number of pools, the Olympic swimming centre will complement it.2
1 Tokyo Aims to Realize “Hydrogen Society”by 2020, Metro Government Undertakes Pioneering Initiative - The government of Japan - spring 2016 - www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2016/spring2016/tokyo_realize_hydrogen_by_2020. html 2 “Tokyo Committee Olympic wants to use existing pools for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games” - Swim Swam - Hannah Hetch - October 1st 2016
Around 17 000 athletes and guests will live in the Olympic village. 22 housing facilities between 14 and 17 levels high are to be built. Those buildings will be converted into condominiums and apartments after the games. Two towers of 50 floors each will complete this small city, which will also have many living facilities. The population is expected to rise by around 12 000 inhabitants.
3 “Koike now looking to build Ariake Arena for Olympic volleyball at lower cost” - Japan Times - December - Jiji - 15th 2016
Above The Olympic Games equipments on the bay near Toyosu
Below Ariake’s demountable Olympic Infrastructures
Below Harumi Olympic Village
A real estate bubble due to the 2020 Olympic Games taking place in the bay Currently, 149 housing projects are planned in the 23 districts of Tokyo, specifically for the Olympic Games. This represents more than 100 000 square metres of construction1. Many of these projects are located on the bayfront and its islands, representing 4 930 000 square metres. This overproduction of housing on the Bay in comparison with the rest of the city will certainly have an effect on the real estate market. Let us compare the two following operations, completed in Toyosu at ten-year intervals1: The «Toyosu Tower»: delivered in 2006, has 846 apartments over 43 levels. The average selling price was 876.000¥/m², while the market was 680.000¥/ m². This is considered by Japan Property Central as a failure. Indeed, the market price was far too high, with the result that the developer was forced to sell the properties at a loss after many price reductions. In 2006 it wasn’t decided yet if the Olympic Games would take place in Tokyo in 2020 or not. The «Skyz Tower»: delivered in 2016, has 1,100 apartments for 44 levels. The average selling price was 755.000¥/m², while the market was 710.000¥/ m² (the average for Tokyo was 512.000¥/m² in March 20172). Japan Property Central, the promoter of the operation, considered it a real barometer of the increase in real estate value linked to the arrival of the Olympic Games in the Bay. Indeed, they contacted 10.000 households for marketing purposes. 1.500 responded positively to the 1.100 available apartments. In one month, all of the properties of the tower were sold.
period, considering the growth of Tokyo metropolis and the increase in interest in the Bay, this increase appears to be minor. It could partly be explained by the soil pollution polemic known in Toyosu. Indeed, residents and future purchasers are concerned about the source of running water supplying the buildings. If the urban network distributes it, this controversy creates bad publicity for the operations on Toyosu. On the other hand, Ariake, in the south of Toyosu, had 7.000 inhabitants in 2016. The new housing construction planned as a result of the increase in attractiveness linked to the Olympic Games would bring this figure to 32.000 by 20203, an increase of 457% in four years. The attractiveness of this sector is way more important than the one for Toyosu, and immediately linked to the proximity of the Ariake Olympic infrastructures. Conversely, Toyosu does not have any real estate project under construction other than the Mitsui Fudosan operation planned in 2020 on the eastern median, comprising an hotel with 225 rooms, 3300m² of offices and no housing. The Tokyo Gas Land Development Co. Ltd only has, for the moment, the raw guidelines of an urban development project named Toyosu 22, on the 20 hectares located close to the future wholesale market.
However, these figures from the Japan Central Property are nuanced when comparing the benchmark price on Toyosu land between 2006 and 2016: only a 9.5% increase. Over a 10-year
However, the installation of various Olympic games infrastructures on the neighbouring polders will allow Toyosu to benefit from services that will create better connections with the rest of the city. These installations are carried out with a sustainable development approach, in particular by the use of energy resources such as hydrogen and measures against overheating during the summer. The new city resulting from the Olympic games is «elegant and barrier free»4. Sport is celebrated thanks to installations in the city promoting the health and well being of Tokyoites through urban sporting practices.
1 Skyz Tower in Toyosu to be a test of market conditions - Japan Property Central Blog - Zoe Ward - June 26th 2013 2 Tokyo apartment asking prices in March 2017 Japan Property Central Blog - Zoe Ward - April 26th 2017
3 “Daiwa House acquires development site in Ariake” Japan Property Central Blog - Zoe Ward - September 4th 2013 4 “Tokyo bayside apartment bubble to burst after Olympics?” - Japan Property Central Blog - Zoe Ward - March 20th 2014
Above Pictures of Toyosu 22 project
The Great Height market in Tokyo 1 The majority of housing constructions planned on the Bay are designed as towers. According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, there are 285 high-rise residential buildings comprising 106.321 apartments planned in Japan in 2017. This represents an increase of 47 towers and 16.477 apartments compared to 2016. Among these buildings, 52.2% will be located in the 23 districts of Tokyo, i.e. 124 towers for 55 519 apartments planned for the coming year. Among the districts present on the Bay, Chuo-ku (which includes the lands of Harumi) will accommodate the construction of 14 675 apartments for 18 buildings, representing 26.4% of all planned construction in the 23 districts. These constructions correspond mainly to the implantation of the Olympic Village. Minato-ku (who owns the land in OdaĂŻba) planned to build 32 towers for 9 634 apartments, unlike Chiyoda-Ku, the central district of Tokyo, which only planned to build 4 towers for 488 apartments. The development of residential towers in Japan began in the late 1990s. Living in a tower was considered like the forefront of urban lifestyle. The apartments were popular estate product, as they were known to devalue very little and be resold
easily. The first projects were mostly concentrated in the Tokyo and Osaka regions, but due to an increasing demand it widespreads in the rest of the country. In 2007, a collapse in prices due to a decrease in demand took place. The financial crisis had a significant impact on the property market and delayed many transactions. In 2010, the number of new apartments built across the country fell to 17 967 units, accounting for 50% of the previous year production. The Tohoku earthquake and the 2011 tsunami greatly delayed several projects, especially in the Tokyo Bay area where the risk of soil liquefaction and tsunami caused great concern to buyers. Many decided to considered sites with lower risk. The number of new dwellings delivered fell to 13 321 in the 23 central districts. In 2012, the market showed signs of new growth with an increase in delivery: 16 060 new apartments in Tokyo. In 2013, developers resumed the design of several largescale operations in Tokyo Bay, which increased the annual delivery to 19 759 units. In 2016, 16 towers (7 359 apartments) were completed in greater Tokyo. Projections to 2020 are on the rise, particularly in Tokyo Bay. This phenomenon is largely due to the presence of multiple Olympic Games infrastructures, according to Japan Central Property.
