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URL: http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/cpij

Edited by: The City Planning Institute of Japan,

No.29 Mar. 2008

International Affairs Committee

Table of Contents■Evolution and today’s issues on the Tama Newtown development
Yasuhiro NARUSE & Sadatsugu NISHIURA■The Revitalization of the Suwa/ Nagayama District is Hot
Takao Akimoto■Volunteer works in Suwa / Nagayama Community Center
Miki Yasui■The Contention and Situation Concerning the Revitalization of theInitially Developed Areas of the Tama Newtown
Shunsuke Arakawa

Evolution and today’s issues on the Tama Newtown development

Yasuhiro NARUSE
Sadatsugu NISHIURA

Toshi Sekkei Corp.
Dept. of Environmental Systems, Meisei Univ.

Since the Tama Newtown New Urban Residential Area Development Project (area: 2962ha, anticipated population:about 300000) has been decided as an urban project in December 1965, the development of urban area has been conductedin line with the time requirement and the needs of the society. In considering the procedures and transition of the plan, it
can be separated into 8 development periods; 1) Development planning, 2) Decision of the urban project, 3) Start of theproject, 4) First construction and move-in of houses, 5) Halt of housing construction, 6) Restart of the housing construction, 7) Expansion of urban development, and 8) Development into a multi-function complex city.
The initial goal of the Tama Newtown development in the development planning period was to supply a large
quantity of cheap housing complexes with a good living environment. In the 1960’s, accompanied with the rapid economic growth, the industrial structure changed drastically. The workers shifted from the primary industry to the secondary and tertiary industry, and more and more people moved into the cities. With this historical backdrop, the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government decided to supply housing in the southern Tama region by means of large-scale development
and it led to the materialization of the Tama Newtown.
The Tama Newtown development was initially planned in around 1960, but it was not until 1971 when the firsthousing construction and moving-in started. The moving-in started before the completion of the infrastructure and causedconfusion. The Tama city requested the housing construction to be stopped, and it was not for another five years, until therestart of the housing construction and moving-in in 1976 took place. The four conditions requested by the Tama city inrestarting the housing construction were; 1) Financial aid to the city, 2) Planning of railroads, 3) Construction of a general
hospital, and 4) Materialization of the change in administrative boundaries. Especially, the financial burden of the municipal government due to the increase of the population, such as school construction, was taken seriously. In response tothis, in 1974, “The Tama Newtown Budget and Administration Outline” was settled, and the basic policy of city development changed drastically.
However, in addition to the unfortunate incident of the energy crisis, “Oil Shock”, Japan had already realized “onehouse per one family” and people were searching for quality, not quantity. Thus, though the housing construction restarted and the second moving-in took place, there were many vacancies.
After this failure, the direction of urban development in Tama Newtown was modified to a great extent to satisfy
people who purchased a house, rather than merely satisfying the basic policy. As the result of this effort, the Tama
Newtown is now evaluated as an extremely high quality town. It has just finished the infrastructure construction, such as
the Urban Residential Area Development Project and housing construction on completed housing lots and facility construction is still being carried out actively. Sustained by this popularity, various activities concerning urban developmentby the residents themselves are under way.
Under these circumstances, in the Suwa, Nagayama and Atago districts where the moving-in started in 1971 to 1973
(first moving-in), the decline of birth rates and aging population are progressing, and it is ridiculed as “the future oldtown” by the media. In addition, as the housings look “a little shabbier” compared to the other districts, there are areas
where the reconstruction of the apartment buildings is discussed. The spearhead is the “Suwa 2nd Block Housing
Complex Management Organization”, and discussions seem to be settling on reconstruction. Pushed by the various
activities by the residents to revitalize the area, the Tama city and the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR), which had been
engaged in past developments are starting to show movements to deal with the revitalization of the Tama Newtown.

