DBJ Research Center on Global Warming
Discussion Paper Series No. 38 (7/2011)

Reclaiming Public Space for People:
The Roots of European Urban Regeneration

Akiko Okabe

This paper is a preliminary material in the draft form to stimulate discussion
and comments from academics and policy makers. Views expressed in thispaper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official
views of the Development Bank of Japan.

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Reclaiming Public Space for People:
The Roots of European Urban Regeneration
Akiko Okabe

1. Is Urban Regeneration a Tool for Economic Activation?
As Japan enters the 21st century, the wooden buildings in the densely built-up city centres
are disappearing while high-rises spring up in their place. This is the drastic transformationof built environment caused by the "TOSHI-SAISEI," urban regeneration policy led by
Koizumi Japanese government.
Many Japanese have come to believe that Tokyo compares unfavourably withother cities in Europe and the US. Now is the time to renew the crude, makeshift buildings
built in times of postwar urgency, in order for good quality urban stock to be built. Then,as the city gains confidence, a more energetic Japan will surely emerge. These are the ideasthat lie behind urban regeneration in our country.
As long as an inferiority complex towards attractive European cities exists, the aim
will always be to emulate this model. Japan has always been impressed with urban
regeneration projects taking place in Europe. Such as the Docklands in London, where
private initiatives participated widely in the redevelopment of depressed port logistics area.
Or Paris's Gran Project, whereby under Mitterrand's political mandate public investment
transformed abandoned industrial land into large-scale cultural facilities. Or, as Europe
expands eastwards, Berlin's ambitious redevelopment in declaring itself a new European
capital. The area surrounding the Potsdam Place has been redeveloped thanks to hugeinvestments made by such multinationals as Sony and DaimlerChrysler. Each of themusing private capitals in a highly effective way through wise policy introduction,
successfully acting as an impetus towards economic activation while ensuring theconsolidation of qualified built-up environment.
This European precedent was exactly the model Japan was seeking in its search
for measures that would immediately reactivate the economy minimising public investment.
While it is certain that these European urban projects of large scale expected economic
effects, the basic idea behind urban regeneration was not necessarily directly related toreactivating the economy, but rather to restraining market-economy movement. However,Japan boldly ignored this basic idea behind European urban regeneration. Confiding by the2European experience that urban regeneration could be used as an economic activation tool,
the Japanese government suddenly adopted it as a high-priority policy. Areas that would
instantly provide direct economic gains as a result of private construction development
were chosen for urgent policy implementation.
It might be successful to raise Japanese GDP in a short term. However, it is quite
doubtful that the skyscrapers being built today will become Tokyo's heritage 100 years
from now.
The actual Japanese urban regeneration policy could hardly achieve to recreate
attractive built-up environment in a long term. The aim of this article is to reveal thephilosophy which lies behind the urban regeneration in Europe and help to find out thealternative scenario for urban regeneration different from the actual national policy
directions.

2. Public-space Intervention in Barcelona
2.1 Evaporation of People
A line of high-grade buildings built along a splendid main street will not necessarily invite
visitors to exclaim the city as "very beautiful or fantastic." It is when citizens come out for
their evening strolls, when families and friends, encompassing all ages and sexes, enjoysocial exchange in the streets and squares, that the mature quality of urban life can be felt.
In the Mediterranean cities that have inherited the Greek and Roman urban
culture, squares and streets are considered the salons as well as the show cases of the city.
People gathering in the urban spaces have come to embody a city's attractiveness.
However, there has been a post-war decrease in pedestrian flow in European cities.
When a fixed-point observation survey took place in the several cities surrounding Paris, it
indicated that between 1910 and 1970 pedestrian activity had dropped to one quarter of theoriginal volume (García Espuche, 1999) (Figure 1(a)(b)). It is a prominent trend in the cities
absorbed into metropolitan regions. There was a diminished presence of women andchildren in particular. The presence of people in public spaces decreased, and the scarcity
of people can be directly related to the death of a city. Awareness of this impending crisis
was a motivating force in European urban regeneration from the 80's to the 90's.
But why were fewer people being drawn out to the streets and squares if there wasno decrease in population? Although the changes in lifestyles in general brought about by

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technological advances are to blame basically, the functionalist urban planning has helped
the evaporation of people from streets and squares. Planning by zoning which createddifferent mono-functional zones connected each other by motorways has taken away thesocial life from the public spaces. More directly, cars take over the streets and squares,
driving the people out. The car was an epoch-making invention that expanded people's
freedom of movement. However, when city roads were unable to handle the unexpectantly
rapid increase in the number of cars, the result was a serious urban problem. The cars hadenough capability to destroy the historic areas of European cities as El Roto analogisedwith bombs in his caricature (Figure 2). Thus the creation of smooth-flowing traffic
focusing on the car took priority, and this conditioned city planning. Cities began to rely on
motorisation, and soon it became obvious that cars were taking the dominant position in
public spaces such as roads and squares, while people were being shuffled off to thecorner.
In the 80's and 90's, people seriously looked to restrain the predominance of carsin the squares and on the roads in order to regain them for themselves (CCCB, 1999; EC/
Environment, 2004).

