Development Pressure and the Citizen's Power for Preservation

in Tokyo in the case of Shimokitazawa

Masami Kobayashi
Professor of Meiji University
Representative of Shimokitazawa Forum

Abstract
Shimokitazawa is a unique neighborhood in Tokyo, loved by many young people with an attractive
network of narrow streets, and its vital countercultural activities in many theaters and music clubs.
The town is located near to major downtowns such as Shinjuku and Shibuya, but the scale is small as a
closely-packed urban area in front of the station of two railway lines intersection. It is not historically
very old, but has naturally created a pedestrian friendly compact city.
Recently, along with the urban infrastructural project of splitting levels of the railway and the
road on grade, Tokyo Metropolitan Government designated to realize a wide city planning road of
Route 54 (26m wide) in the midst of Shimokitazawa, which was planned almost 60 years ago, and
Setagaya Ward Government proposed a new District Plan to allow tall buildings and huge traffic
rotary in front of the station.
The local residents, shopkeepers, professionals, and young visitors of the town were greatly
surprised on this, and they have made several movements to protest against this project, with sending
petitions, doing surveys on the local peoples will, and making alternative plans. Notwithstanding
those efforts, the project was approved by the city board in Tokyo and Setagaya in 2006, and the land
purchase by the government has already started.

Preface
Shimokitazawa is a unique neighborhood in Tokyo, which is loved by many young
people with a human-scale attractive network of narrow streets, and its vital
countercultural activities in many theaters and music clubs. The town is located
near to gigantic urban nodes such as Shinjuku and Shibuya for about 2 to 3 km, but
the scale of the town is much smaller than them. The town itself is not historically
very old and it has not been depending on roads and automobiles for transportation
due to the early development of railways as the public transportation system. The
slowness in catching up with redevelopment in the modern city planning, due to the
closely-packed urban area in front of the train station, has worked out for the
benefit of the natural creation of a pedestrian friendly compact city that city
planning in modern cities has been seeking for as advanced model towns. Currently,
Shimokitazawa has become a model of a spatially and culturally unique area as a
top runner of one lap behind.
Now we will look into the history and the current state of Shimokitazawa area
first, and overview the issue of the depression of Odakyu Railway ( one of the
private railway company, which passes Shimokitazawa station), the issue of the
new city planning road, and the content of the District Plan recently proposed by
Setagaya Ward.
Then, we will introduce the movement and the power of the local residents,
shopkeepers, professionals, and the visitor of the Shimokitazawa town, and the
reactions from local governments. Finally, we will discuss on this case of
Shimokitazawa, generalizing as the common issues in modern city environment.

Shinjuku

Shimokitazawa
Shibuya
Keio Inokashira Line
Odakyu Line

1. Historical Background of Shimokitazawa

The name of Shimokitazawa is quite old. It comes from the humidity around the
Kitazawa River. A document remaining from the Edo period tells us that
2

Shimokitazawa village was developed as an agricultural area in 1649. In 1658,

water for Kitazawa River was tapped from the Tamagawa Josui flume and has been
the source of irrigation water ever since. The cultural and religious center in those
days was the Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine, located in the southern part of the village.
Its roots as an agricultural community can still be seen in the Mikoshi, a miniature
shrine that is paraded through the community every autumn. Since the Meiji
Period, a residential zone has been developed and divided into the sections on the
hillside of the northern part of the village that extended gradually to the south. In
1927, during the Showa Period, the Odakyu Railway was opened. The Keio
Inokashira Railway followed in 1933, and a large section of the town was formed
into an urban residential zone.
Following this, a commercial area developed around the station where the
connecting railways intersect, and, especially in the aftermath of World War II,
many people who were searching for the daily necessities of life flooded into
Shimokitazawa, one area that had been fortunate enough to escape bombing during

Keio Inokashira Line

Odakyu Line

Odakyu Line

Kitazawa Hachiman

Showa 4 (1929)