1 Japan’s high-rise apartment market from 2017 to 2020 onwards - Japan Property Central Blog - Zoe Ward - April 27th 2017
Above The Skyz Tower
Above The Toyosu Tower
IS TOYOSU A LANDFILL STANDING OUTSIDE OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE BAY? During this beginning of analysis on a metropolitan scale and focused on the bay, we noticed several elements pointing at Toyosu and showing that it is not included in the general development dynamic of Tokyo bay. First, the low real estate value (in residential and commercial sectors) comparing to the landfills around. Second, there is no foreseeable project linked to the 2020 Olympic Games. The landfill is still characterized by some large vacant and unplanned lands, where some temporary activities find their place. Finally, the relocation of Tsukiji wholesale market in Toyosu characterised this landfill as a periphery and not as a centre.
TOYOSU: A LANDFILL IN REGENERATION
THE DYNAMICS OF A PROGRESSIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT Toyosu landfill has been created in two different stages. The first part of the landfill, named Toyosu, was built at the beginning of the 1930’s with the 1923 earthquake debris and under public authorities’ initiative. The Japanese industrial company Ishikawajima-Harima (Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries or IHI) bought this land in 1935 and Toyosu became a site of intense industrial activities. The second part of the landfill, named Toyosu Futo, was developed after the Second World War and new heavy industrial activities settled there such as the Tokyo Gas Toyosu Plant operated in 1956 or the Thermal Power Station operated in 1958. Today Toyosu expands on around 250 hectares, counts 22 000 inhabitants and a working population of 32 000 individuals. This change is due to the reform led by the TMG in the 1980’s aiming at turning the Bay of Tokyo in a vast business district on the waterfront pushing away all heavy industrial facilities.
Above Distribution of population densities by district
The key aspects of Toyosu urban development are the limited number of landowners, the large size of the plots available and the land value which is pretty low (mainly because of soil pollution). All these elements make this landfill easier to develop and each stakeholder has interest in participating in its transformation: the public authorities look for urban renewal that strengthens the city’s international competitiveness and provides sustainable living conditions, the private landowners, like IHI, try to increase their land value through their association with companies like Mitsui to develop residential, commercial and business operations while the population (residents, employees or entrepreneurs) are looking for attractive alternatives to settle. Those ones are cheap and brand new facilities and buildings in close proximity to the city centre and original living conditions with generous open spaces, waterfront or parks rare for a saturated metropolis.
Above Toyosu landowners
View of Harumi from Toyosu
TOYOSU, A SECTORISED TERRITORY WHERE NEW PRACTICES ARE TAKING PLACE
Toyosu district and its surroundings are our fields of study. Four sectors which have their own ways of working and are divided by an imposing road network where we can easily identify several dynamics in these differentiated urban areas. Aging residential and commercial fabric Around the station Etchujima, located in the northeastern part of this site, the area is composed of a high proportion of dwellings with very few shops. These are the “danchi�, groups of social housing constructed by the public authorities between 1950 and 1970. Today, this area is standing apart and is not integrated into the Toyosu district. However, we notice that this sector is changing with construction in progress. The projected buildings are towers, contrasting with the current architectural style of the danchi. We will therefore consider the future of this dilapidated housing in the development process of this area. A dynamic centre
Above Localization of the dilapidated residential and commercial fabric
Located near the Toyosu metro station, this area is the dynamic centre of our study area. Initially planned to host major Central Business District operations, before the explosion of the 1990 speculative bubble, it is now largely occupied by housing and office buildings. It is currently a mixeduse area. Major groups (IHI, Unisys, NBF) have built their headquarters in this sector as well as apartment towers. The housing supply demonstrates an evolution in the Tokyo lifestyle. Indeed, these housing operations offer a 50% rental as well as home ownership. The number of residential towers targeting families with young children increased quickly between 2004 and 2006. Some facilities came along with this new housing, but not that many. We notice a critical lack of facilities for young children in this neighbourhood which attracts a lot of families.
Above Dilapidated residential and commercial building
Above Dynamic center
Universities are also present in Toyosu, such as Shibaura Institute of Technology and the University Hospital Centre. They are both huge facilities, creating a large dynamic in the area. Some shops are present in Toyosu (including the first ‘7 Eleven’ of Tokyo), but Lalaport, a shopping mall with lots of services and promotions, provides the main dynamic and commercial animations. All this, combine with the quite low real estate prices and the efficient connections to the center, makes this sector very attractive and help the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s challenge which is to restore the image of these post-industrial landfills. Lalaport, a point of metropolitan influence Lalaport (Urban Dock Lalaport Toyosu) is an urban attraction. Biggest shopping mall in the central area of Tokyo, it attracts a population that comes for the shops and entertainments it offers. Built in 2006 and located right on the bayfront, its first advantage is that it is being accessible by the Yurikamome Line and thus can be easily accessed by a large number of people. The river shuttles connect Lalaport to Odaiba and Asakusa, two very attractive neighbourhood. The setting in which this mall is located is also very pleasant, offering public spaces which attract middle-class and well-off families. A survey carried out by Daniel O’Donoghue reports the testimony of two people: one young mother says «Compared to other shopping centres, this one is more sophisticated than in other towns»1. Large public areas are sufficiently tailored to accommodate many families and visitors visiting the shopping centre. Economic dynamic goes beyond the doors of the centre and spreads out into the nearby areas.
