132｜Practice

A land utilization framework and transportation
system for declining population
1. Background and goals
We investigate the question of whether future generations will be able to inherit Japan’s current urban
landscape.
Most of Japan’s current urban landscape was created in the latter half of the twentieth century andparticularly rapid and substantive improvements were made to public-sector social capital such as rivers, roads, ports, airports, and railways. In the latter half of the 1980s, these improvements began to bemade with apparent consideration if they are inheritable into the future under the concept of civic
design.
In contrast, when we turn our eyes to built-up landscape, it has become a common sense that private sector buildings assumed to be replaced in every generation. Japanese housings, even including
those made from concrete, have an average lifespan of only around 30 years. This indicates that they areregarded as consumable-durable goods to be demolished and rebuilt three times per century. Moreover,almost all buildings are designed in isolation, with no consideration of harmony with their surroundings. As a result, the visual appearance of individual street blocks—which are the units at which collaborative landscape creation can be realized—tends to be somewhat unimpressive and even shabby. Mostcities, therefore, have not been successful in creating urban stock to be inherited to the futuregeneration.
Another shortcoming is that greenery has not been emphasized in urban areas. Low-rise detachedbuildings have been allowed even near city centers to result in crowded downtown areas with little green
open spaces. Major transportation facilities divide spacious green areas, and low-density built-up areas
spread out to the suburbs. Particularly since the 1970s when increased incomes allowed the average
household to purchase automobiles, urban areas have encroached beyond the reach of railways and further reduced green areas.
Japan currently faces issues of economic maturity and recession accompanying population decline
and aging. This project focuses on whether such unregulated land use are acting to significantly degrade
quality of life in Japanese cities.
In search of hints as to which direction Japan should proceed in the future, we introduce some of
the results of our on-site investigations regarding cooperative land use and transportation systems in

Project Leader: Yoshitsugu Hayashi
Professor and Director, Education and Research Center for Sustainable Co-Development, Graduate School of Environmental Studies,
Nagoya University

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Western cities where economic development has preceded one step ahead of Japan’s. As a domesticmodel, we also introduce the corridor-type land-use system being introduced in Utsunomiya City as anaccompaniment to its light rail transit system. The outcomes of this project have been published in abook.(1)2. Research content
2-1. Compact, urban, green (Munich, Germany)
To achieve sustainable economic, social, spatial, andregional development while protecting the environment
and minimizing resource consumption, Munich has
been advocating strategies of compactness, urbanity(fusion of diversity), and greenness (greenery and globalenvironment) for urban area formation.
Munich has established policies limiting new development to the areas within walking distance of train stations, gradually leading to the realization of compacturban districts. This has resulted in a concentration oflarge-scale development along railways on the west sideof the central station. Contracts are formed such that

グリーンGreenbelt
市 街areaUrban
地
02 44 6 6 8 810 10 １２
12 km

Figure 1. Land-use planning in Munich

profits from development are evenly shared among developers (landowners), railway operators, and thelocal government, institutionalizing sufficient infrastructure development through value capture.
In pursuit of realizing urbanity, new development must also devote a certain amount of floor-space
to residential space, not only improving compactness but also creating a city in which diverse people canlive. Furthermore, local policies require a wide range of rent settings, thereby providing a mix of sociallydiverse people and forming a city that can pass on an exceptional regional culture.
Lastly, Munich has policies to realize greenness, such as its regulations requiring the developmentof green areas along railways and accommodating the surrounding urban areas.
2-2. Integration measures for land use and transportation to enhance location efficiency(U.S. cities)
Transit-oriented development (TOD)(2) gave rise to a great movement in the United States in the latter
half of the 1990s. TOD is not simply a method of compact urban development formed around public(1) Hayashi, Yoshitsugu, Kenji Doi, Hirokazu Kato, and International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, eds. 2009. Toshi nokuoritei sutokku: Tochi riyo, ryokuchi, kotsu no togo senryaku [Quality Stock of Cities: Integrated strategy of land use, green space andtransportation]. Kajima Institute Publishing. (in Japanese)(2) TOD emphasizes development of public transportation nodes as the axis along which urban areas are formed, and induces development around these nodes. This allows economic activity to occur within walking distance of transportation nodes, placing focus onlifestyle opportunities and enhancing quality of life.

