Tokyo Station City Development Plan Fall 2015 11.301 Assignment 2 Urban Plans Xiao Yun Chang

Table of Contents Introduction History of Tokyo Station Transit-Oriented Development in Japan Tokyo Station City Development Plan Criteria Used for Judging the Plan Economic Activities Impacts on the Neighborhood Architecture and Landscape Design Public Benefits Mobility Conclusion Reference

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Introduction Japan is famous for its delicacy in preserving its cultural heritage and its pursuit for applying modern technology and concepts that improve urban lives. At the heart of Japan’s capital city as shown below in Figure 1, the Tokyo Station is a perfect illustration of these philosophies. Currently several plans exist, aiming to renovate the Tokyo Station building, a long-time historical symbol, while modernizing the station area with high-rises for commercial and educational purposes and underground shopping areas and improving the traffic and pedestrian circulation around the station. In this paper, we will examine the Tokyo Station City Development Plan, and analyze its effectiveness as a transit-oriented development project, for which many precedents exist in Japan.

Figure 1: Tokyo Station Relative to the Tokyo City Source: Google Maps

History of Tokyo Station The main station building of Tokyo station was designed by Kingo Tatsuno, the founder of Japanese modern architecture. Since its opening in 1914, Tokyo Station has witnessed history of political, economic, and urban revolution. The station has survived the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, yet it was damaged in a fire-bombing raid by the U.S. air force in 1945, which destroyed the rooftop domes, then replaced by octagon-shaped roofs as shown in Figure 2. The Tokyo Station building was kept at its original shape and designated as an Important Cultural Asset in 2003. As of today, it is one of the busiest train stations in Japan serving important 3

function in the city of Tokyo, the Greater Tokyo Area and Japan, with the greatest number of platforms and the third-highest daily passenger flow nationally.

Figure 2: Tokyo Station before and after the air raid. Source: JR East, Regarding the Redevelopment Plan of the Tokyo Station Area, February 2002.

Regarded as “the entrance to and the face of Tokyo”, it is surrounded by government buildings, commercial areas and buildings of the Imperial Family of Japan. On the west side of the station, the Marunouchi entrance leads to the Imperial Palace and important government organizations. On the east, the Yaesu entrance leads to office buildings in the Yaesu area. The Tokyo station is a major hub of the Japan Railway East Company (JR East) – it runs 22 lines operated by JR East, one Shinkansen line by JR Central, and one subway line by Tokyo Metro. We can see the currently layout near the station and the railway lines passing through the station in Figure 3.

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Figure 3: Vicinity of Tokyo Station, aerial photos (left) and land parcels (right) Source: Google Maps

Transit-Oriented Development in Japan Articulated by Peter Calthorpe in the 1990s, transit-oriented development (TOD) refers to “the land use characteristics of areas where transit is being promoted” and mostly takes the shape of high-density, mixed-use development with concentrated commercial activities. It has been applied in Japan almost exclusively to train stations, owning to Japan’s rapid development of railway systems. The urbanization of Japan in the last century was greatly affected by the development of urban railway network. After the World War II, the railway became the most effective way for commuting in response to a weak planning system and underdeveloped road infrastructure. In the late 1990s, the railway line density and mode share by rail in Tokyo reached 1.01km/km2 and 86%, whereas comparable figures were 0.74km/km2 and 65% in London and Paris, and 0.41km/km2 and 61% in New York. Such density and popularity of the rail system made TOD possible in Japan. On the other hand, the privatization of the Japan National Railways forced these newly privatized Japan Railway (JR) companies to recover their capital investments through ways other than railway operation alone, which has never been quite profitable anywhere globally. Furthermore, the Land Readjustment policies in Japan have enabled the railway companies to have land near train stations they own replotted and redistributed for them to improve infrastructure. Starting in the 2000s, many railway companies in Japan including the privatized JR companies are redeveloping train station areas that they own in order to capture the increased land value as a result of the improved mobility due to the existence of train stations or railway lines. These development projects often incorporate commercial buildings and retail space that enrich the functionality of the station space, making the stations places for social interactions and commercial activities. Many central train stations in major Japanese cities have high-rises connected to the stations rented to businesses and/or national chains of department stores, with retail shops and restaurants well-integrated within the stations along the walking areas. These multi-functional stations are agglomerations of economic activities, not just transportation hubs. On the other hand, many private railway companies in Japan operate lines that extend to the suburbs, and they could develop commercial areas along the lines. Below in Figure 4 are typical examples of TOD projects in Japan. The Osaka Station lies in the center of Osaka and connects many shopping centers together. The Tachikawa Station, in comparison, is in the suburb of 5

Tokyo and has a concentrated development of commercial buildings, almost converting the station into a downtown.

