Dipl. Geogr. Silke Vogt

Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Germany

FROM TOSHIKEIKAKU TO MACHIZUKURI - URBAN PLANNING IN TOKYO WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PARTICIPATION OF THE RESIDENTS

1 Condensed survey of Tokyo's modern urban planning history

Modern urban planning in Tokyo began in 1888 when the Tokyo Municipal Ordinance led to the planning of the first major road system in 1889. Simultaneously, the "City and Town System" was enacted in 1888, followed by the "Prefectural System" in 1892. Local systems were divided into the hierarchy of town / village, city / counties, and prefectures.

In 1919, the first City Planning Law and the first City Building Law (revised as the Building Standard Law in 1950) were enacted, influenced by urban planning laws in Europe.

As a result of the Big Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the first Tokyo zoning system was installed in about a third of Tokyo's wards two years later. This rather crude zoning system, consisting only of the three categories "residential", "commercial", and "industrial", was expanded in 1950 with the creation of a green zone.

In 1927, a revision of the City System gave the urban autonomies more independence.

The Olympic Games in 1964 required several changes in Tokyo's urban planning. An important one was the addition of the Floor Area Ratio Clause to the Building Standard Law in 1963. Together with different height limitations in commercial and industrial areas (31 m) and residential areas (20 m), this led to a new quantitative method of urban planning and land-use control in Tokyo in contrast to the former qualitative way of planning.

Next, a new system of land-use planning became necessary because of the rapid urban sprawl in the Tokyo area, which resulted in the enactment of the New City Planning Law in 1968 (first revision of the original Urban Planning Law of 1919). The revised law prescribed the division of cities and towns into two zones: urbanization promotion areas and urbanization control areas. They were introduced to provide the (local) administration a means of controlling the future development of different districts. Furthermore, the revision resulted in an extension of the already mentioned four land-use zones into eight zones.

This law also took into consideration the participation of the residents, but still in an unsatisfactory way, as stated by Teranishi: "It opened the path to resident participation, but while resident explanation and public hearing (Art. 16) and submission of inspection reports and written statements (Art. 17) underwent systematization, when one looks at the operation up until current times, one cannot deny the superficial aspects of its operation." (Teranishi 1996, p. 6)

The establishment of local (district) planning in 1980 was aimed at transferring responsibility for planning everyday matters to the municipalities, subject to the Governor's approval. "This became one model for the decentralization of urban planning, and was the origin of various successive district planning systems." (Teranishi 1996, p.7)

The New City Planning Law of 1968 was revised a second time in 1992 under the Revised City Planning Law. Two important changes should be mentioned. First, the establishment of municipal Master Plans or "Basic Policies" became compulsory for local municipalities. "These master plans were decided at the municipal level as an inherent right of the municipalities, with only a notification of the decisions to the prefectural governor required, so that central government involvement became after-the-fact rather than prior." (Teranishi 1996, p. 7)

Second, in a further modification, the eight land-use zones of 1968 were extended once more by subdividing the former three residential zones into seven new ones. These new twelve zones are the basis of the Suginami Master Plan to be dealt with later.

2 From toshikeikaku to machizukuri - a new "philosophy" of urban planning

Modern urban planning history has not only seen a lot of changes, as far as enactments and revisions of laws are concerned, but also the development of a new kind of "planning philosophy" as the view of urban planning and its realization changed.

2.1 Toshikeikaku

Urban planning in Tokyo initially was used synonymously with the term toshikeikaku, which means top-down urban planning and refers especially to the centralized manner of urban planning by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) at the top of Tokyo's local administrative hierarchy. Toshikeikaku deals with the development of the city as a whole complex or the larger parts of it and can be characterized by the key words "top-down", "hard", "centralization of administrative power", "vertical planning", and "efficiency".

Participation of residents does not play a central role, although it takes place to a certain degree, stated by the TMG as follows: "The city plans are primarily projected for citizens and have a great influence over interests of citizens. Therefore, in order to fully reflect opinions of citizens in the city plans, and to promote plans which are acceptable to citizens, a public hearing or an explanatory meeting is held. When a city plan is proposed, it is announced publicly and presented for public inspection for two weeks. During this period, citizens concerned or the interested parties can submit a written opinion." (Tokyo Metropolitan Government 1994, p. 16)

2.2 Machizukuri

Gradually, this old-established "hard" "planning philosophy", which stresses buildings, roads, and other infrastructural facilities, changed in the early 1970s. More democratic "soft" methods of urban planning were introduced, taking into account the opinions, needs and requests of the residents who, as final consumers, must live and work in surroundings planned by the civil servants of the local administration.