Above The dynamic center
Above The dynamic center
1 O’Donoghue Daniel, Urban Transformations : centres, peripheries and systems, Ed. Routledge, 2014, 230 p.
Above The Lalaport mall
An intensification of the tertiary sector The area is going to become denser with a twotower project planned for 2020 in the centre of Toyosu. This mixed operation of 259 000 m², has a programme containing a power plant, a hotel and shops. The power plant demonstrates the willingness of TMG and Koto City Council to make the district completely autonomous. At the same time, the hotel project is planned to accommodate temporary workers who need to come to Toyosu for business and this illustrates the desire to develop tertiary activities in the district. Partitioned operations
Above Tertiary and hotel tower is being built next to Lalaport
Despite an evolution in the treatment of public spaces in Toyosu, operations are still carried out separately. They operate autonomously, preventing dialogue between different schemes and qualitative public spaces. This is due to the division of land, giving the management of each parcel to distinct private operators, without coherence and global visions. Pending fields These lands, awaiting projects are located to the south west of the dynamic centre. Mainly unconstructed they however host some facilities. There is a 360-room theatre, a concert hall in a network of city-wide charitable concert halls and sports facilities. These leisure facilities are an important issue and can act as levers for families settled in Toyosu. In anticipation of projects being implemented, temporary and easily removable activities have taken place. A space for open-air barbecues, for example, or playgrounds, allow the local population to take over these undeveloped spaces, what they greatly appreciate. Therefore, this represents a major challenge, acting as an articulation point between the dynamic centre of Toyosu and the new Wholesale market.
Above Location of vacant area
Above Large land on Toyosu - in the background Harumi already strongly built
Above Map of stakes
Requalify district of danchis
Olympic Games site
Dynamic center
Links xith the actual Tsukiji market
Potential of vacant parcels
Conciliate the dynamic center with the Tsukiji market
Important equipment Metro network Tsukiji infrastructure River shuttles network Link landscaped areas
FROM CHUO-KU TSUKIJI MARKET TO TOYOSU TOKYO CENTRAL WHOLESALE MARKET Along with the recent boom of popularity of the Tsukiji market, the number of tourists, including foreign visitors paying to visit the market, has increased considerably. Experiencing the atmosphere of the market presents a good opportunity to learn about the functions of a central wholesale market and the distribution chain of perishable goods. But the wholesale and resale markets are saturated during the early hours of the day. Several problems were raised due to the increased number of tourists (including the management of sanitary issues such as temperature control caused by the entry and exit of a large number of unauthorized persons) and problems with visitors hindering auctions and other commercial activities, particularly early in the morning when bids are made in the tuna selling area. To prevent the interruption of commercial activities and to ensure food safety, these areas are closed to visitors and early access is not permitted. In addition, trucks and small vehicles particularly crowd the market, so visitors are asked to move with the utmost caution. The central wholesale market of Tsukiji is a kitchen for 12 million people in Tokyo. It plays a vital role in the distribution of perishable goods for the citizens of the metropolis.1 Since 1935, Tsukiji market has been busy every day without a break and has been growing for more than 80 years. Today, the market structure of the wholesale market is ageing and showing signs of weakness. The Mayor of Tokyo fears that parts of the structure may fall and hurt the workers and visitors to the market. This anxiety has grown over the years, becoming the main reason for moving the market. Origins of Tokyo Wholesale Fish Market Tokyo was developed along its railways infrastructures. The city stretched across the
plain along its train networks and connects to the other cities of Japan. When the Tsukiji market was originally built, it had to be supplied by train. But the evolution of modes of supply meant that the vast majority of goods were later supplied by the road. The location of Tsukiji market south of Ginza, on the Tsukiji median, does not allow easy access for a large number of trucks nor their access to the rest of the city. In addition, there are insufficient accesses to the market and not enough space for the supply of goods. Drivers began unloading their cargo anywhere around the market. It is now impossible to create new parking and logistic areas around the market. Relocation had to take place. The Tokyo metropolis planned to build a highway in the area of the present Tsukiji market to serve the 2020 Olympic Games facilities. This project is now abandoned as a result of the increased construction costs of the OG infrastructures. The buildings of Tsukiji and their sanitary facilities are old and fragile. The city was worried about the sanitary conditions in Tsukiji and this forced the idea of a new and clean market. The market needed to be equipped with cold rooms and freezers to preserve the fresh products. The current market does not have these and it is difficult for traders to invest in new equipments. The authorities planned to relocate the wholesale market only and retain the market and restaurants located near the current site. Faced with these needs for renewal, equipments and additional space, the site of Toyosu became essential. The market stretches from 23 to 45 hectares. Toyosu island, due to its former industrial activities, has sufficient road infrastructure to accommodate a large number of trucks simultaneously. The island is easily connectable to the urban core by
Current Tsukiji Wholesale Market
the Harumi Dori to the north and the metropolitan expressway bayshore route which encircles Tokyo Bay and connects the metropolis to its main transport infrastructure (airports, railway station) and the rest of the country. Toyosu, a difficult consensus As a Gas company previously occupied Toyosu’s platform, soil pollution is very important. Initially, the market was to move in November 2016, but the new metropolitan government postponed the deadline as it is necessary to ensure that the site is clean and secure for fish market activities. The main concern is the origin of the water used by the market: if it is pumped from the water table, it will be polluted. However, if the water is transported via the city networks and not directly pumped on site, Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates there would be no contamination problem. But we can consider, regarding to the major investment this new market represents, the authorities would find a way to relocate the market, a way or another. Nevertheless, it is difficult to get people to accept sensitive sanitary equipment in a polluted area. We are talking today about a probable opening in the winter of 2017, but no decision has been made already. Contractors in the current fish market are concerned about the increase in rent for market operation and the design of restricted workspaces. If the new building offers efficient solutions for supplying the loading and unloading of goods by road, each designed shelf is however smaller than those in the existing market. Handling and cutting tuna or other large fishes would be difficult. They also highlight the difficulties of using sinks because of the small size of the displays. There is, in their opinion, a major problem in the design of this market, beyond the problems of soil pollution. Another issue concerns the takeover of existing businesses. Wholesalers have no successors. Many business owners in Tsukiji are close from retiring. Creating your own selling business of fish and seafood is not easy and requires some experience and knowledge acquired over time, making the training of new traders difficult and rare. Also, many of the actual traders do not have enough money to move into the new market, to pay the new rent and thus to continue their trade.