Showa 14 (1939)

the war. The existing market at the north exit is what remains of the black
market from those days. From the 1950s and through the 1960s, this area was the
home of bars and entertainment spots. In the 1970s, however, it evolved into a
gathering spot for the youth who had migrated here from Shinjuku. This migration
made Shimokitazawa the heart of the youth countercultural. In 1979, the outdoor
Shimokitazawa Music Festival was held in the parking area of construction site
where the Honda Theater now stands. 4,000 people attended, and the event became
legendary because the large crowd of spectators caused the Keio Railway to be
3

temporarily stopped. In the wake of this event, small theaters and bars offering live
music sprung up around the Honda Theater. This gradually caught the attention of
the media and Shimokitazawa became increasingly known as a gateway for young
and as yet unknown artists, musicians and actors, similar to the young talent that
matures Off Broadway, and developed into a base for the nurturing of young people
who sought to give expression to their dreams and spread their culture nationwide.
However, the thinking of the long-term residents and businesses in the area does
not always blend easily with the emerging youth culture. Recently, a discussion on
the issue of accommodating the needs of young families and the elderly instead of
focusing solely on youth entertainment has begun taking place.
2. Demographic Movement and the Livability
The population of the Shimokitazawa area has decreased from its peak in the 3rd
decade of the Showa era, stabilizing at its current number. There are approximately
20,000 people are living in the Shimokitazawas wider area. People in their 20s and
30s make up the largest group; and females in their 20s are concentrated in larger
numbers than males of this age group in the Kitazawa 2 chome area.
The ratio of old and young does not vary significantly from the national average;
however, instead of a small number of people in the age groups between 40 and 50,
and less than 10, the population of this area contains a large number of people who
are in their 20s and 30s. In addition, the number of families living in the area is
small; however, a predominantly large number of single people is included in the
population. It was found that elderly individuals living alone account for
approximately 15% of households in this area.

Nation2000
8089
6069

Shimokitazawa

4049
2029

09

5000000

10000000

15000000

20000000

25000000

Tokyo(2000)

8089

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Population

6069
4049
2029
09

Comparison of Population

500 000

1 000 000

1 500 000

2 000 000

2 500 000

The number of passengers using Shimokitazawa station, excluding those who

merely transit through from and to other stations, totals more than 120,000 per day,
and 55% of these passengers use train passes. A significant number people who
commute to work and schools, including people who live near the train station, use
Shimokitazawa station. According to the results of a questionnaire survey carried
out by Setagaya Ward in 2004, 80% of respondents feel it is a comfortable area to
live, and the majority of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with their
lives in Shimokitazawa. The majority of respondents have been living in the area
more than 20-30 years and desire to live there permanently. Land prices in
Shimokitazawa are higher than in other areas, making rents for apartments in the
area higher than in other sections of Setagaya. The number of real estate company
branch offices has been growing. Because of its convenient transportation and easy
access to Shibuya and Shinjuku, Shimokitazawa has been a Brand as a very
popular section of town to live in for young people.
3. Characteristics of the Area
1. Characteristics of each section
One of the biggest characteristics of Shimokitazawa is that distinctive culture
has developed in each area due to its division into four sections by the Odakyu and
Inokashira Railways.

These classifications are shown as follows:

A: A block located to the north of the train station: Fashion and music
B: A block located to the east of the train station: Theatrical performance and art
C: A block located to the south of the train station: Restaurants and bars
D: A block located to the west of the train station: Medical services and housing
B block in particular, where the Honda and Suzunari Theaters and the Town
Hall are located and where there are many clubs with live music, has become a
platform for the spread of Shimokitazawas culture and name throughout the
country.

A
B
D
C

2. Street Pattern and the Cityscape

Though there are many narrow streets in Shimokitazawa, they did not develop
randomly. The various patterns define the neighborhood characteristics along each
street. The pattern of the streets and condition of each neighborhood are as follows :
1) The Commercial Area at the North Exit
There is a clear grid type pattern of the streets at the north exit area of the
station that has developed as a residential area since the Meiji Period. Because all
of the streets have almost the same width, they give an impression of a labyrinth to
strangers.