Since the old term toshikeikaku could not be used for this changed view and way of urban planning, the neologism machizukuri was born, which means bottom-up urban planning. Machizukuri is normaly confined to the development of smaller scale projects, for instance a park, a couple of streets, a residential neighbourhood district etc. The contents of this kind of people-oriented planning is flexible enough to adapt to the suggestions of the local residents. Their participation is, in fact, the basic means of realizing machizukuri projects.

To mention some key words, machizukuri implies "bottom-up", "soft", "decentralization of administrative power", "horizontal planning", "cooperation between administration and citizens", and "local autonomy".

2.3 Relationship between toshikeikaku and machizukuri

The characterizations of toshikeikaku and machizukuri presented above are based mainly on some written remarks by Professor Morio Uzuki (Waseda University), who worked for a long time in the Setagayakuyakusho and the Setagaya Machizukuri Center. (Uzuki, p. 1)

This is not the only possible interpretation. In fact, the term machizukuri has become so popular nowadays that it is widely used and cannot be defined in a restricted way. Even the civil servants of the City Office whom I interviewed about this subject did not dare to propose a kind of definition, although they deal with machizukuri in their daily work of urban planning.

2.3.1 Three types of machizukuri

As far as the term machizukuri is concerned, three different types must be considered. The version written only in hiragana is the kind of "soft" machizukuri explained above. There are two other forms of machizukuri, one using the kanji for Street (GAI, KAI, machi), the other the kanji for town / village (CHO, machi), but zukuri always remains in hiragana. These two kinds combine the smaller scale projects of the first mentioned type of machizukuri with the "hard" image of toshikeikaku.

However, in this paper, machizukuri is used only in the "soft" sense.

2.3.2 Mr. Ono's interpretation of toshikeikaku and machizukuri

To make the discussion more lively, I will add the interpretation of my colleague Mr. Ono from the Traffic Planning Section in the Suginami Kuyakusho.

He uses the hiragana-version of machizukuri as an overall kind of urban planning, comprising toshikeikaku as well as the (half-)kanji-versions of machizukuri. Thus, although mainly concentrating on the "soft" aspects, it nonetheless includes "hard" elements as well. This is the reason why the Suginami City Office has created the Machizukuri Suishinka, (machizukuri written in hiragana), the "Urban Planning Promotion Section", since its projects contain "hard" elements (e.g., the planning and construction of buildings along big streets) as well as "soft" elements (e.g., the Shiruku Rodo, a walk through the Suginami-ku, which will be dealt with later).

The hiragana-type machizukuri includes the daily life of the residents (seikatsu), while participation (jumin sanka) serves as a means of putting urban planning (i.e. the "soft" aspect of machizukuri) into practice.

2.3.3 Machizukuri - the problem of definition

Mr. Ono's reflections are, to a certain degree, contrary to those of Professor Uzuki, who distinguishes sharply between toshikeikaku as "hard" and machizukuri as "soft".

From the impression I got during my field investigations, it cannot be concluded that any of these two interpretations is wrong. In contrast to toshikeikaku, the range and contents of which are fixed in the City Planning Law and other treatises, as far as machizukuri is concerned, there is no basic law or regulation that could provide an adequate overall definition. Machizukuri is not only used widely but also rather differently, depending on the individal person and, therefore, ought to be treated carefully, always taking the context into account.

2.4 Participation of residents and its role in Japanese urban planning

After the introduction of machizukuri, toshikeikaku and their relationship, the role of residents' participation in the Japanese urban planning system will be explained.

The Japanese terms for participation require some discussion, since they are no less complicated than machizukuri. Then it will be shown how the administration attempts to put jumin sanka into practice. Some thoughts on the necessity of participation conclude the discussion.

2.4.1 "Participation" in Japanese

Depending on the situation, in Japanese there are a lot of possibilities to express "participation".

If the function of the people as residents is emphasized, the correct term seems to be jumin sanka. If the citizens of a ward (ku) are concerned, kumin sanka is preferred. Consequently, a citizen of Tokyo-to as a whole would take part in tomin sanka, a word which is in fact not often used.

For the citizens of a city (shi), the adequate expression should be shimin sanka. However, shimin implies two very different meanings. On the one hand, a shimin can simply stand for a "resident of a shi" and in this sense can be used as the appropriate counterpart of kumin. On the other hand, shimin is the traditional term for "citizens" or "townspeople" with all their political rights. Taking this second meaning into account, why should not a resident of Suginami-ku or Setagaya-ku feel free to see himself as a shimin, in spite of living in a ku? That might be why Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku prefer the English translation of ku as "city" rather than that of "ward". To evade complications, it seems best to stick to the Japanese term ku.

