[Special Feature: Post-COVID Tokyo Theory] Naoto Nakajima: Beyond Central Tokyo—The Potential of New Urbanism Brought by Art

In central Tokyo, even after the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic became clear, various urban regeneration projects have been launched, starting with the area around WATERS takeshiba. Near Marunouchi, Tokiwabashi Tower—part of the TOKYO TORCH redevelopment project in the Tokiwabashi area, which includes Japan's tallest skyscraper—was completed in June 2021. In Hibiya, the TOKYO CROSS PARK vision was announced in March 2022, which aims to connect several redevelopment buildings, centered on the reconstruction of the Imperial Hotel, with Hibiya Park via a multi-level park over the road. Near Toranomon, the Toranomon-Azabudai Project is underway, promoting a "Vertical Garden City" consisting of multiple skyscrapers. In the Meiji Jingu Gaien district, a redevelopment plan centered on the renewal of the baseball and rugby stadiums was announced at the end of 2021, but it has sparked debate due to concerns over the felling of existing trees.

Urban regeneration projects centered on station areas are also moving forward in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro. Around Shibuya Station, reorganization continues following the opening of MIYASHITA PARK (July 2020), a complex facility featuring a hotel and commercial space with a rooftop park. Around Shinjuku Station, based on the Grand Terminal vision, the project began with the opening of a new free passage by changing ticket gate positions and the renovation of the East Exit station square (July 2020), and is now progressing with the start of construction and planning approvals for skyscraper groups facing the West Exit station square. Around Ikebukuro Station, based on the Toshima City International Art and Culture City vision, IKE・SUNPARK—a disaster prevention park serving as the fourth hub following Minami-Ikebukuro Park—opened (partial service in July 2020, full opening in December), and the construction of high-rise residential towers is progressing in the surrounding area alongside the opening of urban planning roads in densely populated districts.

The above descriptions touch on only a fraction of the movements over the past two and a half years, but it is certain that urban regeneration projects and redevelopment businesses involving the construction of skyscrapers, led by major developers and other influential entities, are continuing in central Tokyo. Looking at these projects alone, urban regeneration in central Tokyo maintains a continuity that makes one forget the pandemic period. Even if the pandemic has influenced the content, the core concepts and systems of development, such as the intensive use of land, remain unchanged.

That said, the concepts put forward by each of these development projects certainly embed the urban planning values and challenges of the time. It makes one feel that there are trends and fads in urban planning as well. However, responses to global environmental issues, climate change, and the restructuring of urban systems based on a declining population and a super-aging society are not short- to medium-term trends, but rather issues that cities must address over the long term. Keywords like "green infrastructure," "walkable," or the "15-minute city" may become trendy, but their substance—the recovery of ecosystem services, humanity, and neighborhoods in the city—represents long-term urban changes and is not a story that just began recently.

The response to the pandemic in urban planning will likely manifest both as short- to medium-term trends found in development projects (though development can take decades) and as gradual long-term changes. It is not hard to imagine that directions discussed in "Directions for Urban Development Triggered by the COVID-19 Crisis" (August 31, 2020)—compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism based on hearings with experts early in the pandemic—such as the formation of local living spheres, the development of bicycle-friendly environments, the flexible use of open spaces, and the guidance of human behavior using real-time data, will slowly lead to the reorganization of urban structures. Furthermore, following the increase in remote work, it has been decided to revise the survey methods for Person Trip Surveys, which serve as basic data for urban planning. The updating of the data supporting urban planning itself is expected to transcend fads and support long-term changes in urban planning, eventually feeding back into Tokyo, though this will take time.

I believe it is important to have discussions that look at the space between the short- to medium-term perspectives of urban planning found in redevelopment projects and the long-term perspectives that will change Tokyo's urban structure. During the pandemic, one initiative I participated in that could be described as an opportunity to discuss and examine the possibility of a long-term change in central Tokyo while considering the pandemic is the Art x Area Management Study Group (Chair: Yoshiyuki Oshita, Professor at Doshisha University), sponsored by the Council for Area Development and Management of Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho, which began in April 2020.

The Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho area (OMY) is a district that has led the Japanese economy as Tokyo's CBD (Central Business District). Particularly over the last 20 years, as block-by-block redevelopment has been carried out, this business district—which previously consisted only of office entrances and banks—has gradually seen an increase in global brand street-level stores, and people can now be seen in the evenings and on weekends. Furthermore, the central streets where these stores are located have secured sufficient sidewalk space for pedestrians and have become plaza spaces that are pedestrianized during certain hours, lined with movable furniture such as benches. In addition to this spatial development, area management activities have been deployed, providing a variety of programs that office workers can participate in, such as the "Morning University."

OMY has been a pioneer in enhancing the working environment as a business district—the city as a whole. Ahead of the redevelopment of Yurakucho at the southern end of the area, the district began considering what a new business district should be. The awareness of the issue was how to cultivate creativity—the power to improve Tokyo's international competitiveness and the power to create new value for society and companies. Based on the hypothesis that "art" should be at the center, the aforementioned study group was organized, bringing together artists, art practitioners, and researchers in cultural arts policy and urban development. What was devised there was "Art Urbanism."