Tsukiji, a monumental facility surfaces area : 42 hectares The metropolitan government has invested 128 billion Yen ($1.17 million) to buy the land needed for this relocation 405 billion Yen ($3.7 billion) for the new building 634 billion Yen ($5.8 billion) for the relocation: this figure includes the possible cost of the removal, soil remediation, and the portage of the land and real estate after the delivery of the building, still unoccupied today. As long as the new Toyosu Wholesale market does not start its business, this figure is doomed to increase. The municipality recognises that this stagnant period in Toyosu already costs 5 million Yen ($45.700) per day due to various expenses (surveillance, electricity, etc.). 42 000 visitors per day, 19 000 vehicles entering and leaving, 480 kinds of fishes, 270 varieties of fruits and vegetables, 3 000 tons of goods sold every day Daily turnover: 2 billion Yen ($18.6 million) Between 60 and 65 000 employees
Above Relocation from Tsukiji to Toyosu Below Tsukiji Market in Toyosu
KEY ASSETS TO HIGHLIGHTS Numerous transport infrastructures to strengthened The Tsukiji market requires massive transport infrastructures for truck traffic to be able to supply the market. The developed part of our site of study is already provided with large arteries. This road network cuts through the plot and crosses the median in its centre and keeps the banks free. Metrolines also serves the district and the extension very well and some lines are planned to reinforce the saturated network. The bus network is not yet established in the southern part of the district and will have to be put in place in order to reinforce the accessibility of the site. At the same time, a network of river shuttles exists but is now only used for tourism due to its high price and the infrequent number of crossings. In order to bring this lost dialogue between Tokyo and its bay back to life and to benefit from a more efficient network between the different entities present in the bay, these shuttles could be the subject of a study which would eventually lead to more frequent crossings as well as an effort to make this mode of transport more affordable for all. Finally, in this family-oriented environment, cycling is widespread in Toyosu. Already widely available, the bicycle terminals make it very easy to use this mean of transport. On the other hand, the road network is not particularly suitable for cycling.
HIGH POTENTIAL LANDSCAPE A natural setting to be valued Toyosu presents valuable landscapes that could be highlights. We note in particular the ÂŤkibaÂť, located in the northwest of the solid ground area. This place was made to store driftwoods that glided along the Sumida. Therefore, it represents a piece of the heritage of this territory, as well as a landscape with scenic qualities. In the same way than the wastelands, this place seems to be waiting to be occupied and highlighted. On the opposite side of the landfill, another noticeable landscape takes place. Here, on the bay front, one can glance at a spectacular view of the Bay of Tokyo, crossed by the rainbow bridge and a majestic skyline. Those banks have been recently equipped but, standing on the end of the landfill, across the massive buildings of the Wholesale market, they are disconnected from the rest of the territory and from the inhabitants of Toyosu.
Above The seaside
Below Kiba on the north of Toyosu
Above The main roads under the metro line, in the background : the bridge under construction
Below The oversized street crossing the north part of Toysosu from north-west to south-east
Above the bus network
Below Treatment of banks and panoramas from Toyosu
TOYOSU’S WAY OF LIFE ID CARD OF TOYOSU’S POPULATION Number of inhabitants: Toyosu’s population increased from 6 904 in 1999 to 20 324 in 2009.
condominiums, which means more than 20 stories in height. .
Average age: 38,2 for men; 36,2 for women.
Type of work: 59,8% of men and 54,7% of women are working in big companies (more than 500 employees) which are within 5 km of the Toyosu area, maximum 30 minutes away. The average commuting time in the metropolitan area was 37 minutes – 1 hour in 2010.
Type of family: 94,7% of the inhabitants are nuclear families, including one or two children. 59,5% of families have waited or are waiting to get their children into childcare facilities. On average, families are waiting 9,9 months to get their child into these facilities (government licence daycare or private day care service). Type of housing: 77,1% of the apartments sold between 2000 and 2008 were high-rise
Those numbers show the well-off status of Toyosu’s inhabitants. Their profile and residential choices express the attractive elements of the area: a quarter of the inhabitants lived in Tokyo’s suburbs before moving to Toyosu, others were living in another central area of the city. Therefore, it is not the typical case of the nuclear family moving to the suburbs to have more room, including a house, but rather comfortably-off families who consider Toyosu as compromise between space, transport and quality of life: Koizumi saw them as “within central city movement of young families”1. They have several reasons to choose to move to Toyosu and here are the three main ones: An area with good transport links; looking at the transport map, Toyosu is located 15 minutes away from Ginza, the main area in terms of companies where a large number of Toyosu’s inhabitants work. Even though transport is saturated, as in the rest of the city and there are still not enough buses serving this area, close proximity is the main argument for an installation to Toyosu. A well-equipped site: ¼ of answers spoke of Toyosu’s environment and education structures, including wide pavements, barrier-free facilities, restaurants, shops and childcare facilities. A social plus: Toyosu has progressively been associated with the kind of housing that it offers: high quality condominiums. The result is that living in Toyosu is a “high asset value site”1. 1 O’Donoghue Daniel, Urban Transformations : s, peripheries and systems, Ed. Routledge, 2014, 230 p.