In cases that are not quite clear respective to small towns (cho) and villages (son), jumin sanka is used. Since this expression not only includes residents but also people who commute to a certain area for work or school / university, jumin sanka covers a rather broad sphere and therefore shall be used in this paper.

2.4.2 Ways to put jumin sanka into practice

Normally, people are not keen to address the City Office, so it is the task of the civil servants to get in touch with the citizens. To do so, first of all it is necessary to provide a lot of information about urban planning projects and the work of the kuyakusho. Secondly, since the urban planners need to know the opinions of the people concerned, the residents must get the opportunity to react, for instance, by questionnaires, opinion polls, public hearings, etc. Finally it is hoped that, as a result of step one and two, at least some citizens become interested as well as self-confident enough to take part in more intense and elaborate jumin sanka events like volunteer workshops, Kyogikai (conventions on special subjects), or seminars.

To cite the Suginami City Office, jumin sanka can be seen as a staircase (machizukuri no kaidan) composed of five steps:

1. Residents and administration need to gain a structured general idea of the conditions of the town.

2. On this basis, a machizukuri system must be developed with the cooperation of both sides. This system should reveal the aims of urban planning as well as propose how to solve problems, etc.

3. Investigations about the intentions of urban planning, problems, future concepts, etc., must be made to provide a basic knowledge of the actual planning.

4. On the basis of the different opinions between administration and citizens as well as within one side, a compromise must be worked out.

5. Finally, the machizukuri plans must be put into practice.

(Suginamiku Kohoka 8 / 1997, p. 8)

Although these thoughts seem to be quite logical, a lot of residents are still doubtful and not easily willing to cooperate. Perhaps they've had negative experiences dealing with the kuyakusho before. One fear might be that the invitation to jumin sanka events is not unselfish, i.e., that the civil servants' only aim is to shift all the work and responsibility toward the residents. (Toriyama 1993, p. 1). This is why it is still difficult to put jumin sanka into practice on a sufficiently large scale, as will be shown by the example of the Suginami Master Plan.

2.4.3 Necessity of jumin sanka

Japan's transition from a centralized state toward a democratic system also exerted a great influence on urban planning, helping to transform the "hard" toshikeikaku to the more "soft" machizukuri.

"I must say that one of the most important things of Urban Planning is Democracy and also the balance of power between Government and Citizens." (Teranishi 1996, p. 9)

By strengthening the power of machizukuri, the importance of everyday life and problems of the people increased as well. Since the residents are not only the persons directly affected by urban planning measures but also experts in a sense - at least with respect to their own residential surroundings, their needs and expectations, - machizukuri without jumin sanka cannot be put into practice in a satisfactory way. (Toriyama 1993, p. 1)

Although both residents and administration somehow still seem accustomed to the centralized toshikeikaku, top-down urban planning alone is no longer sufficient with regard to the modern democratic way of decision-making. This is why the consciousness of both sides concerned must be shifted toward a system of more cooperation and mutual understanding, best realized by jumin sanka. Consequently, it is a central task of the City Office to facilitate the possibilities for the residents to participate in urban planning.

3 Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku as field research areas

Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku are both predominantly high-level residential areas and very progressive as far as machizukuri projects are concerned. They were not chosen as average representatives of the participation of the residents, but as outstanding positive examples. In this function they show in different ways how it is possible to smooth the communication and cooperation between the local administration and the residents and how to put some projects of urban planning together into practice.

3.1 Short introduction to Suginami-ku

Suginami-ku is on the Musashino Plateau at the western fringe of the ward area and is the eighth-largest ward (3402 km2). This suburb serves as a commuter town for the Tokyo metropolitan area, with more than 90 percent residential use. The population is about 500,000, with a little more than 253,000 households (September 1996). (City of Suginami 1996, p. 26 and 28)

Suginami-ku introduces itself as follows: "Suginami Ward, one of the 23 wards of Metropolitan Tokyo, has managed to preserve its character as a residential community in relatively rich and unspoiled natural areas. The local government and residents of Suginami place a high value essentially on the residential ambience of the ward and have done their best to encourage development that will allow Suginami to remain a pleasant place in which to live." (Suginami Ward Office 1989, p. 3)

Although this quotation is already several years old, the contents can be still taken unchanged. Yet it is striking that in 1989 Suginami-ku is translated as Suginami Ward, whereas in recent publications Suginami City is used instead. This sign of a strengthened self-confidence can be seen as one result of a general development toward more independence and decentralization of administrative power, based on the Law to Promote the Decentralization of Powers enacted in 1995.