2.2 Nine Palm Trees in Trilla Plaza
Barcelona is a pioneer city in European public space intervention. And although
Barcelona's urbanism is well known by the large-scale city reconstruction that took place
for the 1992 Olympic Games, it is often claimed that one of its first steps in this direction
was the project known as "nine palm trees in Trilla Plaza" in 1980's.
Trilla Plaza is located in the district called Gracia, a former extramural small townof Barcelona that was absorbed into Barcelona when it expanded beyond its city walls in
the 19th century. Naturally, motorisation was a shock to the entire urban transportation
network, but the greatest blow dealt by the overflow of cars was felt in the historicalquarters that had been formed before the industrial revolution. Gracia is a typical case. The
streets are narrow to begin with, their limited width further aggravated by motorists'
propensity to park their cars right up along the sidewalk on one side. Exhaust-emitting cars
run through these narrowed streets. Once a town planned when walking was the mainmode of mobility, the overflow of cars made the streets impossible for pedestrians. Plazas
were being converted into parking lots unexpectedly, and people found themselves forced
to weave their way through parked cars.
In one area of urban historical value worthy of conservation, there have been

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previous measures to control the inflow of vehicles and protect its quality as a tourism
resource. There you find a pleasant atmosphere where you can enjoy window shopping
while appreciating the historic quarter. However, this privileged area was just one limitedpart of the historic city, whereas the rest remained typically Gracia-like, simply old and notenough to be a touristic site, resigned to suffer under the subjugation of vehicles. No
matter which European city you visit, there is always a deprived area that is defencelessagainst the invasion of vehicles.
The names of the plazas and streets reflect the nature of the daily market activities,
named after the wares --- fruits and vegetables, seeds, fish and meats --- historically soldthere. However, the names can barely approximate the liveliness of the past, since vehicles
prevail over the entire area. The propagation of cars has squeezed people out of the public
spaces in the historical quarter.
Trilla Plaza was just another unremarkable plaza. So small that a mere 6 or 7
vehicles could fill it. Occupied by cars and having become an urban garbage fill, the factthat it was a plaza had been long forgotten. Its revival as a public space began with cleaning
up the accumulated garbage. Next the plaza was freed from the presence of cars. Finallynine palm trees were planted, the pavement was refurbished and benches installed. The
palm tree trunks became ladders and their leaves giant awnings. Once just a place forleaving vehicles and garbage, it was reborn as an urban salon.
To the blossoming the Barcelona model of public-space policy, the Franco
dictatorship regime that ruled Spain up until the mid 70's was prepared a precondition.
Because the Catalonian region, with Barcelona as its capital, was a stronghold ofnationalism against the Spanish central government during the Franco years, public
expenditure granted the city was reduced and not so effective, and a few biased
concessions were in charge of spontaneous suburban development. Barcelona city almost
hibernated throughout the 30-year Franco regime.
When the Franco years was coming to an end, the urban social movements had
been expanded claiming for more public spaces (Domingo and Bonet, 1998). When thefirst democratic local government was established, on one hand there was an accumulationof projects to be done. On the other hand, however, with the advent of democracy the
maintenance of public peace and order was loosened, and social problems such as
unemployment, immigration, crime and prostitution suddenly reared their head. These
complex social problems were concentrated at historical centres and suburbs, areas
ill-equipped to meet modern-day necessities.
Under such conditions, policy measures towards large-scale investment in public

