Collins Tokyo Urbanism Case Study

1603 Tokyo after Great Kanto Earthquake | 1910

Tokyo after World War II| 1945

1950

1721 1910

Tokyo Canal | 1910

Government investment into infrastructure leads to an expanded canal network and a rail network centralized around Tokyo Station being developed.

1923

There are contradicting theories on where the settlers of Japan came from (10,000 BC and 5,000 BC) and how the native people (Ainu and Emishi) were driven out. But it is a widely agreed upon belief that these settlers survived based on groupism. Groupism or group-mind stresses that the most dangerous thing someone can do is be a maverick. As abundant natural disasters plagued the country and destroyed countless villages there was a constant need to rebuild. As a result, one selfish person could be responsible for hurting and damaging to the rest.

Those unwilling to, “stay in line” and follow the status quo were ostracized to maintain this strict system of compliance and trust. Even today, this mentality of gaman (spirit of self-control and a dedication to the greater good through self-discipline) is banal in 21st century Japan. People are reluctant to speak out and would rather stay silent. This had led to the acceptance of “black companies”, groping on trains, and the highest suicide rate of teenagers in the world. While the city’s facades adorn wallpapers around the world, the silent victims of groupism remain in the dark.

The last shogun surrenders power back to the emperor of Japan. Edo Castle is transformed into the Imperial Castle, Edo is renamed to Tokyo, and Tokyo becomes the new capital of Japan.

1923 Great Kanto Earthquake

1947 1945

A P A N

Edo | 1721

Commodore Mathew Perry lands in Japan leading to economic downfall and rapid inflation

1965

Japan is a proud nation. Unwilling to acknowledge their atrocities in Nanjing, China and continuing to teach their youth that World War Two was a defensive approach, Japan is not as cute (also known as “Kawaii”) as it lets the world believe. This unwavering faith and hive-minded approach is a result of centuries of Darwinism. While Kawaii Culture portrays Japan as comical and innocent, a potential result of the Cold War, there is a dark underside to this city of neon lights.

1853

Jack Collins

With a population of 1 million people, Edo enters the Pax Tokugawa period.

Japan’s strict class system is introduced and leads to 250 peaceful years.

1869

Pre-Shogunate Edo | Late 12th Century

2007

Tokyo after World War II| 1945

2020

The Land of the Rising Canals

Tokugawa Shogunate turns Edo (Tokyo), a small fishing village, into a political center and begins construction of Edo Castle and urbanization: canals and temples are built around the city.

Tokyo is relentlessly bombed by The United States of America including the largest bombing run in history.

Tokyo metropolis is divided into 23 Special wards.

Tokyo’s waterways are polluted beyond recognition by the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Instead of cleaning these, many were filled in with construction debris, concrete, or paved over for new road networks.

Tokyo hosts the world’s most ‘sustainable’ Olympics to date while being under heavy criticism for “greenwashing”, unfair labor practices, and hypocritical promises.

Tokyo Seismic Intensity Scale With 70% of its land covered in mountainous terrain, Tokyo metropolis is the largest segment of flat land on the main continent. This unique trait to the city allowed it to expand rapidly when it was transformed from a small fishing village into the magnificent city it is today. But this area is plagued with natural disasters. Tokyo is blasted with 26 typhoons each year and houses 20% of the world’s earthquakes of a 6.0 magnitude or above. This heavy seismic activity, which often occurs under water creating tsunamis, is due to its position on the Ring of Fire and location near four tectonic plates.

Even with this increased seismic activity, Tokyo has a ratio of collapsed buildings that is much lower than other cities due to constant improvements to their structural code.

Elevation Map of Japan

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo is much larger than most people believe. Comprised of twenty-three special wards, twenty-six cities, five towns, and eight villages; Tokyo is home to an astonishing 38 million people. With the largest GDP of any city ($1.52 trillion), a GDP larger than all but eight countries, this command center for the global economy has a bleak future. The duality of a rapidly aging population and low birth rate is a scary fate. Today, one-in-ten homes in Tokyo are abandoned. These abandoned homes, also known as akiya, are due to this aging population and the threat of earthquakes. Residents are so influenced by structural improvements, and a pressing termite issue across the country, that many of these homes are sold for next to nothing. Even with earthquake safety measures costing new construction 50% when compared to other cities, akiya are sprinkled throughout the country.

Tokyo metropolis, what most people assume is all of Tokyo, is comprised of 23 special wards. These wards were created after World War Two as part of the surrender agreement to weaken the central Japanese government. Each ward is run by its own mayor, with a governor overseeing all wards. Because of this unique system, Tokyo is better understood as collection of neighborhoods rather than a large metropolis. Almost the entire city is under mixed use zoning which has resulted in clusters of activity around train stations, the main form of transportation. These stations serve as the connection between neighborhoods and are so important that house and apartment listings always include the walking distance to the closest station.