3.2 Urban planning and jumin sanka in Suginami-ku

To illustrate jumin sanka in urban planning projects in Suginami-ku, two very different but nonetheless striking examples will be introduced. One is the old-established scenic path Shiruku Rodo, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 1997. The other is the Suginami Master Plan, which was just published in August 1997 and therefore is the newest example of jumin sanka in Suginami-ku.

3.2.1 The Shiruku Rodo

The name Shiruku Rodo is a pun. On the one hand, it is a walk designed for children as well as adults who can experience on a stroll unknown things and have some "adventures". Because of this, it was named after the famous historical "Silk Road". On the other hand, shiru implies "to know / to learn / to understand" and ku is "ward". This means one can learn more about the Suginami-ku while enjoying walks through it.

3.2.1.1 Structure of the Shiruku Rodo

The Shiruku Rodo consists of two circles with a total length of about 36 kilometers. The route, composed of existing streets and paths, was selected together with the residents which is a rather early example of jumin sanka in urban planning in Suginami-ku.

The Eastern Circle (16.9 km) mainly deals with history, the Western Circle (19.4 km) with nature. The Suginami Kuyakusho offers a special Shiruku Rodo map and leaflets explaining interesting buildings, parks, infrastructural facilities etc. along the route. But even without these materials, the way can be easily found, because in the pavement of the streets are 3,800 signs of the mascot Sugimaru, and 56 Shiruku Rodo maps made of clay.

Special attractions of the route are four resting places called "oases". Each of them presents another funny design. The Mimi no Oasis ("Ear Oasis", since 1991) is located in a small bamboo wood and provides devices for listening to the sounds of nature. The Toki no Oasis ("Time Oasis", since 1992) is equipped with a time-capsule. The Hadashi no Oasis ("Barefoot Oasis", since 1993) consists of a short trail paved with different materials (gravel, stones, sand etc.), the feeling of which should be experienced barefooted. The Hana no Oasis ("Nose Oasis", since 1993) provides the facilities for smelling a lot of different scents.

3.2.1.2 Events and publications of the Shiruku Rodo

Those who do not like to walk along the Shiruku Rodo without guidance may join in an expedition group called Tankentai that has been held every year since its foundation. Other events like games and rallies along the trail or workshops concerning machizukuri are announced in the newsletter Tanken Shinbun published four or five times a year and in the Sugimaru Magazin published (since 1990) once a year.

In the autumn of 1997, the tenth anniversary of the Shiruku Rodo was celebrated with a lot of special events, and like the years before, large numbers of "Shiruku Rodo Explorers" and other participants joined the activities.

3.2.1.3 Aims of the Shiruku Rodo

The name Shiruku Rodo hints at the fact that the residents use this "expedition route" to explore their surroundings and become acquainted with the present character and local conditions of Suginami-ku as well as with its history. Besides, being shown the location of parks and other open spaces, the citizens should learn to know where to go in case of an earthquake or other natural disasters.

In fact, disaster prevention has been the most important aim for the establishment of the Shiruku Rodo. Secondly, the residents should develop some concern about machizukuri and become aware of other possibilities of jumin sanka. It is hoped that children who take part in Shiruku Rodo events and spend a nice time, will remember the positive experiences and become more interested in urban planning matters in general as adults.

3.2.1.4 Future of the Shiruku Rodo

In 1998, most operations connected with the Shiruku Rodo will be transferred to the Suginamiku Machizukuri Kosha, situated just opposite the Suginami Kuyakusho. Only such works as the maintenance of the four oases, etc., will remain the responsibility of the local administration.

One reason for this change might be that after ten years a new impulse is needed to keep the Shiruku Rodo interesting. However, a more important consideration is that of costs respective to how to raise money. The administration is bound by a lot of legal restrictions, while a Kosha, i.e., a public corporation, has much more liberty. For instance, it can consolidate its budget with advertisements in its publications, etc.

The renewal is mainly confined to aspects of organization and finance, so it is expected that the Shiruku Rodo will not be affected very much by the renewal and will even gain new attractiveness.

3.2.2 The Suginami Master Plan

While the Shiruku Rodo is an old symbol of jumin sanka in Suginami-ku, the Suginami Master Plan was published only last summer (Aug. 1, 1997) and therefore is introduced as the most recent example of the residents' participation in Suginami-ku. It covers the entire field of urban planning.

3.2.2.1 Process of the Suginami Master Plan

In 1992, the enactment of the Revised City Planning Law made the establishment of municipal Master Plans (Kihon Hoshin) compulsory for local municipalities. Two years later, in 1994, Suginami-ku began revising the former Master Plan passed in 1990.

An important innovation was the participation of the residents. To design the draft plan, called Tatakitai, several investigations of resident's opinions were made in 1995. Tatakitai was published in July 1996.