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works such as the traffic infrastructure used to be taken to achieve job creation andimproving basic urban facilities at the same time. But there was no money. Faced with a
non-existent budget, they invented that the countermeasures be original public-spacepolicies exemplified by the Trilla Plaza.
Barcelona's urban intervention, such as making public spaces the key, has also
been successfully implemented in the deprived neighbourhoods at the periphery ofBarcelona. Many of the medium-low class districts in the suburbs were developed as
residential areas close to the factory they work. Since priority was given to supplying
housing urgently for workers who had flowed after the war, there were scarce provisions
for urban basics such as parks and public facilities. Open spaces were only the unused
spaces between buildings. Then, when a sudden increase in unemployment due to factoryclosure took place, it took little time for homogenous residential areas to become depressed.
The municipality took notice of the fact that the steep slopes left behind by development,or abandoned factory sites, were becoming hotbeds of activity among youthful offenders
and drug users. They decided to use these sites to create public spaces, and in order toachieve high quality at low cost, they boldly entrusted the matter to the unfetteredimagination of avant-garde artists and architects. A new trend in urban design for the 80's
was born and the results became an international topic, attention being paid to stellar
projects such as Richard Serra's arc-drawing large-scale sculpture dominating the entire
Palmera Park, and the Sants Station Plaza. To the people resigned to live in limited spacehousing, these newborn parks and plazas were like an open-air living room (Ajuntament deBarcelona, 1987).

2.3 Recognizing City as a Network of Voids
Without realising it, we perceive the city to be an accumulation of buildings and otherelements. The 1:10,000 scale maps for urbanised areas that the National Survey Institute ofJapan is providing concurs with this common-sense approach to urban awareness. On thethree-colour map, buildings are outlined in red, traffic infrastructure elements such as
railways and roads, and waterways in blue and green areas in green. Here the city isvisualised as an accumulation of numerous elements classified into three groups with eachdifferent color respectively. Furthermore, buildings are distinguished according to their use.
Public and commercial buildings are further emphasised than ordinary residential buildings
and buildings more than three-story tall are outlined with thicker lines. On the whole, we
can observe the intensified red zones in front of train stations, and the red tone is gradually6diminished towards the direction away from the train station. These maps show that urban
development means to add artificial things, buildings and infrastructures, on the naturallandscape. If we analogise city maps with photographs, the artificial things such asbuildings, or the mass, correspond to the positive figure of photographs, while the open
spaces such as squares and streets, or the void, are considered as the negative back incontrast with the positive.
Now, what happens when a city is understood through the reversal of the negativeor the void and the positive or the mass? There is a remarkable depiction of this in the
Nolli map of Rome made in the 18th century. While the grand floor surface occupied byprivate buildings that cannot be accessed by the public are hatched in grey and shaded,public streets and plazas that everyone can access have been left blank. In addition,
religious facilities and courtyards that can be accessed by the public are also left blank with
their detailed plans outlined (Figure 3). E. Rasmussen describes the Nolli map in this way:
"Streets formed a network of passages between the large construction that was known as
Rome, and the plazas were its variously-shaped salons." (Rasmussen, 1969). As the Nolli
map indicates, historical European cities were recognised as a series of public spaces
connected each other, rather than a mere accumulation of buildings and other artificial
things.
If we accept these two ways to perceive city image, by the mass or by the void,
Barcelona's public-space policy is based on the latter. As a way to revitalising the city,
Barcelona intervened in these voids, refurbishing streets and squares, instead of erecting
more volume of buildings. That is why it has been considered epoch-making.
Taking the void instead of the mass as urban assets, the idea of returning public
spaces to the people could emerge. "Public space has not been the space in negative of
dwellings, but the space in possitive of the city" (Garcia Espuche, 1999). According to Ortega yGasset, "The house is built for us to live in; the city is found so that we can leave our houseand meet up with others who have left theirs." (Soria y Puig, 1999)
Thus, returning public spaces to the people can be understood as a means ofcorrecting urban awareness, through reverting the urban asset from the mass to the void,when the current trend is to place an exaggerated value on the materialised mass.

2.4 Public-space Network in the Raval
The Barcelona public-space intervention focusing on small spots, begun with Trilla Plaza,
was really a strategic approach involving a series of public spaces to create a network