Average income: 20,2% of families have an income from 7 to 9,99 million Yen and 67,8% have a minimum annual income of 10 million Yen ($91.400 2010). The minimum annual income in Japan was 5,5 million Yen ($50 300) in 2010.
However, if those figures seem to make settling in Toyosu a good economic choice, it is more complex than that: living on a landfill site in a tower could be a shock to the system, considering the traditional Japanese way of life. Above all, open spaces such as Lalaport or Tsukiji lead one to think differently about the relationship between the bay and the inhabitants: previously considered as a threat, it is now valued. Development potential The number of Toyosu’s inhabitants has increased tremendously. However, facilities including childcare services haven’t kept up the same pace: in April 2011, 273 children couldn’t find a place in childcare services. In 2006, Toyosu had 4 childcare services and 5 additional ones have been built between 2007 and 2010, in addition to 4 private daycare services. However, this was not enough to answer all the needs of the local population. Even if the shops are an argument for moving to Toyosu, they are not exactly of the same commercial fabric as the one that can be found in the rest of the city. Moreover, the landfill does not seem to provide any cult places. Those elements raise the question of solidarity on the landfill: considering a relative lack of public facilities, especially in the field of public childcare, some of the inhabitants develop a strategy to find a place for their children – which requires money, and a new relationship with the property, because they are no longer buying the land.
Above Playing in Lalaport park
Above Large open spaces welcoming families with children
Above Toysosu’s camping site
“Toyosu is a well-planned redevelopment area… I can go out with my baby on the perambulator (=landau) so easily. When I lived in the previous place, there were only small and crowded roads around so that I couldn’t go out with my baby.”2 2 Ibid
A DIAGNOSTIC WITH THREE MAJOR STATEMENTS The eastern side of the landfill is composed of apartment buildings, shops, services and companies from the tertiary sector. The urbanity is asserted, dynamic and well connected to the rest of the city with the subway Yurakucho line. The incoming of the wholesale market takes an important part of the available land. It is disconnected from the neighbourhood and not accessible from the public roads. It is not in activity yet and all the road infrastructures are new, and from some of them, unused. It is for now a UFO in the landfill. Between these two entities, a whole sector is still pending. Some large vacant plots intimates the incoming of new amenities which could be the opportunity to link these two elements of the city. They have for now no common goals. Moreover, Toyosu is running against the main logic of planification in the bay of Tokyo. We have to consider its place within these dynamics. The landfill, thanks to its amount of vacant plots, can be considered as a flexible territory, ready to consume some hazards due to a very equipped, built and over populated bay. Our approach proposes a strategy regarding the scale of the landfill as much as its place in the bay and in the metropolis. The project deal with these different scales and present different steps in the planning time. The objective is to propose a planification able to adapt itself to the evolutions and hazards of this booming territory.
From top to bottom Lalaport park Pending plots Toyosu wholesale market
THE STRATEGY Toyosu, from the ‘land of plenty’ to the productive district
THE THREE MAIN LINES OF ACTION OF OUR PROJECT Our study raises the stakes on Toyosu, combining the issues of an inhabited district needing to be developed, supported and, in some parts, restructured, with the challenges related to the integration of the massive wholesale market structure, creating issues of space and being imposed against the will of the population. Toyosu also needs to assert itself in the bay and more widely in Tokyo, by finding its own place and bringing something special to the metropolis. These issues led us to develop a strategy based on the dynamic of a productive district. A district to live in, study, work and be entertained. Productive because of the orientation of future developments, ensuring the arrival of the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market and creating a new economy alongside it.
In order to develop our strategy, we decided to implement our project along three axes. The first focus is about the arrival of the new wholesale market and the creation of a entire area that will support these changes, in order to find real benefits for the landfill in this implantation and to help the population accept it. The second axis concerns the coherence of public spaces and open spaces in general within the scale of the landfill and its links with its surroundings. Systems of paths, roads, crossings and transport have to be increased and developed not only in the existing districts but also in the new developments which are coming. The last axis concerns the smooth interrelations that must be supported in order to unite various type of population: inhabitants, workers and retailers. This area needs improvements but also requires support to anchor the existing activities and Toyosu’s way of life.
TOWARDS MIXED NEIGHBOURHOODS Our choice of projecting a mixed neighbourhood is based on several observations : First of all, as we described it before, the new Toyosu wholesale market is very badly accepted among the population. Creating a supporting economy and a whole new district around it would allow the market to have more depth on the landfill while offering amenities to Toyosu’s population, helping it to accept this relocation. We saw also the Toyosu 22 project which should take place in the pending fields. As shown, this project aims to create a “green energy district” but lacks deeply of design and consistency. Furthermore, if this project is not realise, we can imagined that, because of the free spaces and the
large infrastructures, an industrial zone is likely to take place here. Programming a lively district is then an answer to counteract either of those projects. Moreover, creating a design on the surroundings of the wholesale market will highlight the entire landfill of Toyosu. By programming gradually amenities and equipments as soon as possible, and possibly before the Olympic Games, this would show a good sight of the territory and make forget the massive buildings of the wholesale market. The programmation will also consider the specificities of each neighbourhood to enhance their polarity and keep some contrasts. It will also be thought at a larger scale than the one of Toyosu to encompass the surrounding islands of the bay.
the dynamic centre
The market district
spatial coherence
Above Three mainlines of action
THE ‘MARKET DISTRICT’ : A PRODUCTIVE AND LIVELY URBAN AREA The illustration below represents the main aspects of the transformations we want to implement in the area where the future Tokyo Central Wholesale Market will soon open. Today, the site where the market is planned to reopen is a massive structure, disconnected from its surroundings with no link to the existing district. It certainly explains greatly why this settlement has so little support among the inhabitants.
dynamic business environment associating the future wholesale market and the productive district we offer to create. A lively district open to the population Our intention is also to open this area to a larger community: supporting the creation of a productive district doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be totally business-to-business oriented.