Further surveys, questionnaires, poster sessions and symposiums served to gather residents' reactions concerning the draft plan Tatakitai. These were published under the title of Kumin Iken '96 (Opinions of the Residents '96) and were distributed among the citizens in November 1996.

In February 1997, Shuseian, the revised version of the Suginami Master Plan, underwent a final inspection. In March, the Suginamiku Toshikeikaku Shingikai (Urban Planning Committee of Suginami City) presented its report. In May, the plan was passed and published in August.

3.2.2.2 Complete title of the Suginami Master Plan

The complete title of what is generally abbreviated as Suginami Master Plan is Suginamiku Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin (main title) and Suginamiku Toshikeikaku Master Plan (subtitle). According to the Revised City Planning Law, the legally correct version would be Toshikeikaku ni kan suru kihonteki na Hoshin (Master Plan), but Suginami-ku decided on the two headings mentioned above as a compromise. On one hand, all elements required in the name advised by the law are used. On the other hand, to soften the "hard" image of toshikeikaku and appease the residents, machizukuri is made the key word of the main title. These considerations may give some further insight into the complex relationship between toshikeikaku and machizukuri and the rather arbitrary use of the terms in adaptation to the circumstances rather than to the contents of a publication.

3.2.2.3 Current situation in Suginami-ku and basic objectives of the Suginami Master Plan

The current situation in Suginami-ku can be described as follows:

1. There is a change in society with more elderly people and fewer children.

2. Two different types of residential areas coexist: high-density, high-rise buildings along railways and large streets; and crowded low-rise resident housing (one or two storeys) in the other parts of Suginami-ku.

3. There have been strong influences on urban planning conditions exerted by rapidly changing land prices.

4. In most areas there is a lack of (broad) streets, parks and other infrastructural facilities.

5. Many districts are still not safe as far as earthquakes and other natural disasters are concerned.

6. Greenery is decreasing because of the subdivision of building sites and the high density of buildings.

7. Suginami-ku does not possess a clear individuality.

(Suginamiku Kohoka 8 / 1997, p. 2)

Those general conditions of Suginami-ku lead to the following four basic objectives of the Suginami Master Plan:

1. To build a town where everybody can live comfortably

2. To build a town with individuality

3. To stress the importance of comprehensive urban planning

4. To promote machizukuri based on jumin sanka

(Suginamiku Kohoka 8 / 1997, p. 2)

3.2.2.4 Structure of the Suginami Master plan - Bunribetsu Hoshin and Zonbetsu Hoshin

The Suginami Master Plan is divided on one hand into basic policies for seven main tasks (Bunribetsu Hoshin), and on the other hand, into basic policies for fourteen districts (Zonbetsu Hoshin).

3.2.2.4.1 Bunribetsu Hoshin - basic policies for seven main tasks in the Suginami Master Plan

The Suginami Master plan provides basic policies for seven main tasks:

- Land-Use (Tochi Ryo Hoshin): useful utilization of land

- Residential Areas (Shigaichi Seibi Hoshin): good residential surroundings

- Roads and Traffic (Doro - Kotsu Taikei Seibi Hoshin): systematic organisation of roads and traffic

- Disaster Prevention (Bosai Machizukuri Hoshin): a city that is resistant against earthquakes etc.

- Water and Greenery (Midori to Mizu no Machizukuri Hoshin): conservation of nature and open space

- Environment (Keikan Machizukuri Hoshin): characteristic Suginami-ku landscape and atmosphere

- Social Welfare (Fukushi no Machizukuri Hoshin): comfortable life for the elderly and handicapped

(Suginaiku Toshiseibibu Toshikeikakuka 1997, p. 33 ff.)

3.2.2.4.2 Zonbetsu Hoshin - basic policies for fourteen districts in the Suginami Master Plan

In the former Master Plan, only seven districts existed, each of which has been subdivided into two new districts. They are: Kamiigusa - Shimoigusa, Nishiogikita - Nishiogiminami, Ogikubokita - Ogikubominami, Asagaya - Narita, Koenji - Wada / Horinouchi, Takaidonishi - Takaidohigashi, Eifuku - Honan / Izumi.

(Suginamiku Toshiseibibu Toshikeikakuka 1997, p. 141 ff.)

Each district is treated individually and is to be developed in its own way as proposed in the fourteen district-related basic policies. However, these cannot be presented in detail in this paper.

3.2.2.5 Quantitative aspect of jumin sanka concerning the Suginami Master Plan

The Revised City Planning Law is intended to use the Master Plan as a means of strengthening the interest of the citizens in urban planning and to facilitate their participation in machizukuri projects. To check if this intention is fulfilled, let us take a look at the numbers of residents that actually took part in the revision of the Master Plan.