Figure-1 Tama Newtown development project

Figure-2 Project decision in 1966

Figure-3 First moving-in

Figure-4 From “quantity” to “quality”

Figure-5 Declining of neighbor centre

Figure-6 Movements for community formation

The Revitalization of the Suwa/ Nagayama District is Hot

Takao Akimoto Tama Newtown, Conference of Urban DevelopmentExperts “Tama Machi Sen”

RevivalIt is assumed that the reason why the Suwa/
Nagayama distri ct of the Tama city is attracting
attention from various directions is that it is the first
big-scale development area in the Tama Newtown,
has a number of small-size decrepit houses built
around the time of the energy crisis (“The OilShock”), and is just about 30 minutes away from theShinjuku high-rise complex. In addition, the numberof decrepit housing only accounts for about 10% of
the number of apartments in the entire Newtown and
it is of an ideal size to handle when a necessity forreform arises. These are the reasons for evoking

Figure-1 Present of Suwa/Nagayama

discussions on the national level and various measures are poured in like concentrated gunfire.
When making a generalization of the Suwa/Nagayama district under these circumstances, there are about 6200
houses provided around the time of the energy crisis. Whether they are condominiums or apartments for rent, most ofthem are less than 50 m2 and are densely concentrated in one area. This results in a concentration of the same family units
and generation in the area. Especially in the case of apartments for rent, 1500 council housing (Tokyo public housingcomplex) for low-income families and 4000 apartments of the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR) for rent coexist as large
scale blocks. In the midst of this, the identical blocks of small condominiums of the same scale are constructed. This wasthe realization of the neighborhood theory at that time, and was the challenging field in terms of the technical capacity of
the Housing Corporation, which was promoting the complete separation of cars and pedestrians based on the purificationof land usage at that time.
The present situation came to be as a result and there are pros and cons about it, but it is true that there are many tasks
associated with utilizing these apartments. The movement for fundamental improvements was born at the time of theObuchi government. Now, there are movements to revitalize the area with the support of the national and municipal
governments including the involvement of the residents. Several projects of the National Land and Transportation
Ministry and the Health and Welfare Ministry including that of the reconstruction of the Suwa 2nd block are materializing
and it is reaching the stage where the injection of publicfunds has a direct bearing on specific project.

The Reasons for the Aging Community
Concerning the family unit circumstances in theSuwa/Nagayama district, it can be said that the aging
families are prominent compared to the average of theentire Tama Newtown or Tama city. Especially, theTokyo public housing complex and UR’s apartments forrent have an exceptionally high rate of old-aged residents. The reason for this concentration of the elderly is

Figure-2 Elderly people live alone in Suwa/Nagayama

obvious. The apartments are too small for families withchildren. In the Tokyo public housing complex, wherethe housing is only provided to low-income families,
the elderly with low-income levels tend to concentrate
in such housing complex. In the UR’s apartments forrent, measures were taken to reform the ground and 2nd
floors of empty apartments into elderly friendly spaces
and a scheme to concentrate the elderly is established.
In addition, due to the imbalance of the housing rent,
many residents want to move from the UR apartment toFigure-3 Situation of aging in Suwa/Nagayama

the Tokyo public housing complex. The motive ofmoving is simply the change in the economic environment, which further distorts the structure of thecommunity. Unfortunately, the situation is a result of
the restriction policy that contradicts the idea of social
mix and improvements are required.

Mission
Under these circumstances, there are various
movements which try to reorganize the Suwa/Nagayama district within the region. The “TamaFigure-4 Report of Nagayama rental housing complex
self-governing bodyNewtown, Conference of Urban Development Experts (Tama MachiSen)”, which I am involved, is one of those movements and it is
proposing three coaxial proposals.
The first proposal is to support the creation of an environment, inwhich the residents can keep on living in the area with satisfaction. Inorder to materialize this, it is necessary to make a network of various
groups and activities that are supporting the elderly. We have set up
an activity base in the Suwa shopping mall. The second proposal is toFigure-5 What you can do for it

promote the revitalization and improvement of the local assets, suchas the good quality city infrastructure that has been nourished by thebig-scale urban planning in accordance with the needs of the time.
We are engaged in the activity of discovering business with citizen’s
partnership through the local treasure hunting business. The third
proposal is to promote local management by local residents, large
scale land owners, such as the UR and the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government, and apartment complex management organizations.
Figure-6 Let’s start management