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covering the entire city.
Among the several deprived areas in Barcelona one is called the Raval district, an
area marked by high immigration and social decline. Located adjacent to the tourist areas of
the Gothic quarter and the Ramblas, it is characterised by 19th century buildings ofinconsequential antiquity, with few of these buildings boasting preservation value. It would
not have been difficult to call on private capital to redevelop the area, since it is centrally
located. However, the people who live there are marked by economic, social and culturalproblems. Therefore, even if physical redevelopment was easily accomplished, these
problems would metastasize to other parts of the city. What was needed was an integrated
revival of the living and built environment that had a positive effect on the people who
lived there.
By specifying that the historic urban centre must be preserved as a composite
entity, city administration prevented a clearance-type redevelopment by private means. A
strategy was developed to furnish the entire area with an extensive public-space network,
while preserving the maximum possible amount of existing buildings. This was the special
Raval district redevelopment plan known as PERI (1985). Armed with this primaryconsideration, three local architects developed a plan that would enliven the area with a
network of public spaces apparently modelled on the previously-mentioned Nolli map(1980) (Figure 4(a)).
The method of implementing a series of public spaces within the overcrowded
urban area was carefully examined, as an initial probe, with the understanding that the key
word to regeneration would be "Culture." First, abandoned buildings considered ruins indanger of collapse were pulled down, leaving open spaces. This action alone resulted in
wayside plazas open to receive the sun, and well-frequented, neighbourhood outdoor-caféterraces were installed in their midst. This insertion of the voids or plazas into the mass ofdensely built-up zones is an urban intervention method known as the sponge effect for its
injection of air into the density. Second, certain preservation priority was given to buildings,
such as former religious buildings, and the reformation of these involved making theirinner patios a public space. One building, formerly a charitable institution, was remodelled
into a present-day cultural centre. Third, a new public facility was built in an empty area left
after some buildings were demolished. This is the newly-established modern-art museum
designed by R. Meier. These two cultural centres are the highlights of the Raval district
redevelopment plan.

2.5 Three Conditions for Public Spaces

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It is natural that each citizen is in favour or not of the architectural design according toindividual taste. But only one change has gained unanimous positive reviews from thepeople, and that is the large-scale plaza that was designed in front of the modern-art
museum (Figure 4(b)). This plaza is the largest in the Raval district and large enough toincorporate an underground parking lot.
Elderly people, residents from long before redevelopment work began, bask in the
sunny plaza, taking part in a political discussion that has changed little over the last 10 years.
Lively neighbourhood children swarm the plaza's flat surface with their roller blades andskateboards. Once the museum was completed, the presence of citizens from other city
districts began to be noticeable. Tourists from northern European countries, having visitedthe museum, stay to warm their fair skin in the Mediterranean sun that fills the plaza.
What is it about this plaza that it should be so widely supported and highly
evaluated as a public space derived from contemporary urban regeneration? The following
three points are offered for consideration in evaluating the important requirements for aplaza as a public space.
First, one of the most important requirements is that it be a place where many
people gather. Whether a street, a plaza or a park, the more people gather there, the more it
can be called a good public space. No matter how beautifully designed a park may be, it is awaste if no one goes there. An empty lot cluttered with sewer pipes which was common
open space for Japanese children in the 1960's, yet ringing with the never-ending laughterof children, has far greater value as a public space.
The second requirement is that the people who assemble have diversity. J. Jacobs
was pointed out that the loss of diversity had conduced American cities towards death andshe emphasised the importance of diversity for cities (Jacobs, 1961).
This plaza in the Raval gained citizen support not only because traffic wascontrolled and a large number of people could get together there, but also because it
established itself as a gathering place for an assortment of people. As a gathering place fordiversified people, it has offered the further incentive of giving birth to small but new
economic activity. The number of private galleries and trendy cafés in the neighbouring
streets has increased.
Tokyo like other Asian metropolis maintains the places and streets crowded by asurprising number of people. However, there are a large number of gatherings comprisedof homogenous groups of people, whether they be the teens in Shibuya, the female youth
in Aoyama or Otemachi's businessmen in suits. These would be far from good public

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spaces if the quality of public space can be determined by the variety of age groups, sexes,
occupations, incomes and purposes of the people who gather there.
The third requirement is related to the human or intellectual network that emerges
from the assemblage of people. A plaza has emerged in a place where people meet to talkand discuss. Habermas understands the public sphere (space) to be a space for discussion
towards consensus (Habermas, 1973). In Greek and Roman polis, urban problems werediscussed and resolved in the plaza. It also became market place. The political debates
nurtured philosophy and the trade at market place developed economic activities. In the
Raval district's plaza, there is a noticeable number of people who stand around and chatting.
The atmosphere reigns with acquaintances being introduced to other acquaintances, or
perhaps chance conversations taking place between total strangers. People living in Tokyo
often find themselves in the middle of a crowd. However, the sphere of an individual's
activity is so wide, that meeting an acquaintance by chance is practically impossible. We canhardly have the preconceived notion that a spontaneous human network emerges fromthrongs of people.