The first phase covered the establishment of the draft plan Tatakitai (1995); 1,338 residents answered the questionnaire-postcard in the brochure "View Suginami" (June 1995); 1,161 persons took part in a survey concerning the real conditions of Suginami-ku; and 50 answered an opinion poll by the Suginami City Office (July 1995).

The second phase covers the reactions to the publication of Tatakitai; 369 residents took part in public hearings, where the contents of the plan were explained with reference to the different districts of Suginami-ku; and 1,049 people visited a poster session held several times. The questionnaire-postcard in the leaflet Koho Suginami (July 1996) was answered by 509 residents. Another survey made by the Suginami Kuyakusho gathered the opinions of 50 citizens (July 1996). A symposium held in October 1996 was visited by about 230 persons. Finally, the Internet homepage introducing the Suginami Master Plan was opened about 4,400 times, and the revised plan Shuseian elicited still another 50 opinions.

The figures mentioned above, without taking into account the different intensity of the several forms of participation, add up to less than 10,000. With the population of Suginami-ku at about 500,000 living in a little more than 253,000 households, this indicates that roughly 2% of the residents or 4% of the households revealed some interest in the revision of the Suginami Master Plan.

However insignificant the results may seem, the Suginami City Office is quite satisfied with these levels of participation, considering them as rather high in comparison with other attempts at jumin sanka.

It seems to be typical that in spite of extensive efforts on the part of the administration, very few citizens participate, while the majority keeps silent (although not necessarily satisfied).

3.3 Short introduction to Setagaya-ku

Setagaya-ku, the southern neighbour of Suginami-ku, also functions as a commuter town with more than 80 percent of the area residential. It is the second largest ward (5,808 km2). The population is about 781,000 (census of 1995) living in roughly 360,000 households (1993). (City of Setagaya 1993, p. 18 and 20)

3.4 Urban planning and jumin sanka in Setagaya-ku

While Suginami-ku is governed by only one central kuyakusho, Setagaya-ku has a branch office (called shisho) in each of its five administrative districts. This decentralization of tasks can be seen as a positive step toward the citizens. The main City Office remains in charge of projects that concern Setagaya-ku as a whole. (City of Setagaya 1989, p. 39)

As incentives for the residents to become interested in machizukuri, design competitions and photo sessions are held. Some neighbourhood prizes are awarded for special projects carried out with the cooperation of the citizens. Furthermore, the City Office requests help as far as the maintenance of small parks and other public greenery is concerned. (City of Setagaya 1989, p. 13)

3.4.1 Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu

The Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu is one section of the Setagaya Kuyakusho in charge of jumin sanka in machizukuri projects. Although the slogan is toshi o design suru ("To design the City"), the reading of the two kanji for toshi has been changed into machi, indicated by furigana. This is another example of softening words directed toward the citizens as explained in the discussion of the complete title of the Suginami Master Plan.

Setagaya-ku began its first individual district planning as an autonomy in 1975, the same year in which the first mayor was elected after the war. In 1982, the Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu was founded. Today, it consists of five civil servants: one Kacho, three employees and one expert.

3.4.1.1 Fields of work of the Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu

The Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu can be divided into seven fields of work:

1. Planning of infrastructural facilities throughout Setagaya-ku

2. Discussing the city's design with other sections and the residents

3. Promoting residents' participation in urban planning projects

4. Introducing a city with safe and interesting walks

5. Showing a city that is friendly toward the elderly and handicapped

6. Stressing the individual character of the city and its five administrative districts

7. Showing an ecological way of urban planning

(Setagayaku Kikakubu Toshidesignshitsu 1993)

Although jumin sanka is listed as only one point besides six others, in my opinion it cannot be singled out since it is used as an important means of putting the other topics into practice.

3.4.1.2 Setagaya Machinamizukuri Koza

The Setagaya Machinamizukuri Koza is a seminar offered free of charge by the Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu for the residents interested in the history, present situation and Machizukuri of Setagaya-ku. The programme consists of eight lessons (June - December 1997).

In the first two lessons, urban planners of the Setagaya Kuyakusho introduced the historical development and the current situation, urban problems, and legal restrictions in Setagaya-ku. This background knowledge can be supplemented at home with reference materials provided by the City Office. Later on, another lecture was held, comparing urban planning in Setagaya-ku with some European examples. The remaining five lessons were organized as a workshop, where the participants, divided into groups, discussed and solved special tasks.

My impression of the Setagaya Machinamizukuri Koza is very positive, since the level was skilfully adapted to the knowledge of the average citizen who is no expert in the contents and vocabulary of urban planning.