We have already made the first step with the support from the national government on the research of area management and from themunicipal government and the UR.
We envision that these activities will gather local wisdom andwill utilize the local assets by relating people to people. Our goal isto reorganize the Suwa/Nagayama district into a district, where asustainable and stable local society is built. The “Tama Newtown,
Conference of Urban Development Experts (Tama Machi Sen)” willcontinue to carry out the mission of forming a safe and stable society in the Tama Newtown through these activities.

Figure-7 proposal of mixture residence

Volunteer works in Suwa / Nagayama Community Center

Miki Yasui

Hosei University

I started teaching at Hosei University, located in the Tama district, three years ago and started formulating plans andcarrying out activities for the revitalization of the neighborhood center of the Suwa district in the Tama Newtown with mylab students two years ago. It all began with a request from a shop and land owner of a subdivision in the Suwa shopping
mall to a local consultant for assistance with mapping out a future vision of the shopping mall, which included reconstruction.

In 2006, the sophomores of my lab studied the history and problems of the Tama Newtown and had a mission ofresearching the possibilities of reconstructing the Suwa
shopping mall in the latter term. The students drew up amulti-generation exchange plan through reconstructing andresearching into this plan by sending out questionnaires tostore managers and visiting the town hall and developers.
This plan did not materialize, but the president of the Suwa
shopping mall, who was aware of the students’ activities,
asked whether the students could provide assistance withlivening up the shopping mall. It was then decided that thevarious events of the shopping mall, which were postponed
the year before due to the aging shop owners, would be
carried out with the help of the students that year. In order toutilize the events as an occasion for local interactions, theparticipation of the nearby Kokushikan University, Tama Art
University, children’s houses and other organizations werecalled upon. Various ideas, such as a children’s playgroundusing vacant stores, materialized and a symposium on considering the future of the district was held. There werevarious movements concerning the Suwa/Nagayama district
during these days and it was designated as an area for
management promotion by the National Land and Trans-Figure-1

Suwa/Nagayama shopping mallportation Ministry.
What we have done was providing assistance and support to event organization. From the view point of area
management and promotion of self-governance, which is one of my research fields, I think this was an interesting experiment. The cancellation of events in the area symbolizes the absence of manpower in carrying out area management
Based on the experience of research and action in other areas, the framework of area management cannot not be built
unless the land owners and residents recognize its necessity. In order to recognize the necessity, it is effective to beinvolved in practical experiments together, rather than conducting discussions. By raising questions, such as “it waspossible to hold an event this time with the assistance and support of the students, but do we need such assistance to hold
events in the future?”, “who is going to hold the event?” and “how is the event going to be financed?” will direct thepeople to review the issue of area management. I hope that holding events will be an opportunity to raise the community
spirit of the area and call for a shop owners’ association or a scheme of area management that will substitute it in holding
the events on the long run. Owing to the aging shop owners and decrepit facilities, this shopping mall is not in the rightshape to gather customers, and nothing will change without external support. On the other hand, considering the fact that
there are many residents in the area and that they themselves are getting old, it is believed that there are still quite a lot ofroles in the neighborhood center which can be accessed on foot. Thus, the research on the new roles of the neighborhoodunits and neighborhood centers in the “new town” will be continued and activity support in the area will be carried on
together with the students.