134｜Practicetransportation. Well-known features of TOD
include urban development within walking
distance of transit stations, high residentialdensity, and high functional diversity, but
underlying this a geographical layout are avariety of systems that aim to improve qualityof life and social justice.
One such system is location-efficientmortgage (LEM),(3) a policy tool for supporting
home acquisition in areas within walking dis-Figure 2. Examples of TOD implementation in Prince
George’s County, Maryland, USA

tance of public transportation by creating benefits given to residents who save personal andpublic transportation costs. This allows escape from over-reliance on automobiles. Discount train passes
are also offered to increase utilization of public transportation.
This has changed the definition of richness from one based on income to another based on time.
The dissemination of TOD schemes among US cities reflect change in citizens’ sense of values. Such achange is also necessary in Japan, particularly when one considers future constraints on public financing, the environment, and consensus formation.
2-3. Intensive land use for transportation networks and corridors (Utsunomiya, Japan)
Realizing TOD necessitates enhancement of the public transportation systems as its axes. Light rail transit systems (LRT) have been attracting international attention as methods for low-cost rapid transit. LRTsystems have been introduced in
Kamikawachi
Takanezawa
Imaichi
ＰJapan in recent years, significantly
changing strategies for urban landusage.
Utsunomiya, having a population of 500,000, is a core city in thenorthern Tokyo metropolitan areathat has experienced significant
postwar development as an indus-Technopolis
Center district

ＰＴ

KanumaＴ

Utsunomiya Stn.

ＴＰ Park

Kiyoharadai

ＴMotegi
MashikoRailway
Shinkansen line

LegendKinugawa

ＰMibu

Haga
Ichikai
MotegiKiyohara
Industrial

ＰBus

trial city. However, it features anextremely high level of automobile
dependency, which has resulted in
sprawled residential areas in its

LRTＰIshibashi

For Tokyo

至 真岡市MookaＴＰ

Shinkansen line
RailwayLRTMain bus route
Community bus, demandtype traffic, etc.
Main road
Transit center
Park & Ride parking lot

Figure 3. LRT implementation plan (Plan for Securing Daily LifeTransportation) in Utsunomiya, Japan(3) LEM is a coordinated housing and transportation policy system that promotes the realization of TOD. To create benefits for residing
in areas accessible by public transportation, savings on automobile-related costs such as fuel, parking, and road tolls are calculated on aby-area basis, and the amount saved is included when determining levels of homebuyer support.

A land utilization framework and transportation system for declining population｜135

suburbs, diffusion of urban functionality, and progressing hollowing out of the city center.
After the planned introduction of LRT has taken place, public transportation service in Utsunomiya
will be divided into four areas based on urban structure, with service provision adopted according to theconditions of each area. Utsunomiya aims to create a public transportation network servicing the entire
region through seamless coordination of the bus network with its core LRT system. In the urban center,automobile traffic will be curbed, while pedestrian and bicycle traffic will be developed and emphasized.
Introduction of LRT will also involve the conversion of major roads into transit malls, securing walkable
spaces in commercial areas to enhance pedestrian movement. At the same time, urban development will
aim to revitalize commercial districts along placed LRT routes by introducing LRT in conjunction while
also carrying out redevelopment projects. Lastly, composite development, such as the creation of an
attractive urban landscape and urban residential areas, will be required in Utsunomiya, in addition tothe city’s planned redevelopment projects.

3. Conclusions
In this project, we refer to the continual foundation of twenty-first century land and cities as a quality
stock that combines building clusters, green areas, and transportation systems. We have presented avision of urban retreat and reformation based around the formation of high-quality building clusters
with a unified look and of green area–public transportation corridors in a book Toshi no kuoritei sutokku[Quality Stock of Cities] (Kajima Institute Publishing).(1) This goes beyond the simple ideal of a compact
city to incorporate universal social goals and a vision featured on local societies, and provides specificmethods for realizing this vision.
Maintaining quality of life in the future will require coordination of integrated urban landscapes oftransportation, buildings, and green areas. This strategy will not be implementable if the future economy
declines too far; thus, this strategy should be taken as an urgent national priority.

4. Future outlook
The creation of quality stock that unifies building groups, green areas, and transportation systems canreverse urban structures, thereby lowering cost of living and improving the environment in the innercity. The result is development of the requirements for compacting and shrinking cities smartly, whichconstitutes necessary activities for stopping the “slumification” of Japanese cities and allowing the survival of the next generation.