3.4.1.3 Setagaya Machizukuri School

The Setagaya Machinamizukuri Koza organized by the Setagaya Toshi Design Shitsu is only one part of a series of jumin sanka events carried out in cooperation with other sections of the Setagaya Kuyakusho. This series is called Setagaya Machizukuri School, which is aimed at teaching the residents a basic knowledge of urban planning, studying together some problems, and trying to find acceptable solutions.

The "School" is composed of the following subjects, which cannot be prsented in detail in this paper:

1. Mansion Kanri Koza (Jutaku Keikakuka) - topic: maintenance of mansions

2. Bosai Machizukuri Seminar (Toshi Keikakuka) - topic: disaster prevention

3. Kokyo Kenchiku Koza (Eizen Daiikka) - topic: public buildings

4. Machinamizukuri Koza (Toshi Design Shitsu) - topic: residential areas

5. Ie kara Machizukuri Koza (Kenchikuka) - topic: urban planning begins at home

3.4.2 Setagaya Machizukuri Center and Setagaya Machizukuri Fund

The Setagaya Machizukuri Center and the Setagaya Machizukuri Fund were both founded in 1992. These institutions serve as a mediator between the residents and the Setagaya Kuyakusho and are - like sections of the City Office as well - in charge of jumin sanka in machizukuri projects.

3.4.2.1 Objectives of the Setagaya Machizukuri Center

The objectives of the Setagaya Machizukuri Center can be devided into five spheres:

1. To establish a machizukuri network with information about machizukuri projects, etc.

2. To offer seminars or lectures about machizukuri

3. To make investigations and scientific research about machizukuri

4. To carry out jumin sanka projects and support such projects organized by other institutions

5. To establish a library about machizukuri and publish newsletters, etc., about this subject

3.4.2.2 Financing of machizukuri projects - the Setagaya Machizukuri Fund

The Setagaya Machizukuri Fund, which is a public trust financed by donations of the residents and enterprises and by subscription of the administration, public corporations etc., helps to finance projects of the Setagaya Machizukuri Center. Machizukuri Activity Groups are supported as well as Machizukuri House, an institution providing space for meetings and materials (books etc.) used by the Setagaya Machizukuri Center for its own jumin sanka events as well as by residents for their private projects. If needed, staff is also available to help organize the projects of the Machizukuri Activity Groups.

Although the Setagaya Machizukuri Center closely cooperates with the Setagaya Kuyakusho, it is an independent institution and offers many interesting and important opportunities for the citizens to get in touch with and participate in machizukuri projects.

4 Future outlook

The few examples of jumin sanka in Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku introduced in this paper can only give a slight impression of what residents' participation in the Japanese urban planning system looks like. There are many other examples in Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku, in other parts of Tokyo, and throughout Japan that could not be mentioned in so short a time.

As stated above, the revision of the Suginami Master Plan interested only 2% of the inhabitants or 4% of the households, considered by the Suginami Kuyakusho as a comparatively high rate of participitation.

Although it would be easy to say that because of the small numbers of participants jumin sanka is of no importance or has completely failed, the fact that the former Suginami Master Plan was established only by the urban planners in charge, without any chance of participation for the residents, suggests that the recent levels of participation must be evaluated as important progress.

Now that the facilities for cooperation between the administration and the citizens are established, the central task for the future is, how the civil servants can gain the interest and readiness for cooperation of a significant number of citizens. As long as only a small group takes part, the power of the Kuyakusho cannot be controlled and the administration is likely to be criticized for using low participation as an excuse for justifying the old fashioned "top-down" approach to urban planning.

This is why further efforts (from both sides) should focus on giving the residents the really important role in the system of urban planning they deserve, at least in a political system called "democracy".

In fact, the various ideas of jumin sanka realized in Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku have served as models for other municipalities throughout Japan. They also could stimulate participation in the older, but more bureaucratic, urban planning process in Germany as well.

5 Summary

The paper provides a condensed survey of toshikeikaku and machizukuri in Tokyo. It pays special attention to citizens' participation in urban planning policies, illustrated by machizukuri projects in Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku.

From toshikeikaku to machizukuri

Urban planning in Japan initially involved toshikeikaku ("top-down", "hard"). In the case of Tokyo, this term refers to the centralized manner of urban planning by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) at the top of the local administrative hierarchy.

Gradually, the old-established "planning philosophy" changed toward more democratic methods, leading to the birth of machizukuri ("bottom-up", "soft") as a new way of urban planning that involves close cooperation between the administration and citizens. Machizukuri nowadays, however, is a widely and differently used term that cannot be restricted to a fixed definition.