Year of 2007
Event Plan and Management support
July,2007 (The Star Festival)
1. Stage Event
Performances by clubs in University
2. Vacant Store Event
Playroom for kids, lounge, Shichirin-Alley,
Symposium
3. Events in Each Stores
Students cooperates with storekeepers for new ideas

Figure-2 event meeting

Figure-3

Event plan

The Contention and Situation Concerning the Revitalization of the Initially Developed
Areas of the Tama Newtown
Shunsuke ARAKAWA

Aruteppu Co., Ltd.

1. What are the present problems of the Tama Newtown? Why is the revitalization being carried out now?
The development of the Tama Newtown that had been continued for over 40 years has just finished several years agoand many people think that there are not many serious problems as a whole. The consensus for dealing with this revitalization among ministries concerned, housing and facility administrators and residents is not necessarily built either.
Compared to the general urban areas in the suburbs of the Tokyo metropolis, the standard of public facilities, such as
roads and parks, are much higher, the disaster prevention is advanced, andmoreover, the Newtown is starting to have vitality and independence as aresidential city gradually growing out from a bedroom town. The problem ofvandalism, which is often seen in European cities, is unseen. Many residents
appreciate the environment, rich in green and suitable for raising children,with the intention to stay in the region.
● If there is a need to consider revitalization, it will be the initially developed

Figure-1
Full-grown residential area in richareas of Suwa/Nagayama.
● In these areas, due to the aging
subdivisions (mainly the degradation of the structure andthe smallness of the houses),
the move for reconstruction
has already started and now
Figure-2 Centre area with many elderly

Figure-3
Apartments in good environment but
small and no elevatorthey are just facing the start of the project.
● The following are other associated problems:・Most of the public rental apartments are small and are not suitable for families with children to live continuously.
Therefore, there is a tendency that these families are unwillingly moving out of the area. As a result, the compositionof generations and family units has become uneven and the ratio of old generation and two-person family units isextraordinarily high.
・Most of these rental apartment buildings are 5-storied buildings without elevators, in which it is becoming difficult
for the elderly to live.
Dissatisfaction and requests for improvements on this issue is very strong and the municipal government (Tama city)
acknowledges the seriousness of this problem.
・As the area is hilly, the ups and downs of the streets are making it difficult for the elderly to walk as well and somekind of countermeasure is required.
・The more serious of these problems is the decline of the neighborhoodcenters. The neighborhood centers or-ganized with the neighborhood stores as the core are declining due to the development of big-scale commercial
establishments in the suburbs. It is difficult in finding people to take over as store managers and it is inconvenient tovisit the centers by car as the centers were structured based on the Japanese style neighborhood unit theory. Some ofthe stores in the centers are closed down or converted to other usage and the centers are struggling to survive. As theresult, residents, especially the elderly and people with small children, are finding it inconvenient in terms ofshopping for necessities and there are strong requests for improvements.
・In addition, upon comparison with the ideal situation, it can be said that there is not enough facilities and systems tosupport the employment and social participation of women and the elderly, whose number is expected to grow rapidly without doubt, living in the area. It has also become clear that there are problems concerning town block parks
and traffic facilities, such as plazas in front of railway stations.
The reasons for the move towards the revitalization under these circumstances are as follows:●Mid-term reasons
・To support the continuous inhabitancy of residents and correct the imbalance of generations and family units inaddition to improvements of the housing stock as mentioned above.
・To take countermeasures against the rapidly aging society at the early stage. The ratio of the aging population in Japan
has reached 20.2% in 2005 and is expected to hit 33.7% within the next 30 years and Japan will be the world’s mostaged society.
・To support women’s work and childrearing in connection to the national issue of reversing the birthrate decline.
・ To reinforce the convenience of life and attraction/ vivacity of the town by the revitalization of the neighborhood
centers.
●Long-term reasons
The entire population of Japan has been on the decline since 2006. The population and the number of households
will decline in the suburbs of the metropolitan areas in the near future and there are concerns on dilapidation in some areas.
There are already 3,130,000 vacant houses in the metropolitan areas of Japan.
To prepare for this situation, it is necessary to reorganize the land usage and space density in the suburban areas,
where the Newtown is located, even though it may take some time. It is necessary to start making such considerations
promptly, so that the Newtown, which is a precious social capital, can act as a frontrunner to lead and guide other areas.