A productive district for qualified professionals In order to better integrate the new market in Toyosu’s environment our strategy aims at developing a vigorous productive district to link the wholesale market facilities to the dynamic centre. After having studied the current urban environment of the Tsukiji market we are convinced that its relocation is likely to generate intense business activity in its surroundings. Therefore it will generate a whole new productive district with parallel economy, answering to the strong opportunities the new market, when opened, will create for professionals. Logistics activities, training school for wholesale market professionals, retailers specialized in seafood industry, hotel and short period housing services, artisans and creators… all these profiles could be attracted and interested in settling in a
Therefore, thinking also about activities and service businesses for customers addresses two ambitions: increasing the economic potential of this district and making it friendly and lively for the entire population (Toyosu residents, Tokyo citizens in general and tourists for example). This way we are making sure to reconcile and connect smoothly the future Tokyo Central Wholesale Market to the rest of Toyosu in one hand and to the great Tokyo on the other hand. The project would welcome a large covered market for families and citizens alongside restaurants, cafés and commercial activities and would support the development of recreative activities (concerts, movie theatre, stroll, sport…). The quality of the environment offers a propitious place for social interactions and entertainment.
Above The actual state Below Our project
The development of the Market district The development of this district will be progressive in order to slowly generate a new economy without causing sudden changes for the population. The 2020 Olympic Games will provide an opportunity to use the significant reserve of lands located in this area in order to promote the sporting event but also to attract people’s attention on Toyosu urban development. Indeed, next to the new market location, large plots of unoccupied land are available. Today many temporary events take place there, allowing the population to make the most of it, like open-air activities such as barbecue and camping. We want to preserve these activities during the Olympic Games period and even intensify them. The idea is to offer sport activities, projections and food services for the crowd that will flow from the Olympic village to the Olympic facilities but also for all the population of Toyosu and Tokyo in general. A temporary structure will be built to host the future public market but also all the activities that will participate in creating a lively area during the sporting event: it would be light structures, easy to install and move, close to Lalaport Shopping mall and Toyosu subway station. After the Olympic Games, the district will gradually expand. In order to keep the spatial coherence of
the landfill and design a whole new neighbourhood which will highlight the particularity of Toyosu’s location, some construction rules will have to be followed. The idea is to progressively intensify the construction on the empty plots that currently remain. The program will be denser along the central axis to benefit from the easy access the road facilities provide. Then along the waterfront the constructions will be less dense and smaller, preserving open spaces and offering paths to stroll and move easily in this new productive district. The development of this productive district could act as an intermediate step before the construction and finalisation of Toyosu 22 operation. Indeed, the twenty hectares that form this area are waiting for an ambitious urban development operation promoting smart city practices. The Tokyo Gas Land Development Co. Ltd., who is leading this project, communicate on the realisation of a complex urban area mixing housing, business and commercial programs in compliance with the guidelines set by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. We share the same ambition by promoting town development but with more consideration for the urban landscape, the environment and disaster prevention.
data center
Parc
new housing
Tsukiji infrastructure
cinema 360 sportive area public market
Above The Tsukiji district before the Olympic Games Below The Tsukiji district during the Olympic Games
Above The Tsukiji district, development of the public market Below The Tsukiji district - final phase
The project phasing development The first phase, before the olympic games consists in implementing temporary activities intimating this new way of life Toyosu is standing for : leisure, family life, sports... A first part a the market can take place in the closest area to generate a new commercial activity which will be strengthened in the future. After the Olympic games, the construction of Tsukiji district can begin. The first support activities can take place in the closest plots of the wholesale market while the first phase of the commercial market gets permanent. Step by step the temporary city is erased giving space to the new real estate and tertiary developments. Some inputs generated before 2020 can stay, continuing
to provide this leisure and family dynamic Toyosu is standing for. The important point is to implement premises of this new district before the OG during which it will be, in a way, tested. Also, constructing gradually the buildings can ensure to be able to face hazards and change of plans. For example, the last plot could be use to continue the market if it shows to work well and need more space, instead of hosting new buildings. This could especially be the case if the public market of Tsukiji would happened to decline and that the shops and amenities it offers had to relocate themselves near the Toyosu wholesale market.
IMPROVING OPEN SPACES CONTINUITY AND THEIR RELATION WITH THE INHABITANTS The second objective of our strategy is to highlight and increase the potential of all the open spaces available in Toyosu. These open spaces: waterfront, parks, squares, docks, streets… are strong assets which scarcity make them all the more precious. As we intend to densify the current unoccupied lands we want to compensate this loss of low value open spaces by the extension of the Lalaport’s park through a sophisticated landscape design. The Gas Science centre will be integrated in this new park to offer an attractive continuity from the residential high-rise buildings, Lalaport shopping mall, the Gas Science centre and the future productive district. This public space will be in direct connection with two other main urban places around the existing concert hall and in continuity of the energy plant public space.
Above Sequenced public spaces
It also appeared important to us to make sure the waterfront embankments are well connected and arranged all around the Toyosu landfill. Indeed, today there are some places where the pedestrian circulation is either not possible or unwelcomed. Therefore our project describe generous streets offering direct links from the main street to the sea front. Most of all, the sea side is kept largely unconstructed in order to keep welcoming temporary uses and help the association’s’ activities so specific of Toyousu’s way of life live on. The public market which could also host restaurant and bars could use the facade on the sea side to develop terrasses and, thus, offering a view while eating, still hard to find around Tokyo.
Improving the mobility The whole district will integrate itself in a network of attractive spaces in which to places would play the role of ‘urban attractors’ to create movement across the landfill. The point of view on the bay, with the recent urban design is the one at the south end of the landfill. And the former Kiba is the one on the north end. The Kiba represent a real opportunity opportunity to imagine the implantation of a new equipment that could highlight this place and resonates in the whole city. Developing these open spaces means improving their quality but also thinking of their relation and connection for a peaceful and smooth appropriation by the population. For instance, we
Above The main axis linked to the sea
want to implement visible information posters and maps with short historical narrative to loosen people flow. During the 2020 Olympic Games, Toyosu will host an intense flow of visitors and it is a key issue for us to ensure an optimal circulation between the Olympic village located in Harumi and the Olympic facilities located in Ariake. We also noticed how uneasy it is for pedestrians to move from one point of Toyosu to another and therefore we would like to promote alternative means of transport such as river and maritime shuttles, segways, self-service bicycles and electric cars and finally electric minibus service.