Figure 4: Examples of Transit-Oriented Development Projects in Japan Left: Osaka Station, Osaka; right: Tachikawa Station, Tokyo

Tokyo Station City Development Plan Tokyo Station faces several challenges, the most significant of which are the station building in need of renovation, the station plaza that cannot meet the traffic demand, and the Yaesu side of the station looking unfit as a station entrance. In 2001, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government established the “Research Committee for Regeneration and Improvement of Tokyo Station Area” in response to these critical challenges. The committee made recommendations about the course for restoration of the station building, improvement of the station plaza, and redevelopment plans of the area. These recommendations were adopted by the city government as the package of Tokyo Station Area Development Plan. This assignment specifically evaluates the Tokyo Station City Development Plan (“the Plan”), which covers the Yaesu and Nihonbashi sides of the station and the station plaza, but not the station building renovation plan. Note that the Plan is ongoing and brings about continuous changes in the area; also for this reason many relevant data are still not disclosed. The Plan, as illustrated in Figure 5, is undertaken jointly by JR East and land owners and leaseholders of the area. It has had two major phases completed in 2007 and 2013 respectively. The first phase consists of the GranTokyo twin towers, the GranSta in-station shopping space and the SapiaTower. Both 205-meter-tall and connected to the station underground, the north tower contains 14 floors of department store Daimaru (a famous national chain) and 26 floors of office space while the south tower is mostly for offices. GranSta is an underground shopping complex featuring approximately 50 stores, including “delicatessens, confectioners, bakeries, cafes, grocery stores and two seasonal shops” with easy access to platforms. The SapiaTower is meant to be a research and education center and hosts research centers of several universities, medical research companies, energy companies and manufacturer. The name of the tower is taken from the word "sapience" with the suffix "-ia," meaning place, to represent a place for exchange of all kinds of knowledge. The top floors of the SapiaTower are occupied by a highend hotel. The second phase completes the lower levels of the north GranTokyo tower and constructs the GranRoof, a pedestrian passage between the twin towers containing shopping and 6

station facilities. In 2014, JR East announced two additional plans to redevelop the underground facilities and the station plaza to improve the accessibility of the stations, especially for pedestrians (see Mobility).

Figure 5: Visualization of Tokyo Station City Source: JR East

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Criteria Used for Judging the Plan To answer the question as to whether the plan is effective, we must take its purpose and context into consideration. Given the characteristics of the plan, we use the following five criteria as summarized in Table 1 to determine the effectiveness of the plan. Criteria for judgment Economic Activities Impacts on the Neighborhood Architecture and Landscape Design

Public Benefits Mobility

Corresponding characteristics of the plan justifying each of the chosen criterion • Transit-oriented development project • Generator of commercial activities • High population density in the area • Generator of commercial activities • Large-scale urban transformation • Modern high-rise buildings in juxtaposition to historical building • Other projects in the area • Located at the center of Tokyo • Variety of land use • Transit-oriented development • High population density • High passenger flow

Score (+/0/-) + + 0

+ +

Table 1: criteria for judgment and the corresponding characteristics of the plan justifying the chosen criteria

Economic Activities For a TOD project, the most direct measure of its success is the level of economic activities generated as a result of the project. However, it was difficult to look up data that directly reveal the economic success of the Plan, probably because the project is still ongoing. To portrait the degree of economic activities, one can look at the variety of services and stores. The Tokyo Station City website contains a comprehensive list of the services and stores in the station complex. The most aggressive construct is the GranSta in-station shopping streets, which contain about a hundred restaurants and shops. These restaurants and shops are only accessible to those who have tapped into the station, enjoying the benefits of the business potential brought by the massive passenger flow transferring between different lines in the station. Outside the station zone, we can find two hotels (one built under the Plan), two spa and massage clubs, one convention center, and many other restaurants and shops located in the other parts of the station complex. Once established, these middle-to-high-end service providers and stores generate substantial cash flow for JR East and the developers. Impacts on the Neighborhood A generator of concentrated commercial activities in the heart of Tokyo, this project has considerable effects on the neighborhood. Given that Tokyo Station is located in Chiyoda District, the political center of Japan with a relatively low residential population density, we can