The unique mysteriousness of this labyrinthine effect area around the

north exit is enhanced even more by the flexible circulation, the most distinctive
characteristics in this area. This is a friendly commercial area with shoppers
shoulders brushing as they pass one another on streets less than 5 meters wide, and
many of the buildings are 4 or 5 storey medium-rises.
2) The Commercial Area at the South Exit
The area around the south exit developed later than the north exit area. It slopes
gently toward the south, and the commercial section is laid out from north to south.
The network of streets in this area is like a ladder shaped structure, with the long
commercial avenue and the adjacent street in the east, stretching parallel to
Chazawa Street and acting as strong axes. The narrow streets stretching along the
east and west sides that connect these two axes have many one-of-a-kind stores and
project a unique atmosphere. Most of the buildings are 4 or 5 stories.
3) The Residential Area to the Northwest and Southwest of the Station
The area to the northwest and southwest of the station where streets less than 4
m wide are in close formation is the residential area. Because vehicle traffic is light,
the area is quiet and full of green. The street pattern is basically grid type; however,
deformed patterns are also often seen. Many of the buildings in the areas are less
than 2 stories and are made of wood.

Chazawa(10.5m)
Residence
5.2m10.5m
Restaurant
RetailDaily
Retailnot daily
Theater/Music
OfficePublic

South Mall(5.2m)
3.4m5.2m
Roji (3.4m)
3.4m

Under the railway

Alleys for pedestrians

Old market place

Cozy shops without cars

Odakyu Railway which will go underground

Walkable town without cars

Open air shop

Busy South shopping mall

Photo sketches of Shimokitazawa Town

4. Issue of Placing the Odakyu Railway Underground

There is a long story behind the idea of placing the Odakyu Railway
underground at Shimokitazawa station. There is a subsidy system for road projects
using tax revenues, including gasoline and automobile weight taxes, called the
Continuous Grade Separation Project for the purpose of preventing traffic
congestion caused by the grade at railway and road intersections. The Odakyu
Railway, a privately-owned railway, planned to implement this system along with
their double track projects since the 1960s. We usually use the space underneath
the elevated railway tracks effectively, using grade separation by elevating the
railway tracks. However, the residents around the Odakyu Railway were against
the elevation plan and asked for the railway to be placed underground. In spite of
the resolution by the Setagaya Ward Assembly in 1970 to place the railway
underground, they accepted the elevation project in 1990, and the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government forced the approval of the project in 1994. As a result,
elevated tracks were installed between the Kitami and Setagaya Daita stations,
causing a heated legal fight by the residents around the area.
Following this, Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara presented the first draft of the
city plan on placing the Odakyu Railway between Umegaoka and Yoyogi Uehara
stations, including the Setagaya Daita, Shimokitazawa and Higashi Kitazawa
stations, underground. Many people in the area had been tossed about until this
decision on the Odakyu Railway around Shimokitazawa station was made, and its
psychological aftereffects still remain. They have not had any clear visions for the
large surface space use of the depressed Odakyu Railway (2~30m wide, 2.2 km long)
that is scheduled to be completed in 8 years. There is an urgent need for the people
involved to start the discussion on the use of this land, for which rights have been
tangled from the public point of view from the early stage of planning, and to come
to an agreement on this issue.

Depression of Odakyu Line is planned to be completed in 8 years

5. Issue of Route 54, the Unfinished City Planning Road

Since Tokyos name changed from Edo in the Meiji Period, the city infrastructure
has continued to improve through reconstruction after the Kanto Earthquake in
1923 and reconstructive planning after World War II. Arranging the network of
roads for automobiles and providing appropriate green space were among the most
important issues of the plan. Drawing attention in Shimokitazawa is Route 54, an
unfinished road typical of those planned by the city in 1946, but abandoned for 60
years. There are two ways to arrange for roads in Japan: land readjustment or
purchase. The road network core areas, including Shibuya and Shinjuku, had been
completed through land readjustment. Route 54 was scheduled to run almost
throughout the existing urban area, but the amount of money for the acquisition
was estimated to be tremendous. This provides a reason why it was thought
unlikely that this route would be constructed.

