Tokushima Greenway 

;Currently in Tokushima, reusing a closed department, building a new performing arts center, creating a new commercial district and raising the railway lines are all being considered as stimulus for the revitalization of the city. This approach of development based on economic stimulation and convenience will help for the short term, but traditional approaches like these have been failing to revitalize the city for the long term, they do not create citywide charm. People will visit these places, but they do not explore the rest of the city. In other words, an overview of sustainable and regional development is missing in these individual isolated developments. The fundamental question is “what do people really want”.

The goal of urban planning in Japan has been to minimize transportation time by providing short and easy methods to reach your destination. For shopping or commuting to work you do not want to waste time. Once you finish your business you want to go home, but do people come to cities just for consumption and running errands? You should be able to walk around and explore the city, be excited by it as well as find it a place of relaxation. Shopping should be to not only just a quick trip to buy something but also a way to enjoy urban life.

A city that you can walk comfortably in without any particular purpose will attract more people to the city. Our proposal creates greenways that connect existing landmark buildings and cultural centers which were randomly located throughout the city.

Greenways not only make cities beautiful they also link places in the city. They work together with buildings along the streets and invite pedestrians to explore. If the city looks like in a park, people will want to stay there, and new shops and cafes will open. Our proposal is to organize the city with plants as a structure which guides the people’s movement and impressions of the city. Unlike European cities, the landscape in Japan changes quickly as many buildings are demolished within several decades so that cities are filled with temporary solutions. Hence, they hardly ever create a collective memory. Street trees in Japan have not been considered as fundamental design elements by cities and they are constantly being drastically thinned. Once cities respect trees, greenway will give a characteristic lasting feature to the city and overwrite the existing impression providing scenic attraction enhancing tourism.

Building design also needs to be refreshed with the idea of working in combination with greenways. Exterior walls of buildings in Tokushima have been hiding the activities inside. This prevents activating people to investigate what is happening inside. The renovated department store can be very transparent with activities that invite people in. A newly designed plaza combining the transparent lobby and tall trees will continue to the greenway. The existing City Library can have an entrance to the plaza and announcing its location and inviting people in. The new performing arts center with a marque/canopy at the main entrance will open onto the Central Park and unify it as a huge greenway.

Greenways that are also bike paths provide direct connections to bike routes outside of the city. A new type of bike route can be planned that runs through the rural countryside without traveling on heavily trafficked roads outside of the city. This link identifies routes that connect to the smaller older farmer’s roads, riverbanks, the ocean shoreline, and less traveled roads for bicyclists to safely experience the countryside as well as the city. This will link Tokushima to the pilgrimage temples and natural vistas that surround the city.

徳島緑道計画

これまでの都市計画の原理は端的に言って、目的の施設や催しに最短で行って帰ってくることだった。買い物は最速ルートで行って駐車場を見つけ、終わればさっさと帰る。それを可能にするのが都市計画だった。 だが、人が都市に集う理由は消費と用を足すためだけはない。都市がこれから発展する鍵は、人々が街の中をいかに楽しく歩き回れるかにある。街で買い物をするのは商品を手に入れるためだけでなく、ショッピングの楽しみ、感じのいい雰囲気に触れたいからである。

人々が目的なしにもぶらぶらと気持ちよく歩ける街をつくるのには、張り巡らされた緑道が有効である。緑道化は場所と場所をつなぐ力がある。散在した公共施設や商業地の間にリンクが構成される。並木道はそこに面する建物や景色を中に取り込み、沿道の施設へ人々をいざなう。街全体が公園のようになれば、人々はそこにとどまりたくなる。カフェやしゃれた店も商売したくなるだろう。

緑道化の提案は従来の「お化粧」としての緑化とは異なって、都市の骨格となり、街全体の景観と構造を変えるだろう。 中世からの町並みが美しい欧州とは異なり、日本では建築物は３０年ほどで建て替えられ、街はガラリと変わってしまう。緑道化は、この条件下でユニークで効果的な手法となりうる。木は年々成長して、美しく魅力的な印象「緑の街」が醸成され、その印象が観光資源になる。

緑道化は新しい建物デザインと共同することでさらに賑わいをもたらすであろう。これまでの建築デザインは中が見えなかったが、もし外に中の熱気を伝えることができれば人々は惹かれて集まる。ソゴウデパートの閉店後計画も緑道と一体にして考えることができる。現建物を透明になるよう改修して、賑わいが外に漏れ見えるようにした上で、前面の通りを緑道と一体にして駅前プラザにできる。市立図書館は駅前に入口を設け、緑道と一体にして、招くような景観が作れる。新文化センターも立体交差を跨いで中央公園側に建物を伸ばして入口を設け、中央公園と一体ににできる。これまで気軽に近づきにくい中央公園が身近なものとなり、巨大な緑道となって街と繋がる。

１個や２個の目玉施設を建設するだけで活気は戻らない。線路の高架化も同様である。経済効果や便利さだけを目指した近視眼的な計画では、長期的に活気が持続しない。人々が心の奥底で街に何を求めているのか、出発点から問い直しをしたい。

緑道はまた自転車車線を並置することで、市街を抜けて直接、県下の自転車ルートと繋がることができる。この新しいタイプの自転車道は従来の自転車ルートと違って、交通量の大きい都市郊外の幹線を通らず、農道や、川の堤防の上、旧道、海岸線だけを経由する。市民が静かで安全、健康のための週末自転車旅行が気軽にできるようになるばかりか、大勢のお遍路や従来の観光とは一味違う経験を求める訪問者を招くであろう。

自転車ルートマップへのリンク