Machizukuri projects in Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku

Suginami-ku and Setagaya-ku (both predominantly high-level residential areas) are very progressive as far as machizukuri projects are concerned, and for that reason were chosen as field research areas.

Conclusion

Originally, urban planning policies of the Western world exerted a strong influence on the Japanese toshikeikaku. Nevertheless, in Germany, Tokyo still suggests the image of a chaotic world city without much urban planning, let alone jumin sanka. The aim of this paper is to show the transition from toshikeikaku toward cooperation between the administration and the residents through typical machizukuri projects. Japan is shown to have developed individual, often unconventional, strategies of jumin sanka in urban planning activities. As a model not only for other municipalities in Japan, they could provide a new impetus in Germany for residents' participation, which, in spite of several positive examples, is generally restricted by rigid laws and highly bureaucratic regulations.

6 Table of Reference Literature

City of Setagaya (ed.): Eine Gemeinde mit Herz - Setagaya, Tokyo 1993

City of Setagaya (ed.): Setagaya - ein Stadtbezirk Tokyos stellt sich vor, Tokyo 1989

Setagayaku Kikakubu Toshidesign Shitsu (ed.): Machi o design suru, Tokyo 1993

Setagaya Machizukuri Center (ed.): Machizukuri Center Guide, Tokyo 1995

Setagaya Machizukuri Center (ed.): Oen shimasu. Anata ga hajimeru machizukuri, Tokyo

Setagaya Machizukuri Center (ed.): Setagaya Machizukuri Fund, Tokyo

Suginami City (ed.): A guide to living in SUGINAMI CITY, Tokyo 1996

Suginami City (ed.): Tokushu: Shin Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin no sakusei ni mukete, in: View Suginami June 1995, pp. 2-7

Suginami City (ed.): Tokushu: Shiruku Rodo ju shunen, in: View Suginami June 1997, pp. 2-5

Suginami City (ed.): Tokushu: Suginamiku Toshikeikaku Master Plan, in: View Suginami August 1996, pp. 2-7

Suginami City Office, Public Relations Section (ed.): Suginami City "Shiruku Road" Scenic Path, in: City News Suginami, June 15, 1997, no. 5, p. 2

Suginamiku (ed.): Suginamikusei Gaiyo, Tokyo 1996

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Minna no goiken o kikase kudasai. Toshikeikaku Master Plan (Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin) Tatakitai, Koho Suginami 7 / 11 No. 1370, Tokyo 1996

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Shorai ni tsunagu Suginami no sekkeizu. Toshikeikaku Master Plan (Shin Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin) no sakutei ni mukete, Koho Suginami 12 / 11 No. 1348, Tokyo 1995

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Tokushu Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin, Koho Suginami 8 / 1 No. 1410, Tokyo 1997

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Toshikeikaku Master Plan no "Shuseian" ga dekimashita, Koho Suginami 2 / 1 No. 1391, Tokyo 1997

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Toshikeikaku Master Plan no "Tatakitai" ga dekimashita (Shin Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin), Koho Suginami 7 / 11 No. 1371, Tokyo 1996

Suginamiku Hokoka (ed.): Yotochiiki ga kawarimashita, Koho Suginami 6 / 20 No. 1367, Tokyo 1996

Suginamiku Machizukuri Kosha (ed.): Machizukuri Josei '97. Sanka dantai daiboshu, in: Machizukuri News, No. 18, 18.6. 1997, p. 1

Suginamiku Machizukuri Suishinka (ed.): Several pamphlets about the Shiruku Rodo, Tokyo

Suginamiku Toshiseibibu (ed.): Kumin Iken '96, Tokyo 1996

Suginamiku Toshiseibibu Toshikeikakuka (ed.): Suginamiku Machizukuri Kihon Hoshin. Suginamiku Toshikeikaku Master Plan, Tokyo 1997

Suginami Ward Office (ed.): The Master Plan of Suginami Ward, Tokyo 1989

Takagi, Tadayuki: Toshikeikakuho o yomikonasu kotsu, Kyoto 1996

Teranishi, Hirofumi: Historical Analysis of Tokyo Urban Planning, Tokyo 1997

Teranishi, Hirofumi: Institutions of urban planning and the Decentralization, Tokyo 1996

Teranishi, Hirofumi: Tokyoto toshikeikaku shiron, Tokyo 1997

Tokyo Metropolitan Government (ed.): Plain Talk about Tokyo, Tokyo 1991

Tokyo Metropolitan Government (ed.): Planning of Tokyo 1994, Tokyo 1994

Toriyama, Chihiro: Chiiki ni okeru machizukuri - jumin sanka no shikumi o kufu suru, Tokyo 1993

Uzuki Morio: Jumin sanka no machizukuri o kangaeru, Tokyo (no year)