2.6 The Plaza Alleviates Social Exclusion
How did this plaza satisfy these three requirements to make up a good public space? The
Raval district grew into a place that absorbed people who had been socially excluded fromthe city and citizens who live outside Raval hesitated to visit Raval because of the degradedimage of the district. Now, this newly-created plaza became a salon-like place where thepeople already living in Raval rendezvous daily, while at the same time it became an easy
place to meet for people who came from outside Raval.
When defining public space, H. Arendt connects it to the political value called"resistance against exclusion" together with "freedom" (Saito, 2000). In the case of Ravel
district's plaza, we can observe that "resistance against exclusion" works in a double sense.
This is to say, there is resistance to the fact that they have been excluded from people inother areas, while there is resistance towards the inverse that new comers as a fruit of urban
regeneration begin to exclude the people who have lived in the area. The plaza opened up
for all citizens where plural values can coexist could serve as a safety net in social rupture
prevention.
M. Castells analyses the May, 1968 Paris revolt as having obtained politicalinfluence thanks to the streets as public space. The factory workers' and university students'
movements were held in the main streets, thus these movements obtained popular support

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widely. As he says, the street in itself "is the ideal gathering point for the movement, theideal form of organized political expression." (Castells, 1972) Multitudinous gatherings inplazas and in the streets, in the manner of the Paris May uprisings and the Cultural
Revolution in China, have gained the power to change history. Even today, at election timecandidates make the rounds of market places and talk with the people in order to unearth
hints on urban strategy. European people place a great deal of confidence in the plaza as apublic space, looking to the plaza as a means of overcoming social polarization. Borja
points out the condition that plazas and streets have as public spaces as "the possible stage
for political reform" (Borja, 2001). Nevertheless, the times in history when the power ofpublic spaces was misused to multiply the extraordinary energy of fascist agitation must not
be ignored. The question whether or not to expand the plaza's role as even more active
than the mere social safety net would be a sensitive one. Nevertheless the success of
public-space strategy in Barcelona has confirmed that urban regeneration would be
impossible without the suppression of growing social polarization.

3. Urban Regeneration and Market-economy
3.1 Urban Regeneration as a Market-correcting Tool
We cannot say that European urban regeneration was promoted purely in the search forsocial cohesion. It would be possible that urban regeneration may not experience suchintensity if the alleviation of social segregation had been overly emphasised. Many
expectations remain hidden behind plans for urban regeneration.
Economically speaking, a stronger competitiveness was widely expected by
improving city image. Lively plazas and populous streets would represent qualified urban
space. The urban regeneration, on one hand has strategically integrated the voices of
economic circles and has aimed to improve city image enough to be competitive, and on
the other hand to minimise social segregation which tends to widen within the city underthe main stream of neo-liberalism. Because although on one hand market mechanism may
make the impossible possible, it does not necessarily work towards automatically alleviatingsocial disparity. Public intervention to correct social inequality is necessary for amarket-economy to function in a healthy manner. Therefore, even if urban regeneration
areas are extended and a variety of policy objectives are blended together, the targets havebeen always the deprived neighbourhoods and the people living there who are socially11excluded when the market-economy rules. Urban Pilot Projects, one of the innovative
actions of EU structural funds, and URBAN, one of the community initiatives of EU
structural measure, have the clear principle to tackle social segregation. 1
Now in Japan, the strong initiative to regenerate cities has resulted a construction
boom. The developers are competing with the quality of housing and the enhancement ofcommon space has begun to gain added value. The market-economy seems capable ofcreating opulent public spaces with private means, but the reality is the privatisation of
public spaces that really should be open to all. There are no public spaces where a varietyof people of all ages, sexes and incomes assemble for various reasons. The
exclusive-community zones born of the market-economy have swallowed up urban public
spaces, and real public spaces have become degraded.
Moreover, in large metropolitan areas, including Tokyo, ongoing urban
regeneration has invited a surge in the high quality housing development adjacent toprotected scenic areas or parks. In Japanese cities, green areas or waterfronts are public
spaces for anyone to commune with nature. However, as a result of ongoing urban
regeneration, the public spaces that should serve to strengthen social cohesion are being
used as a tool to reactivate economy by stimulate private investments to develop housing
constructions, resulting in a remarkable polarisation within the mutual coexistence ofhigh-rise living residents close to parks and riversides and the homeless people who live inparks or on the riverfront.

3.2 Which Comes First, the Economy or the Life of People?
The following two beliefs stand out from European experience on urban regeneration of
the last 20 years. First, that economic activation might act against improving the quality oflife. And second, that even if physical improvements in the built environment of thedeprived neighbourhoods are given first place, this will not result in alleviation of urban
polarisation.
Competition between European cities has intensified with the EU integration
process. The lure of convention facilities or improvements in airport accessibility to raisecompetitiveness have reached saturation levels, therefore the decisive competitivenesscould be now whether the deprived areas' problems that any European city have can besolved.