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focus on whether the project brings positive benefits to the political and business entities near the station. One characteristic of the Plan is that most of the newly created space is meant for the working population in the area rather than for the residential population, which matches the population pattern in Chiyoda District that the daytime population (~850,000 in 2005) is about 20 times the nighttime population (~41,000 in 2005). This is so because Chiyoda District hosts many key government institutions as well as about 40,000 business establishments with more than 800,000 employees. First of all, these business and government entities could find the hotels and the convention center very useful when they need to host guests or organize meetings and exhibitions – at a location close to them and extremely convenient for commuting. The restaurants are also beneficial as they do not only provide places for lunch during work time but also for nighttime after-work socialization, which is a common practice in the Japanese workplace. I also feel obliged to include commuters as a part of the neighborhood. Employees in Tokyo and generally in Japan usually have to work overtime and socialize after work, while train stations could be a comfort where they can rest alone, eat, and go home with reliable train services. The GranSta underground restaurant streets have reinforced this function of Tokyo Station for the commuters – the residents moving on trains. Architecture and Landscape Design The scale and the location of the project as well as its contrast to the traditional station building have made he visual aspect of the project immensely significant. We will discuss whether the high-rises fit in the urban landscape by considering the context of the site. First, we can look at the buildings in Chiyoda District to get a sense of the general impression when one walks into the area where the Tokyo Station is located. As mentioned previously, Chiyoda District is packed with important government organizations and many business entities. Besides having walked in Chiyoda District myself, I was able to replicate the result with a search on Google Images with keywords “千代田区 ビル 写真” (Chiyoda District / Building / Photo) in Figure 6. The high-rises in the Plan can easily blend into these other buildings in Chiyoda District and will not feel out of place. After all, Tokyo itself entails business opportunities in high-rises to Japanese.

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Figure 6: Google Images Search with Keywords “千代田区 ビル 写真” (Chiyoda District / Building / Photo), Retrieved on December 17, 2015.

Moreover, the Plan matches the development plans near the Tokyo Station area. Real estate developers including Mitsui Fudosan, Tokyo Tatemono, and Mitsubishi Estate have proposed redevelopment projects in the districts of Tokiwabashi and Yaesu, as shown below in Figures 7 and 8. These projects contain six buildings in total to be completed in the 2020s, four of which are high-rises (two in the Tokiwabashi District and two in the Yaesu District). These plans altogether form a coherent package that creates an urban hub promoting the financial and economic development of the Tokyo City.

Figure 7: Location of the Tokiwabashi and Yaesu Redevelopment Plans Relative to Tokyo Station

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Figure 8: Proposed Buildings in the Tokiwabashi (left) and Yaesu (middle/right) Redevelopment Plans

It is hard to tell, however, whether the high-rises are compatible with the Tokyo Station building. In a typical TOD project in Japan, the high-rise is usually right above the station building as previously illustrated in the examples of Osaka station and Tachikawa station. In this case it is not possible to build above the historical building, and the high-rises had to be built on its periphery. While a support argument might claim that the high-rises are in accordance with the Japanese TOD conventions and create a visually pleasing contrast between the modern and the traditional architectural styles which reflects the Japanese way of both preserving culture and pursuing modern development, one could also argue the exact opposite that these 200-meter-tall high-rises are plain copies of other TOD projects with no consideration for the specific historical context of the site – especially when the station building is only 33 meters tall. Public Benefits TOD projects can be subject to criticism for their lack of consideration for equity and the common good. For instance, the TOD projects in Hong Kong are often deemed as successful business cases for transportation agencies but not so much as equitable city development projects; although these projects recover the operation costs of the Hong Kong metro system and enable the Mass Transit Railway (the metro operator in Hong Kong) to make profits, they are often blamed to have built too many high-end residential and commercial buildings and raised the land price in Hong Kong in general. Therefore, public benefits are a significant measure of the effectiveness of TOD projects. The Plan entails several aspects that improve public benefits aside from mentioned above in Impacts on the Neighborhood. First, the project has created an attraction that combines the modern elements with the traditional esthetics and improved the city image, not just domestically but also internationally. On TripAdvisor, a website where global tourists write reviews about tourism attractions, hotels and restaurants, the Tokyo Station is listed as the “#19 of 1,441 things to do in Tokyo”, a fairly high ranking given the number of high-quality attractions in Tokyo. A quick glance of the first few pages of reviews reveals that most tourists were impressed by the traditional architecture form; the second most impressive point was the convenience of the shopping space nearby – the multitude of restaurants, the density of stores, the architecture of the 11

towers, etc. These praises have undoubtedly demonstrated the successfulness of the Tokyo Station City project.