26m wide

Traffic Rotary

Plan of Route 54
It was originally planned
60 years ago

Behind the decision to re-start such planned but as yet unfinished roads is the
fact that Route 54 has become a requirement for the Continuous Grade Separation
Project, scheduled for the Odakyu Railway. However, the requirement has recently
changed. Now, there is no reason to build the road. While the public administration
insists on the necessity of the regional road network and the necessity to consider
disaster prevention, it is also obvious that the cost-effectiveness of completing the
road at a time when automobile production is low. Another issue is the fact that the
9

width of Route 54 running around Shimokitazawa station was once changed to 15m
from 20m, and again, recently to 26m. These changes are associated with the issue
of the elevation of the Odakyu Railway tracks and its placement underground;
however, the reason for providing a large width for Route 54 is not based in actual
need. The potential issue of Shimokitazawa problems exists in the fact that
Setagaya Ward has been influenced by the individual phenomena such as Setagaya
Wards promises to some particular land owners and lease holders about the
acquisition of land, losing their vision of keeping up overall public transparency.
Moreover, Setagaya Ward has strongly justified this road development for
disaster prevention and evacuation, but the fact is that the fire authority denies the
high level of danger in Shimokitazawa area, and the new road cannot be used for
evacuation unless the whole length of the construction is completed, which is
supposed to be in 30 years.
Perspective Images proposed by
Setagaya Ward Government

Route 54 (26m width) with 8m wide side walks

Station Front Plaza with Large Transportation Rotary

6. The Influence of the District Plan, which Setagaya Ward has proposed
The District Plan proposed by Setagaya Ward was originally a newly
implemented system among the administrations for regional city planning and
construction aimed at the careful development of the mid-sized areas. The system
was implemented to assure appropriate and pleasant views and an environment
matching the area after determining the use of buildings, size of the land, roads and
the arrangement and size of open spaces within the area. As the uniform national
Building Standards Law is too general, the District Planning system was
established in 1980 in order to promote development utilizing the characteristics of
the area,. It is desirable to have the local residents propose themselves, reach
10

agreement, and determine all aspects of development in concert with the public
administration; however, the resident participation concept has not yet taken root
in Japan, and the situation in which the administration side unilaterally plans and
carries out projects has continued unchanged. Though the content of the District
Plan that Setagaya Ward has proposed is complicated, only the major points of the
problems involved will be described here.
1. Relaxation of the building height requirement
The Japanese Building Standards Law is such that road width and permissible
building height are related: the wider the road that fronts property, the higher the
permissible building height is. However, this District Plan provides relaxed
conditions and makes it possible to build high-rise buildings, which causes a big
problem. In addition, due to the relaxation of building height limitations based on
road width, known as Diagonal Line Code, it has become easier to build tall
buildings even on narrow streets, something that could block the view of the sky
which is a major characteristic of Shimokitazawa.
This plan suggests having two areas separated into east and the west parts; an
area for low and mid-rise buildings below 16m and an area for those for low and
mid-rise buildings below 22m. This would be rather appreciated, because the
current characteristic of Shimokitazawa that based on low and mid rise buildings
would be succeeded. However, according to the plan, whether or not the land
attached to the newly developed road causes a significant difference. such as the
land attached to Route 54 and the area zone Route 10. In this district, 45m high
buildings on property lots larger than 500m2, and 60m high buildings on land larger
than 2,000m2 are theoretically allowed.
This means the possibility that a completely different cityscape from what
Shimokitazawa currently has will develop, with low-rise houses situated behind
high rise buildings placed on larger pieces of land fronting wider roads. A
discontinuous cityscape is created, the low-rise buildings are affected by strong
winds blowing through the tall buildings and the taller buildings block out the
sunlight. In addition, the real estate values of the land fronting the planned roads
are estimated to increase a few times their current values, because the street value,
that is an index of land price, is generally determined by the width of the roads. To
cause such differences merely for the construction of a road would cause structural
disorder in the existing community, and disorganization of the harmonious
neighborhood relationship