1

See http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/urban2/index_en.htm

12Behind the European cities' reasons to boldly commence integrated regenerationthat focuses on the deprived areas, apart from the external factor of intensified competition
between cities, two further internal factors can be pointed out. The first is the fact that theEuropean urban structure has a clear weak point where the undesirable functions havebeen easily concentrated, where many socially excluded people live and consequently
absorb immigrants. Second, many people who live in deprived neighbourhoods, such as
the long-term unemployed, immigrants and the elderly, are welfare reliant, and these
problems may not be softened by economic activation and relief measures for theunemployed in the entire region.
These derelict districts does not display its own fair share of improvement whenregional economy improves, but rather, it suffers the polarisation effect as a by-product of
economic development, and is left with even greater damage. The optimistic theory that
"upward growth in the economy leads to improved quality of life for everyone" isdeep-rooted among the generation of Japanese who took confidence in the high-growtheconomic period. European urban regeneration targeting degraded districts is anexperiment against this common sense. It is an approach that prioritises the recovery ofhuman lifestyle over the economic aid of the residents. In the deprived neighbourhoods
plazas and streets, by resuscitating these public spaces that can be accessed on a daily basisby the local residents and visitors from other areas, is a means of easing the socially
isolating conditions and stimulating quality improvements in their lives. This increases thepossibility of their participating in economic activities because the humanity in their lives
has been returned.
R. Putnam tried to reveal based on quantitative analysis, what is the determinedfactor of the Italian north vs. south differences in performance of democracy. He
concluded against common sense that a difference in maturation of civil society was adominant factor rather than a gap on economic development. (Putnam, 1993) (Miyazaki,2002). If we analogize inequality between the north and south in Italy to inequality within
the cities, it can be induced that because public-space interventions in deprived districts
helped to raise quality of life of the residents, this triggered economic activities in the area.

3.3 The Absurdity of Clearance-type Redevelopment
Many times a drastic physical improvement by scrap-and-build has been adopted to reduce
the problems of the degraded districts based on the recognition that the built environment
has deteriorated. However this method does not create incentives towards essentially13solving the problems. M. Castells was quick to draw attention to this matter in his book
"Urban Problems," citing as his example the redevelopment project of recovering Paris,known as the 'reconquista', that evolved from 1958 (Castells, 1972). This redevelopment
targeted the impoverished district known as "Cité du Peuple" and were to convert to uppersocial class residences. It was indispensable for a Paris urban strategy because this district
was very close to the new business district. Regarding this, Castells assumed that theovercrowding problem of this district was simply a population problem, and pointed outthat "contrary to popular belief, deterioration in building property was not necessarily
higher than the average for Paris." His social analysis centres on the resistance exhibited byresidents of the targeted redevelopment districts, but this issue highlights the"contradiction between the housing conditions (desired by) the residents involved and themunicipal Paris urban redevelopment plan connected to the real estate development
industry."
Even if their resistance yields positive results and public housing is incorporated
into redevelopment as an indication of social concern, residents can easily fall to theconclusion that they will be driven out of the district they are accustomed to living in.
Through a series of social campaigns, certain points regarding the resuscitation of
impoverished areas, such as "the same place, or re-location to a new building in a nearby
area, with suitably reasonable rent," or "making use of an existing building rehabilitated"
can later be stressed.
The resuscitation of the previously mentioned Raval district in Barcelona put into
practice guidelines obtained by Castells' analysis. In the Raval district resuscitation,emphasis was placed on making the social functions of public spaces healthier, rather thanon the deteriorated building stock. Simultaneously, the quality of residential stock wassteadily raised in incremental phases. They commenced with the supply of protected social
housing, and among the housing properties given preservation priority those deemed
deteriorated were renovated, or buildings recognised as ruins were replaced. Next, thedistrict's residents living in buildings to be replaced, or deteriorated buildings in need ofrehabilitation, were relocated to previously installed social housing located in the district,and thus the existing community was preserved while gradual progress was made inregenerating housing stock.
As public institutions concentrated measures to regenerate the Raval and also apart of the project was subsidised by the EU cohesion fund, regeneration of the Raval
district has accelerated, and the gradual project spanning 25 years is about to come to an
end. At the same time, due to rapid economic resuscitation in the deprived district, a new