From this viewpoint, it is desirable to start considering the revitalization plans, including the large-scale conversion ofland usage, reduction of the number and density of housing, and conversion to the “Compact City”, which are in progressin some European cities. However, this viewpoint is not necessarily socially acknowledged and there are still different
arguments.
Under these circumstances, the following are the issues that should be discussed as soon as possible:●Is it necessary for the Newtown to “revitalize” straight away? How serious is the situation compared to other generalsuburban residential areas?
●What sort of value and meaning can the Newtown have in the near future when the population and number of household
decline, and cities and suburban areas diminish, resulting in a further redundancy in the total housing stock?
●How is the inhabitancy (especially of the early development areas) assessed?
●How is the life in the Newtown assessed by the residents?
●How is the Newtown assessed as a “town”?
2. How do we sum up the “Newtown” and how do we construct
the fundamental philosophy/viewpoint and the framework ofplanning for the revitalization?
In coping with the revitalization of the Tama Newtown’s initiallydeveloped areas, there is a need to clarify the basic philosophy/viewpoint and the framework of planning once again. Discussions
concerning these issues have just started. The important points are asfollows:●How do we sum up the plan, development and the existence of theNewtown itself?

Figure-4
Pedestrian path which is hard to walk for
elderly people and the security is low

Japan’s large scale new town plans were laid down based on thegarden city theory and the new town projects of England and Perry’s
neighborhood unit theory. Roughly speaking, the main goals were toaccept the massive inflow of population into the metropolitan areas in the60’s and 70’s, to stop the unregulated urbanization of the suburbs and todevelop independent “new suburb towns”. “Bedroom towns” were notsomething being aimed for.
These goals, however, were not necessarily met.

Figure-5
Only a few people can be seenin the centre area

On the other hand, “new towns” and large-scale apartmentbuildings play a major role nowadays in Japan and the planned population of development areas of more than 2000 households is about
12% of the total population of the Tokyo metropolitan area.
It is necessary to sum up these historical facts and terminus ad quem inthe process of expanding the metropolitan areas in post-war Japan
before carrying out the revitalization.
●How do we recognize the difference of eras between now, the 60’s and70’s when the planning and development of “new towns” were at its

Figure-6
Old elementary school diverted to welfare
facilities because of decrease in the birthratehigh, and the future?
The Japanese post war urban and housing development has always emphasized on the “flow”. The background for thiswas the shortage of housing and the rapid expansion of cities. However, since about fifteen years ago when this situation
has eased, more weight has been put on the “stock”. In recent years, there is more emphasis on “strengthening the sustainability,” such as the policy in EU. In this point, Japan used to have a complete different way of thinking compared to
the European countries, and has gone through a different process.
However, in revitalizing the “new towns”, the recognition that it is important to visualize 50 or 100 years ahead and torearrange houses, facilities and towns that can keep social values in the long term is arising.
The social and economic conditions of the 1960’s when the planning and development of big-scale new towns, such as
the Tama Newtown, began, is completely different from the present and it will change even more drastically in the future
due to the decline and aging of the population. Japan is one of the most rapidly and drastically changing societies among
the developed countries.
It is necessary to cope with the revitalization plan bearing in mind this change of times.
●In the suburbs of the metropolitan areas where drastic changes are expected in the future, how are we going to image thefuture of the area and where do we place the revitalization of the “new towns”? The social meaning and role of revitalization and the final goals will be questioned critically as well. Not only the revitalization of the “new towns,” but how tostrengthen the sustainability of the suburbs of the metropolitan areas is questioned.
The revitalization of the “new towns” is closely related to the Japan’s national land policy and metropolitan policyand now, it is time to think about it in this context.