23 Special Wards of Tokyo

Trains Transversing Canal in Tokyo

Water vs. Rail Tokyo Figure Ground

Map of Edo | 1861

Water of Life

Waterways were so important to Edo before rail transportation that they were a prominent feature on maps.

Today, the city is so extensive yet with the loss of canal systems seems unrecognizable compared to 1861 Edo.

Train stations were not always as prominent as they are today; the Tokyo Bay and the extensive canal systems used to be the primary transportation network for the city. It was not until 1960s that the bronchioles that breathed life into the city were destroyed. The Olympics killed the Venice of the East.

Lung and Transportation Comparison The transportation network connecting these extensive neighborhoods is the reason Tokyo has been so successful.

Canals were the breath of life to the city for over 400 years. Dubbed as the Venice of the East, and even as recently as fifty years ago, these canals were relatively clean. Industrialization was not kind to the once pristine waterways, but the point of no return would come with the 1964 Olympic Games. With this new, heavy load of pollution and trash, the veins have been mostly filled in or abandoned.

Instead of cleaning up the sludge, canals were filled in with construction debris and paved over for highways. For one of the world’s leading countries in sustainability, it is ironic they turned their back on, and destroyed, the environmental feature that built the city.

Connection Between Terminals

Nerve Cells

Unlike the canals of the past, train stations serve as the nerves that connect the city in present day Tokyo. Originally, the Japanese government invested heavily into the train systems because of its lack of access to oil after World War Two. In the next 50 years, Japan would go on to become the model train system of the world. With a new maglev train (magnetic levitation train) in development that would allow commuters from Osaka to arrive in Tokyo in sixty-seven minutes (308 miles) they continue to innovate. To put that into perspective, for a commuter to travel by car to Chicago from Bowling Green would take four times as long and be 50 miles shorter (256 miles). A side effect of this colossal train network is the abundance of mixed-use zoning. These train stations serve as hubs across Tokyo and are symbolically similar to the position of Edo Castle. The area lives off of the station, so much so that all housing (homes and apartments) lists the walking distance to the closest train stations. Besides the ability to commute around the city, the area around the station houses most of the shopping districts, entertainment, bars, restaurants, and grocery stores for the area. This has resulted in residents of Tokyo owning 0.4 cars per capita.

The new maglev rail by Central Japan Railway is expected to cost a total of 64 billion and begin commercial service in 2027. The increase of 14 billion over initial estimates are due to earthquake-proofing measures.

Women-only Subway Car

Edo Castle

Shibuya Station

The nerves of the city are not without their problems. Women, but mostly teenage girls, are groped on the subway every single day. There are simply too many people traveling on these trains (that serve 40 million people a day) for there to be adequate space. Not speaking up or about gropers is an issue tied directly into groupism. Thankfully new safety measures are starting to appear with the creation of female-only cars, but the problem persists today with many women feeling they must remain silent.

Tokyo to Osaka | 308 Miles

Shibuya Crossing | Non-Residential vs. Residential

Duality of Tracks and Canals These canal routes were so influential in creating the circulation of goods throughout the years that modern tracks run parallel to these abandoned canals.

Tokyo Passenger Pusher

Shibuya Crossing Statue

During rush hours, Tokyo train companies employ professional passenger pushers to literally push passengers into these trains. With the most punctual schedule in the world, train conductors will issue formal and public apologies for departing half a second late.

As a rule of thumb for getting on the train, if you have any part of your body in the train, you have secured your spot. These pushers will ensure you get on that current train. While outsiders might criticize this system as needing “more trains running,” these trains depart every two to four minutes.

As one of Japan’s unofficial landmarks, the Hachiko Statue in Shibuya Crossing serves as one of the most famous meeting places in Japan. This statue tells the story of the faithful akita dog as he waited at the station every day for his owner, even after his death.

Tokyo Subway Rush Hour

Shibuya crossing, also known as the Times Square of Japan, is one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. This plaza is an excellent example of how the train stations serve as hubs for individual neighborhoods. A vast majority of the shops residents of this neighborhood need can be found in the surrounding area. From karaoke to bookstores this area has it all. This type of environment is fascinating to research. Someone could live their entire life in the city yet never visit most neighborhoods.

Shockingly, even an area with this many people has a very low crime rate. Consistently ranked within the top five safest cities, it is very common for people to leave laptops on tables at coffee shops when they stand up. This type of environment would never be possible without the use of rail throughout the city creating urban bubbles for residents to enjoy.

Additionally, skyscrapers across Japan are shorter than the average around the globe. This loss of square footage makes it all the more important to squeeze every inch of space possible.

Shijuku Crossing Shinjuku station is the busiest train station in the world with over 3.5 million passengers per day. It is the main station connecting the 23 special wards of Tokyo Metropolis to Western Tokyo. This station, much like Shibuya, has created a small skyscraper district around it and has also seen unprecedented growth in the last forty years.