Figure 9: Tokyo Station Listed as the “#19 of 1,441 things to do in Tokyo” Source: TripAdvisor, Top Things to Do in Tokyo, Retrieved on December 14, 2015

The second aspect is the variety of space that the Plan has made, which is a major distinction between the Tokyo Station City project and the TOD projects in Hong Kong. Besides the commercial and retail space, the project includes a high-rise dedicated to research and education uses as mentioned previously. The SapiaTower contains a floor of clinics, three floors of university research centers, and 16 floors of office space now mostly occupied by medical research companies. Such mixed-use arrangement increases the variety of activities taking place as well as people entering the site. While ensuring the financial prospect of the development, the project also functions as an educational simulation. Mobility As a TOD project generates inflow of passengers and visitors, crowding, if unmitigated, could become a serious unintended consequence. Therefore, we need to consider the effects on mobility. Since detailed data on the mobility measures in the station is not available, we will examine whether the Plan has acted upon such changes proactively. In fact, we can find two plans addressing the mobility issue – the Tokyo Station Plaza Redevelopment plan and the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Side Underground Area Redevelopment plan, both announced in July 2014. The first one is a complement to Plan, aiming to address the possible congestion brought by the increased number of visitors and commuters on the ground level. To be completed in 2017, the plaza project will reroute the vehicle roads, enlarge the area available for pedestrians and better integrate the bus and taxi catchment areas. As we can see in Figure 10, the widened plaza shown in pink will serve a more orderly, directional passage to the station. The second plan will improve the underground “pedestrian network” on the Marunouchi side by widening the interchange concourse of the station, separating pedestrian flow at the station entrances, improving signage for the rail lines and stores, and adjusting locations of lockers and bathrooms. Spanning from station space to commercial space, the project is a rather ambitious move to better integrate and utilize the underground area.

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Figure 10: Station Plaza Redevelopment, before and after Source: JR East

Conclusion The Tokyo Station City Development Plan is a successful TOD project as well as a redevelopment plan in general. Initiated by the transit operator JR East, it has transformed the station into a meaningful place for economic, business and tourist activities. The connection between the station and the buildings and the redeveloped station plaza have ensured the walkability of this region, achieving a seamless integration between retail and transit. While the buildings in the Plan were not specifically designed to match the style of the station building, they do improve the convenience of the station as well as the image of Tokyo. Furthermore, it provides much insight into what TOD can do for the Western world. The transit operators in Japan are granted much more power by the government than those in the U.S. in terms of their ability to independently propose and implement development projects. The projects do not end with the new buildings but rather with smooth connection with the train stations, which is achieved through careful design in the initial stage and continuous upgrades. Last but not least, these transformed station spaces become “cities” that are fully fleshed out; while transportation is a means to an end, stations do not have to be.

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Reference Kaise, A. Upgrading Yaesu-Side of Tokyo Station (Tokyo Station Area Development Project). Japan Railway and Transport Review. No. 56. December 2010. Ito, M. Tokyo Station at 100: all change. The Japan Times. December 13, 2014. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/13/national/history/tokyo-station-100-change TripAdvisor. Tokyo Central Railway Station. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1066443-d550327-Reviews-Tokyo_Central_Railway_StationChiyoda_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html JR East. 東京駅及び周辺の整備計画について(“Regarding the Redevelopment Plan of Tokyo Station Area”). February 15, 2002. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2001_2/20020208/ JR East. 東京駅丸の内駅前広場整備について(“Regarding the Redevelopment of Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Plaza”). July 2, 2014. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2014/20140704.pdf JR East. 東京駅丸の内地下エリア整備について(“Regarding the Redevelopment of Tokyo Station Marunouchi Underground Area”). July 2, 2014. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: https://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2014/20140703.pdf Zacharias, J., Zhang, T., Nakajima, N. Tokyo Station City: The railway station as urban place. Urban Design International (2011) 16, pp. 242–251. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.palgravejournals.com/udi/journal/v16/n4/full/udi201115a.html Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Estate announces Tokiwabashi District Redevelopment Project. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.mec.co.jp/e/news/pdf/mec150831_tk_390m_e.pdf Japan Property Central. 600 billion Yen project announced for Yaesu. March 10, 2015. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://japanpropertycentral.com/2015/03/600-billion-yen-project-announced-for-yaesu/ Tokyo Station City Management Council. FACILITY INFORMATION | Tokyo Station City. Retrieved on December 14, 2015 from: http://www.tokyostationcity.com/en/shop/

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