11

Building Height Rule

High Rise Buildings permitted Line

New District Plan proposed

by Setagaya Ward Government
2. Set back of the wall surface and road widening
This District Plan designates the wall line of buildings to be rebuilt be set back.
4m for Kamakura street on the west side, 50cm from the road management
boundary for most of the areas, 1m from the road management boundary only on
the first floor for the area along the planned road are the requirements of the plan.
The spatial characteristic of Shimokitazawa mostly stems from the narrow streets
that are less than 4m wide, and this Brand value will be dropping, due to the loss of
current intimate space through these requirements. The issue of disaster
prevention should be addressed using other measures, and the unnecessary
requirements should be reconsidered. Because the rebuilding of individual
structures does not occur at the same time but is staggered, it is easy to imagine
that the new buildings set back from the road and the existing buildings situated
right at the border of the road will exist together over a long period. There is a high
possibility of incoherent cityscape development over the entire Shimokitazawa area.

Set Back Rule

New District Plan proposed

by Setagaya Ward Government
12

Current

30 years later

CG Simulation of the Future image of Shimokitazawa with Governments Plan

7. Development Pressure vs Citizens Power
This development pressure which was accelerated by the Setagaya Ward
Government is a parallel movement to the popularity of the Shimokitzawa Brand as
a real estate value. Because the name of Shimokitazawa is famous in the media
recently, and especially young people like to live in the area. The most difficult thing
which lies here is that there exist certain land owners, lease holders or construction
companies, who are welcoming the developments. Setagaya Ward Government
insists that it has had many meetings since 15 years ago, with the limited number
of residents, shop keepers association, land owners as representatives, but the
general residents and visitors have not been aware of this development project of
Route 54 and the District Plan so far. In that sense, the Government has neglected
the responsibility of accountability. Recently, there have been organized three major
citizens groups, which protest against the development project. Those are:
1. Save the Shimokitazawa
Save the Shimokitazawa is a volunteer group, which consists of rather young
people who love Shimokitazawa. Members of the group have participated in
various activities, such as concerts and parades, to show their standpoint
against the Governments plan, with the assistances of musicians and artists. It
has recognizably attracted young peoples interest to the social issues. The group
was organized in 2003 and started a signature campaign of calling for the
reexamination of the development projects. Now, the number of signature is
more than 20,000.

Concerts and Parade coordinated by Save the Shimokitazawa

13

2. Shimokitazawa Forum
"Shimokitazawa Forum" is a volunteer group, which consists of local
professionals, such as architects, urban planners and journalist in the area, and
it has criticized the Governments plan from a professional viewpoint and has
promoted to create alternative plans. It has coordinated,
1) Lectures and symposium for the local people
2) Inquiry Survey on the residents and shopkeepers preferences of the town
images,
3) Comparative study of the alternative plans by other interested parties
4) Workshop for the alternative plans, in which the constituency can have
consensus together.

Workshops to create alternative plans coordinated by Shimokitazawa Forum

This group has sent many petitions to Tokyo Metropolitan Government and
Setagaya Ward and has received no reactions. Its neutral standpoint is strongly
supported by many professionals and academicians in Japan.
3. Shimokitazawa Shopkeepers Council
Shimokitazawa Shopkeepers Council is an organization, which consists of
more than 500 shopkeepers. They are mostly tenants, which generally sit on a
weak standpoint in the redevelopment project. They are almost one third of the
whole tenants in the area, and have mutual communications to protest against
the Governments plan. They have sent many petitions to Setagaya Ward.
According to the inquiry survey done by Shimokitazawa Forum in
December 2005, more than 60% of 1200 answers showed that the wide streets
and the tall buildings are needless for the future of Shimokitazawa, and more
than 80% answers wanted more sufficient discussions in the consensus making
process, including the creation of alternative plans.
Regarding the future vision of Shimokitazawa, an Urban Design Studio of
the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University in USA, and the Graduate
School of Keio and Meiji University in Japan picked Shimokitazawa and showed
14