Above Link and enhancement of landscaped spaces
Below Pavillon of reflection - Zurich 2016 - Tom Emerson
Above Proposition of river shuttles network and self-service individual transports
reinforcing the main axis We considered the main street, crossing Toyosu from the north of Koto-ku to Ariake as structuring axis allowing us to anchor our project in a global coherence. For now, this road is bare, unwelcoming for pedestrians even if it conveniently links the landfill to its surrounding district.
invite street artists to paint on the many unsightly walls. In Toyosu, this could create an interest for this road section a make it appealing while showing the wholesale market from a new point of view.
Ensuring lively ground floors
strengthening the link with Koto
In the new market district, we think that having shops and various activities in the ground floors is a key to ensure a lively neighbourhood. People on the street will be able to cross over to the public market by going through the ground floors. This will create a continuity for all the public spaces and give opportunity for major events to take place.
Toyosu is located in the Koto district. However, there are very few links between the landfill and the rest of the district, which can be partly explained by the gap between Toyosu itself and the northern part of the site: between them, there is an unwelcoming urban tissue composed both of danchi and industrial wastelands.
Vitalising the wholesale market’s crossing In order to overcome the isolation of the market and to make this crossing more inviting, we propose develop an artistic event based on the model of Wynwood district in Miami, USA. Wynwood is a former industrial district which lost its dynamic when all the industry closed. To install life again in this neighbourhood, Miami city council decided to
Facing those elements, we aim to recreate a continuity, based on the model of the “south axis� in Rennes (France) , which will consist in the use of common materials, especially in the open spaces of the site. This choice is meant to recreate a link between these parts of the site, both physical and symbolic. As shown in aerial view, several continuities will be created between the two sites, in order to create a greater unification between them.
Above Enhancement of the central axis
Above Ground floor shops in Tsukiji district
Above Toyosu Wholesale market
Above Wynwood district, Miami, USA
Above The north part of Toyosu
Above The “south axis” projetct, Rennes, France
Above The island on the north of Toyosu
The project phasing development
The logic here is to ensure that the public transports such as buses and river shuttles and individual mobility such as self-service bikes are reinforced before the Olympic Games. The main work on streets will be conduct after the event.
However, advertisment on the future improvement can be install as soon as possible to promote the neighbourhood during the Olympic Games.
Crossing towards Toyosu
THE REQUALIFICATION OF THE DYNAMIC CENTER New adjustable facilities For the third axis on the strategy we propose to connect the old part of Toyosu with the danchi to the new city with the office buildings. We aim at generating a whole entity whose open spaces can work together to strengthened the existing city and become a real dynamic district free from space fragmentation. Our first proposition takes place on the road, crossing the landfill from the north-west to the south-east. This road, originally built for industrial traffic, is now oversized and creates an important gap, hard to cross, in the middle of the district. In order to reverse this dynamic, we propose to invest the sides of this roads by installing adjustable facilities, meant to be permanent if the installation succeeds. In order to create this new open space, our model is the San Francisco Parklet Manual program: “Materials and design interventions are meant to be temporary and easily reversible, should the trial run demonstrate the need for design changes. After testing their performance, some spaces are reclaimed permanently as public open spaces. Seating, landscaping, and paving treatments are common features of all projects.� 1 Those facilities will have two main goals: the first one is to create an impetus toward the Olympic Games. Indeed, the number of people visiting the site will increase constantly before and during this huge event. The idea of this facility is to propose a new way to perceive Toyosu, not just as the site which hosts the new wholesale market, but also as a site inside Tokyo which proposes new, participative and collective facilities in the open spaces. The second one is to create a new place for the inhabitants of Toyosu: indeed, it can create another way to live in Toyosu, not just as a practical place near Ginza, but also as a qualitative place with its own benefits.
uses on this street, but the aim is also to recreate links within the other parts of Toyosu, including the danchi.. Therefore, we propose to create a breach in one of the building, in order to lighten the perspective between the danchi, the road and the bay. This action is based on as few destructions as possible, since the danchi are implanted in the public heritage and are a part of the site’s history. This small destruction will respect the urban outline, while slightly moving it. We chose not to tackle the issue of the inside of the danchi - the flat scale because we did not had the chance to see one; this is why those breaks are a full part of our strategy to recreate a synergy within the surroundings. We also noticed the place occupied by cars at Toyosu, especially near the danchi. Their number creates an impression of a wide layer on the ground, monopolizing a space that could be reinvented. Therefore, we propose to develop parking silos, in order to free this space and to recreate other facilities, including spaces dedicated to nature, in the centre of each block. This has two assets: we keep the possibility for those inhabitants to have a car, while giving more space to develop other activities, new facilities, modern uses of space. Besides, there is also an aesthetic asset: the cars will be less visible, less visual clutter.
Those facilities will require space. Therefore, our proposal is to reduce a part of the huge oversized road to implant those new facilities: since they are meant to be adjustable, they can be moved in and out in accordance with the current traffic and the needs. Opening new breaks, creating new uses
Those first elements will lead to create new
Above Reference of San Francisco Parklet
Above Actual state
Above Pictures of San Francisco Parklet
Above Project
Danchi
Parkings
Mixed-used tower Common premises
Central road
Above Initial state of the site Below 1 Requalification of the central road
Renovation of the ground floor Deletion of a track and installation of new uses
Breakthroughs guaranteeing the continuity of prospect
Planning of crossings
Above 2 Opening of danchis Below 3 Construction of parking to free space
New open spaces
Construction of parkings
Activities on ground floor
Restoration of premises common and other activities
The project phasing development As we do not want a city with constructions in progress during the Olympic Games, we begin by deleting one road on each side after 2020. The refurbishment of the first floors on the main axis will bring new commercial activities and services along the sidewalks. Step by step, parklets will occupy the deleted road to provide more space to the activities on the street and bring the sidewalks to a more human and family scale. As the road as been reduced, in a second time, the traffic can be interrupted by several zebra crossing linking the new and the old part of Toyosu. While the danchi are getting refurbished, some continuities can be introduced by piercing them on the axis of the new streets planned in the new city. Thus, the whole landfill’s grid is connected without interruption.