Shinjuku Nerve Cell

Shinjuku Spaces Shinjuku station serves as a datum separating the education skyscraper area on the left from the red-light district on the right. In every sense of the phrase, “you grew up on the wrong side of the tracks,” there is clear red lining for the zones. Tokyo’s red-light district is the largest concentration of crime, Yakuza, scams, and tourist traps in the city with a crime rate of 38.7%.

Shinjuku | Datum

The most interesting part of this plaza is the history. Immediately after World War Two, this plaza turned into an impromptu black market. The streets were lined with brothels and everything from food to clothing was sold in back-alley ways. But that would change when the Anti-Prostitution Act of 1957 was passed. This forced all of the brothels to move across the tracks to where they are today seperating the heart of the city from its creator.

Shinjuku Green Space While Shinjuku station is in the heart of the city, green space is still relatively close at all times for residents. The diagram above shows how expansive the residential mixed-use space is across these extensive neighborhoods.

Olympic Stadium Design Proposals

Olympic Stadium Floor Plan

“Transparency is a characteristic of Japanese architecture; I try to use light and natural materials to get a new kind of transparency” - Kengo Kuma

Museum in Turkey | Kengo Kuma

Originally, the Japan National Stadium was going to be built

by Zaha Hadid. Her proposal would have been the largest and most expensive stadium built to date, but the Prime Minister of Japan pulled out of her design before construction started. This retrograde and new bid proposal was because Zaha’s design was 1.2 billion over budget, was encroaching on a religious site, and had received extensive criticism from Japanese residents and architects alike. The majority of these criticisms cited that besides being too large, the stadium did not have a place in the Tokyo skyline. It simply did not belong, and it was not Japanese. When the call for bids was reopened, Zaha was barred from entry because no Japanese contractors were willing to work with her. This launched a large lawsuit.

The winning submission was

by Kengo Kuma, a very prominent Japanese architect who specializes in wood and glass construction. By taking precedent from the nearby Meiji Shrine, Kengo used wood from all 47 prefectures of Japan. However the company used was in direct violation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Sustainability Plan. The Malaysian logging company hired not only had deforested rainforests but also had human rights violations as well.

Tokyo Temperature and Rainfall Dubbed the “hottest Olympics,” the 2021 Olympic Games have been the warmest on record so far. This, however, is not a record they wanted to break. With the loss of canals flowing through the city the natural cooling by wind flow has decreased. The urban heat island effect combined with the loss of cooling turned the city into an oven. Although 20% of the city’s land is used as parks and green spaces, it is still not enough. By reopening canals, Tokyo would be one step closer to its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Hashira (Pillars) The iconic pillars on the outside of this new stadium pay homage to the traditional Japanese wooden structures.

Public Transportation Dangers Without their large-scale public transportation network Tokyo would fail. Their city, and lives, are built around the time saved, and distance traveled. But the down sides to a rail network are still prevalent. Like the maglev, development and implementation of these systems are extensive, time consuming, and costly. Additionally, they hold unique safety threats compared to cars. For women, groping has made its way into pop culture and is a serious consideration when taking the trains. Another issue is in the event of a terrorist attack like the Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway in the 1990s, there is no way to escape. The victims of this horrific bio-weapon were everyday citizens, but they were trapped in an underground steel tomb.

Sustainability Claims

Olympic Stadium Greenspace

This building is a hypocritical statement by the Japanese Government showing that sustainability is not a huge concern. Just because you pay CO2 credits for future projects does not mean you are creating a sustainable future.

In the same vein, preaching recycling with recycled Nike uniforms and cardboard beds only goes so far. If they really wanted to make an impact, they could have gone plastic-free for the games. The statement that this is…” first-ever carbon negative Olympics” is a flat out lie. In fact, David Gogi, a researcher at University of Lausanne, says this is the third least sustainable Olympics since 1992. The continued talk of sustainable design would have been much more provoking if they had tried to resurrect the canal network through the city. While the pollution would be time consuming and expensive for repairs, this feature would increase tourism, trade, and profitability. The canals are gone and they are almost forgotten. Japan’s groupism mentality led to a rejection of Zaha’s “not Japanese enough” design, but their own hypocrisy is comical considering they destroyed the city’s most prominent founding feature.

Hydrogen Hydrogen fueled flames for the torches and hydrogen powered buses/shuttles were used to transport athletes.

Water Collection Rainwater was collected from the roof and stored in a water recycling system housed in the basement.

Solar Panels Photovoltaic panels were situated along the top of the roof to negate the power used in the stadium.

Venilation Natural ventilation was used to cool the stadium. With this design they were able to completely remove all AC units in the stadium while still providing a comfortable space.

Stadium Nerve Cell *This is an abbreviated form of the work produced for ARCH 4210 and is a visual tool to be used as a NAAB resource. All citations relevant to this project are kept on a separate document.