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problem of gentrification has rear its head. Intellectuals or artists with relatively higher
economic capacity, from both within the city and from abroad, have come looking for
housing, property values have risen, and pre-renewal residents have begun to flow out.
Gentrification itself proves a success that the public initiatives have encouraged
private initiatives. However it can lead to weaken the social cohesion that Barcelona's
intervention has been quite sensitive about. 2

4. The 21st Century Challenge of European and JapaneseCitiesEuropean cities put into motion urban regeneration that involved the rebirth of public
spaces, especially in deprived neighbourhoods. Until the end of the 20th century, various
western European cities showed visible improvement through integrated measurestargeting on deprived neighbourhoods, and presently, this methodology is applied invarious eastern European cities with similar problems. However, although success stories
in reduce traffic flow and of environmentally friendly cities are highly extolled, in many
European city suburbs motorisation is accelerating. According to the Parisian fixed-point
observation survey mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the number of pedestrians
was halved during the 20 year period between 1970 and 1990 (Figure 1(b)(c)). This showsthat the European urban regeneration did not put brake on the pedestrian decline, andmoreover the pedestrian decline's velocity is increasing still. While at the same time that theeconomic buoyancy put into practice by new liberalism was in favour to regenerate
deprived neighbourhoods, it also expedited suburban development through deregulation
policies. Looking at the city as a unity, it is evident that instead of speed being acharacteristic of regeneration in the city centre, the speed of destruction taking place in thesuburbs has been even greater. Barcelona was not an exception.
If the definition of a city restricts into a physical continuity of built-up areas, thenEuropean urban regeneration in the 80's and 90's has succeeded in a certain extent to mend
the city's cracks. The deprived districts' unemployment rate that reached 50% was lowered
and the quality of living was raised, reducing the negative image that had encumbered its
urban competitiveness. While the benefits of developing brisk economic activity in overall
by EU unification have contributed to reduce economic imbalances between European
2

The social artist M. Romani is critical of gentrification in the Raval district. She points out that by the end of the 90's
Barcelona's urban policy had begun to go mad, and is developing civil action.

15
cities, they are biased towards those who have competitive power in the labour market,
with a rather expanded income gap within each city.
Also, at the end of the 20th century the urban goes beyond a continuous built-up
area. F. Ascher identified it as "metapolis" observing the reality that the urbanisation iscontinuing metaphysically (Ascher, 1995). Due to the advanced traffic and information
infrastructure, people live beyond the suburbs and in the countryside with access to theusual everyday services common to the city. If the city is defined as a regional extension
including both urban and rural areas, newly-visible urban problems are detected. It is
crucial that the problem of wastes and environmental pollution originated by the city
expands outward and must be addressed on a regional scale. Coupled with trends towards
decentralisation, new regional governance is emerging. Cities have to contribute as motors
to achieve regional development. EU-level urban policy that brought significative results
through targeting deprived neighbourhoods, is now proceeding towards dealing with theurban problems entailed in regional expansion (European Commission, 2002). While on
one hand European urban regeneration seems to have solved problems in the city centres
but on the other hand the similar problems have sprung up to in the city suburbs and thesurrounding smaller cities. With regards to the 21st century European city, the emerging
theme is one of urban social polarisation expanded on a regional scale.
If we try to tackle the 21st century urban problem at a regional scale, muchattention should be paid to the role of farmlands, forests and mountainous areas foundoutside the built-up areas. While it can be said that originally the European city excluded
the countryside, this does not mean that an auto satisfied city was constructed within theenclosing walls. The city defence was consolidated only when a wide countryside where noenemy could hide was located just outside its enclosing walls. As shown in E. Howard's
garden city theory, Britain's traditional admiration for the country is inherited acceptance ofthe necessity of the country as a means of supporting the city (Krier, 1984) (Figure 5). Mostof European citizens have supported the viewpoint that urban sprawl should be contained
and the city made compact, with greenery preserved nearby in the city. Therefore today's
reality of the city that has expanded regionally has led to expansion of the traditional
complementary relationship between the city and the country, with the advent of theconcept that the countryside be preserved as an inherent part of the city-region. This iswhat draws attention to the Randstad in the Netherlands. The Randstad is a regionallyexpanded city-region made up of the medium-size cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den
Hague and Utrecht that surround a green area with a diameter of over 40 km called theGreen Heart. While the efficiency of large city agglomerations with a single core city in the16centre, such as London, Paris or Berlin, retain their firm support, there are a rapidly
growing number of regions that have a polycentric urban cores that incorporates green
areas, and these are represented by the Randstad.
However, when dealing with cities on a regional scale, the simple application ofurban regeneration means using public spaces as the key, in use in Europe up until now,
will not be enough to overcome the facing problems.
What does a public space mean to a city-region that encompasses the countryside?
What can be done to return public spaces to the people? Japanese cities would give somehints. Japanese cities have traditionally configured in sympathy with nature while European
cities have done against nature. The ruling order of Japanese cities has been given by thesurrounding nature. For instance, in cities formed down the feudal castle, the method
known as "YAMA-ATE" has been widely used. It consists of establishing the path ofstreets by directing them towards the nearby mountain that happens to be the area's
landmark (Sato, et al, 2002). It is an idea to involve the mountain which stands far awayfrom the built-up area as a key element of city-scape. You could say that this philosophy of
town planning might be related to the fact that cities in Japan, even those larger in scalethan European cities, have long escaped social imbalances. It is not sure if there has been a
direct relation between Japanese and European cities as Kawakatsu raised the hypothesisthat "the roots of English garden cities can be found in Japanese vernacular landscapes," 3
but we may find some common keys towards sustainable development for Japanese cities
as well as European ones in the hidden philosophy of Japanese pre-modern urban andregional development. In order to not have this valuable treasure remain in obscurity,
instead of clinging to urban development based on economic motives or subjective
preconceptions, Japanese cities should come back to share the basic European urban
regeneration idea of "returning the city to the people" and should draw up their own urban
regeneration scenarios squarely facing the problems and respecting the history of eachindividual city.