Then, in a last time, inside the danchi’s are the parking plots which can be refurbished. Car park building will condense the place occupied by the car and the empty space generated can be used for common activities, new real estate development, public gardens and other amenities. Through this planification on a long term, we aim at intimating the concept of mutability (from the diagnosis to the strategy) by implementing new uses step by step, in several phases. So this project can be adapted to the modifications brought by the time, the fluctuations of the real estate market, and uses. The progression of the occupations of the lands gives an adaptability which allows corrections to give a better answer to the challenges the bay will face in the next years.
Above The project phasing development
ENHANCING A NEW METROPOLITAN DISTRICT This report has been devoted to the transformation of Toyosu’s division into a lever for its development, for its new place in the metropolis. Our strategy is meant to be flexible enough to absorb multiple temporalities, several uses and users, in order to anticipate the future, and for some unpredictable, evolutions of this site. For instance, the facilities that we propose on the main road linking to the north of the district are not meant to be definitive in the first time: before their implementation, there will be a phase of test, appropriation, evaluation. Facing the reality of the Toyosu 22 project, we chose to develop a strategy not at the exact opposite of this project, but who can be built with it. Therefore, our project can be understood as a premise of Toyosu 22 in terms of participation of the inhabitants, especially in the designed public spaces and in the development of a new and peaceful relationship with the bay. But we propose a new way to consider urbanity: a district were nature is part of the project and were buildings are in direct relation with the whole space, opposing it to the design Toyosu 22 is planning which take the form of towers scattered in the middle of an indefinite green space. The project that we propose will also aim to create a original place for Toyosu in the metropolis’ landscape. The originality of Toyosu’s way of life and the rare amenities it will host could make it become a very special district in Tokyo.
On the left Aerial photography of our project
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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CHOAY Françoise, L’Allégorie du patrimoine, Paris, Ed Seuil, 1992 COLLIN Michèle, Ville et Port, XVIII - XX siècles, Editions l’Harmattan, 1994 FOUCHIER Vincent, Les densités urbaines et le développement durable, le cas de l’Ile-de-France et des villes nouvelles, Paris, éd. du SGVN, 1997
AVELINE Natacha, chap. III « Les règles d’urbanisme et de construction », La bulle foncière au Japon, éditions de l’ADEF, Paris, p. 43-60, 1995 AVELINE Natacha, Un financement original, la valorisation des gares au Japon, Paris, 2005, Manuscrit auteur, publié dans «11ème rencontres parlementaires sur les transports, Paris : France (2004)» AVELINE Natacha, Tokyo, métropole japonaise en mouvement perpétuel, article paru sur le site
«géoconfluences » le 20 septembre 2006.
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AVELINE Natacha, «L’expérience particulière du Japon en matière de renouvellement urbain », Droit et Ville, n°55, 2003, actes de la journée d’études sur le renouvellement urbain du 18 oct. 2002, p.59-69.
About the vertical form
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«La barre des 40.000 centenaires franchie au Japon», Aujourd’hui le Japon, 12 septembre 2009, AFP About Toyosu and its surroundings
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Sekai Property, “4 facts that you should know about Toyosu, Koto ward”, 05 avril 2016 YOSHIDA Reiji, “Toxin levels low, but jury out on long-term risks at Toyosu market”, Japan Times, 11 octobre 2016 Japan Times, “Two new Tokyo subway lines being planned”, Masaaki Kameda, 13 Juillet 2015 Japan Property Central Blog, “Daiwa House acquires development site in Ariake”, Zoe Ward, September 4th 2013 Japan Property Central Blog, “Tokyo apartment asking prices in March 2017”, Zoe Ward, April 26th2017 Japan Property Central Blog, “Skyz Tower in Toyosu to be a test of market conditions”, Zoe Ward, June 26th 2013 Japan Property Central Blog, “Tokyo’s bayside islands struggling with apartment and population boom”, Zoe Ward, July 8th 2014 Japan Times, “Koike now looking to build Ariake Arena for Olympic volleyball at lower cost”, Jiji,December 15th 2016
About the Olympic games
Cartography
Japan Times, “Koike now looking to build Ariake Arena for Olympic volleyball at lower cost”, Jiji, December 15th 2016
http://www2.wagamachi-guide.com
Japan Property Central Blog, “Tokyo bayside apartment bubble to burst after Olympics?”, Zoe Ward, March 20th 2014
Webography
Swim Swam, “Tokyo Committee Olympic wants to use existing pools for Tokyo 2020 Olympic games”, Hannah Hetch, October 1st 2016
http://tokyomonamour.unblog.fr/
About the Parklets
http://www.tokyogas-toyosu.co.jp/project/ toyosu22/
http://cityzone.mapexpert.net
http://www.toshiseibi.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/
http://pavementtoparks.org
MARBUT Max, «Turning Parkind spots into paraklets», Daily Record, December 10th, 2015
http://www.toyosuzine.com/
Conferences
Filmography
BOURDIER Marc, “La constitution historique de la ville de Tokyo”, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, 04 mars 2014
FAURE Damien, Tokyo et les « espaces intercalaires », 2012, 56 minutes Miyazaki Hayao, Le vent se lève, 2014, 2h6min Vidéography
Legislative texts
h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o
Article 552 du code civil français, créé par la loi 1804-01-27 promulguée le 6 février 1804
On the right View of Toyosu from Harumi