Ⅲ.Project Research on Activation and Renewal of Suburban Cities

・Achievement and Prospect of Project

In Japan, large planned city areas, such as huge housing complexes, and disorderly sprawling areas have formed around historical city sites from the prewar period through the postwar period. These suburbs have problems including the aging of housing complexes, aging of residents, and anxieties about disasters. To respond to the problems, we selected typical suburban cities in Tokyo metropolitan area and conducted comprehensive research to explore the activation and renewal of building stock through the following three sub-projects.

・Details of research achievement

1. Project research on activation and renewal of suburban city: Tama New Town
 ・ Living Environment of Aged People in Tama New Town
 ・ Supporting Places for Senior Citizens in Suwa-Nagayama
2. Project research on policy development to encourage aged residents in existing cities to go out of their houses
 ・ Understanding of purposes of going out of aged people in cities and research on policy to promote the activities
3. Development of technology to activate city architecture spaces that would create new values of the suburbs
 ・ Research on shared use of building stocks through a social network
 ・ Development of a space for continued residence that connects suburban buildings and local communities

1.Project Research on Activation and Renewal of Suburban City : Tama New Town

Living Environment of the Aged People in Tama New Town

'Tama New Town,' the largest new town in Japan, is located in the southwestern part of Tokyo. Tama New Town has been inhabited for nearly 50 years since its foundation in 1971. As the new development has been completed, we are now entering a phase of stock management. Although the town has abundant greenery and a very efficient infrastructure, we are facing the problems of the aging population and aging and decaying of housing stock.
Differences in levels inside and outside the housing units and decaying toilet and bathroom facilities are becoming barriers to elderly people's daily living. It is important to remove or improve these barriers by reformation or remodeling of the existing housing stock.

Tama New Town : Scene of at the stage of first opened and present
Living Environment of the Elderly in Suwa Neighborhood
Proposal for Refining of Existing Housing Building

Supporting Places for the Senior Citizen in Suwa-Nagayama

In this series of studies, we identified 10 places, in the neighborhoods of Suwa-Nagayama, the first developed districts of Tama New Town, where senior residents can spend their daytime and participate in social activities, which are founded and maintained by NPOs or other voluntary organizations. They are 'good-places-to-go' here senior citizens can enjoy their community life and maintain friendships. Among these 10 places', Fukushi-Tei', is attracting national attention as a pioneering model for support places for elderly people. It provides a volunteer serviced café and a gathering place for those elderly who are able to live independently.

Community Café 'Fukushi-Tei'

2.Project research on policy development to encourage aged residents in existing cities to go out of their houses

Understanding of purposes of going out of aged people in cities and research on policy to promote the activities

Together with Arakawa Ward Government in Tokyo, we jointly conducted two mail surveys on citizens in order to understand the characteristics of going out of aged people living in urban areas and identify potential barriers. In the first survey, we extracted the factors related to aged people and in the second we extracted factors related to the physical urban environment. Based on the obtained results we then studied the relation between their use of public transportation and their outdoor activities and how the city should be developed. We held a workshop in which local residents could participate. In the workshop we discussed the city development together with the residents and examined activity development policies and an aged people supporting program to encourage to go out of their houses.

Purpose of going out of aged people
Request for city development

3.Development of a technology to activate city architecture spaces that would create new values of the suburbs

Research on shared use of building stocks through a social network

In this research we considered empty houses, empty stores and other less-utilized real estates as local stocks and developed and implemented a way of renewing the stocks through a social network that the local society had. Actually we and local NPO collaboratively renewed an empty house built in 1950s in area Y, city K, as a core site of the local community. We compared its plan and management process with similar cases in other areas to develop a model. Master course graduate students surveyed actual conditions of suburban cities and proposed renovation plans.

Renewed empty house
Workshop for renewal of empty house 

Development of a space for continued residence that connects suburban buildings and local communities

We studied a mechanism for supporting people's continued residence in a suburban area southwest of the capital, mainly Tama area, using knowledge of architectural planning, city planning and architecture facilities. Our major themes and achievements are: (1) The convenience of living in a ultra-tall housing complex in a suburban area of Tokyo was evaluated by surveying the walking distance area and the residents' moving up/down through the building. (2) The space configuration of the stores and parking in large shopping facilities near a large city was analyzed with a focus on the transportation and the distance from the train stations. (3) The relation between the noises and odors in residential areas and space configuration elements such as building structure was clarified. (4)The public bath facilities and their actual use in Tama New Town were surveyed. (5) A model for analyzing the site location conditions of food facilities where people can have a meal or take out food was proposed. (6) By using geographical information systems, it was quantified how the accessibility to the local stores and other facilities changed as a result of the appearance of new stores or the disappearance of existing stores.

Satisfaction with house bath, what to do in the bath facilities, and reason for using the facilities
Percentage of usage of food facilities by different household types and ages
Back to Top