its future visions with rich content by students. Mr. Jaime Lerner, the former
President of UIA and Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil also drew sketches showing a
bold vision for the use of ex- Odakyu Railway vacant lot. The present
Shimokitazawa, as a literally pedestrian friendly area, has now become a highly
unique area attracting attentions from all over the world.
Shimokitazawa Forum coordinated three workshops with local people in
February and March 2006, and proposed Citizens Aternative Plan against the
Governments plan. This was highly appreciated by local residents and
shopkeepers.

Proposed Plan by the students of Design Studio of GSD Harvard University

Proposed Plan by Mr. Jaime Lerner ( Former President of UIA and Mayor of CURITIBA)

15

8. District Planning steamrollered by Setagaya Ward

Setagaya Ward Government proposed the Draft Plan of the District Plan in
November 2004, and the Conceptual Plan of it in March 2005. In May 2006, it
proposed the Preliminary Plan of the District Plan, however, public meetings for
explaining the plan were held only few times during this period. It is almost
impossible for the local people to understand the complicated contents of the
District Plan in such a few occasions. It is a big problem that the new urban rules
for the important areas that determine the future direction of the Shimokitazawa
Brand, were going to be determined through such an inadequate process.
On October 18, 2006, the board of city planning of Setagaya Ward was held,
and the District Plan coupled with the city planning road Route 54 was finally
forced through against fierce opposition, despite piles of petitions were sent to the
Setagaya Ward Government in advance. On the same day, the permission of the
construction of the city planning road Route 54 was passed in Tokyo Metropolitan
Government. The future of Shimokitazawa was distorted in a very strange way on
that date.

The board of City Planning of Setagaya Ward Government (10/18 2006)

There held an election of Governor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mayor of

Setagaya Ward, and Members of Ward Assembly in the spring of 2007. Shintaro
Ishihara was elected in Tokyo, and Tetsuyuki Kumamoto in Setagaya was elected
again, though the Members of Ward Assembly were drastically changed. This
change strongly reflects that the peoples opinion in Setagaya is quite critical about
the current political attitude of the Setagaya Ward Government.

16

9.Conclusion
We quickly came through the current issue which happens in Shimokitazawa,
Setagaya, and it is not only a rare case, but there are many similar cases, where
local identities (heritage) are threatened to be destroyed in the city of Tokyo. We can
see, Historical Neighborhood vs Gigantic Housing Development, in such as
Tsukuda and Kagurazaka neighborhood. Natural Green Environment vs City
Planning Road Costruction, in such as Suginami and Todoroki neighborhood. In
those areas, many volunteer people are resisting against the demolition of historical
and natural assets, but in general, the powerful business-oriented developers
neglect those opponents, and in worse, the public sector overlooks those facts.
Especially, the Governor Ishihara of Tokyo Metropolitan Government is planning to
acquire the opportunity of Olympic Games in 2016, and the Government is strongly
pushing to build the unfinished city planning road now. Though, the citizens power
is still pre-matured, and weak in Japan.
In Shimokitazawas case, young people in the nation wide came to know this
terrible issue, and try to think about the meaning of preservation of the local
identity and its value. The group of Save the Shimokitazawa has made a great
effort to announce and spread this issue all over Japan, with the help of IT network
and various media.

Also, Shimokitazawa Forum has worked very efficiently to

study this complicated issue more professionally and academically, and has
promoted the better way to make consensus.
Now, the academic people in the architectural institution are discussing to
review the system of the board of city planning in the local government. Because the
current system in Japan allows the local government to choose the members of the
board freely, and it spoils the very important role of the objectivity of the board.
Anyway, this kind of citizens painful activities and movements should be
introduced to other similar cases internationally, and there should be more mutual
communication together. The more difficult the issues, the more we need to be tied
together to solve those issues.

Symposium by outstanding academicians held on 4/9 2006

17