References
Barcelona, Ajuntament de (1987) Barcelona Espais i Escultures 1982-1986, Barcelona.
Ascher, F. (1995) Metapolis ou l'avenir des villes, Paris: Ed. Odile Jacob.

3

From the "Maritime View of History of Civilization," by Heita Kawakatsu.

17
Bohigas, O. (1985) Reconstrucció de Barcelona, Barcelona: Edicions62.
Borja, J. and Muxi Z. (2001) L'espei public: ciutat i ciutadania, Barcelona: Diputació deBarcelona.
Castells, M. (1972) La question urbaine, Paris Japanese translation: Urban Questions (1984).
CCCB/ Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona ed (1999) The reconquest of Europe,
1980-1999 Urban Public Space, Barcelona.
Domingo, M. and Bonet, M. R. (1998) Barcelona i els moviments socials urbans, Barcelona:
Mediterrània.
EC/ European Commission, Regional Policy (2002) The programming of the Structural Funds
2000-2006: an initial assessment of the Urban Initiative, Luxembourg.
EC/ European Commission, Environment (2004) Reclaiming city streets for people --- Chaos or
quality of life?, Luxembourg.
Garcia Espuche, A. (1999) The Reconquest of Europe, Why Public Space? In CCCB ed, pp.
8-35.
Habermas, J. (1991/original 1962) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry
into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
IMPU (1990) Barcelona: la ciutat i el 92, Barcelona.
Jacobs, J. (1992/ 1st:1961) The Death and the Life of Great American Cities, New York:
Random House.
Krier, L. (1984) Houses, Places, Cities, AD Profile, n54.
Marshall, T. ed (2004) Transforming Barcelona, London: Routledge.
Soria y Puig, A. (1999) The Next Step, In CCCB ed, pp. 180-197.
Sato, S. et al. (2002), Feudal Castle Cities, Tokyo: Kajima Publications.
Saito, J. (2000), Publicness, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
Miyazaki, T. (2002), Voluntary Economy and Public Space, Kokumin Keizai, n165, Kokumin
Keizai Research Institute.
Putnam, R. D. (1993) Making Democracy Work. Civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Rasmussen, S. E. (1969/original 1949) Towns and Buildings, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

18
Figure 1: Declining the Number of People from Saint Cloud, Avenue du Palais in thesuburbs of Paris(a) Avenue du Palais in 1910(b) Autoroute in 1970(c) Autoroute A13 in 1990
(Source) CCCB (1999), pp. 24-25.

19
Figure 2: Air-Raid(Source) CCCB (1999), p. 40.

20
Figure 3: The 1748 Map of Rome by Nolli(Source) Rasmussen (1969).

21
Figure 4(a): Public Space Plan in 1980, The Raval District, Barcelona(Note) By three architects, L. Clotet, O. Tusquets, and F. Basso.
(Source) IMPU (1990), p. 107.

22
Figure 4(b): Public Space Plan, around the Modern-Art Museum in the Raval District,Barcelona(Note) By two architects, L. Clotet, and I. Paricio.
(Source) IMPU (1990), p. 107.

23
Figure 5: Garden City

(Source) Krier (1984).