The term "Art Urbanism" is a coined word I proposed, combining art and urbanism, based on the discussions in the study group. While art itself needs no explanation for now, the issue is urbanism. In modern usage, urbanism overlaps two concepts. One is a factual concept of a way of life in the city, originating from the Chicago School of urban sociology in the early 20th century. The other is a normative concept of a system of techniques and thoughts for achieving desirable urban living (one of which is urban planning), originating from European urbanisme in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The word urbanism, as used in the English-speaking world, particularly the US, moves freely between these two concepts. The factual concept relates deeply to life, and the normative concept to planning. In other words, urbanism is what allows the city to be discussed by both those who live in it and those who create it. Urbanism is a practical exploration of urban life itself and the methods of urban development, encompassing both planning and living.

Therefore, Art Urbanism refers to a situation where art permeates both the dwellers and the creators. What distinguishes it from "urban development with art" or "town revitalization through art" is the emphasis on the presence of "artists" who are both dwellers and creators, rather than just the presence of art. Art is not just a work or content placed in the city; it enters and engages with urbanism itself through the artist.

Considering the behavior of artists, the practice of Art Urbanism means that creative and empathy-based activities are certainly found within the lifestyles of people in that region or city. Furthermore, in the methods of urban development, it means that a more empathetic, sensory, and craft-like value-creation approach runs alongside the traditional objective, scientific, and engineering problem-solving approach. Art participates in the core philosophy of urban development, and artists are present in the daily scenes of the town. By deploying this according to the context of each region—be it a business district, commercial area, or residential area—concrete Art Urbanism emerges. Proposing Art Urbanism particularly in Tokyo's business districts, where major companies gather as players in global inter-city competition or as drivers of the Japanese economy, includes a questioning of the limits of traditional urban development as well as a questioning of Japanese corporate management from the perspective of the city. By having the creativity of artists permeate the town, it brings about a transformation in the nature of business itself. Of course, the reality of Art Urbanism was pursued by equally treating the perspective of how art can use urban development, rather than art being used by urban development, from the artist's standpoint. In other words, it was also about thinking through the connection between art and urban development to address issues such as the lack of international recognition of Tokyo's art scene and the lack of artist training systems.

Art Urbanism with such a vision can also be called a trend, for better or worse. In fact, the combination of art and business has become a trend in recent years. According to Koji Mori (2021), who analyzed the popularity of business-related art books, the background is an awareness that in the era of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity), differentiation cannot be achieved through data analysis and logical thinking alone. Art is expected to provide creativity, originality, sketching, contemplative observation, narrativization, creation of context, and questioning. In other words, art is a value word ("something good"). On the other hand, it has been pointed out that the concept of art in "art thinking" is ambiguous and narrow, assuming Western modern and contemporary avant-garde art. To begin with, art is not the only thing that possesses creativity, and not all artists are creative. Furthermore, in "The Krebs Cycle of Creativity" proposed by Neri Oxman, outputs from the fields of science, engineering, design, and art are said to influence other fields and circulate to generate innovation. Art Urbanism is likely the result of newly applying urban development to these relationships.

From February to May 2022, an Art Urbanism demonstration pilot program (YAU: Yurakucho Art Urbanism) was deployed in several buildings in the Yurakucho area. Studios (coworking spaces) and consultation offices for artists were set up, and artists visited Yurakucho. In this context, as a more direct point of contact with people in the business district, a two-month workshop was held with office workers selected through public recruitment and an up-and-coming stage director, resulting in a performance. "I can see you / I can't see you from here now" (directed and composed by Midori Kurata), performed at the results exhibition "YAU TEN" in June, was a piece where the monologues of the workers regarding their respective lives intersected from various angles, purifying their daily routines. The different physical expressions of each performer transformed a typical office space with a 6.6-meter pitch into a dynamic field, demonstrating the power of artists to draw out the sensitivity of each individual working in the town, which cannot be summarized simply as a "business district."

In the post-COVID city, the nature of offices and business districts is being questioned, especially with the spread of online work. It is not just about the reduction of office space, but rather the fact that people gather in person, and the nature of the town as a stage for that reality is being questioned. The direction of making business districts comfortable for workers and places they want to go out of their way to visit will likely strengthen. In addition, Art Urbanism aims to store the power to create new things within the town. What Art Urbanism aims for is something like preparing new soil for the business district.

By the way, "post-COVID" is just one way of looking at the era. Besides this view, there are many historical perspectives for thinking about Tokyo's future. For example, next year, 2023, marks 100 years since the Great Kanto Earthquake. The Great Kanto Earthquake, which occurred on September 1, 1923, caused more than 105,000 deaths, far exceeding the number of deaths in Tokyo due to the pandemic (4,592 as of July 14, 2022). 2023 will be a year to think about a Tokyo that fosters resilience based on the lessons from such damage and the spatial heritage created and passed down through reconstruction. It will also mark the end of the 100-year post-earthquake era, during which we were fortunately not hit by an earthquake of the same scale, and the beginning of the next 100 years living alongside the next earthquake.

The 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake does not only evoke urban disaster prevention and physical reconstruction. In October 1925, when Tokyo was still in the process of formulating reconstruction plans and the post-disaster landscape still stretched out, the City Beautiful Research Group was organized with the intent that: "Now, with the reconstruction of the Imperial Capital ahead... not only town planners and civic artists, but also architects, artists, and any others with interest and passion for urban issues as urban improvers or researchers, should not idly shut themselves away in their studies or studios" ("Establishment of the City Beautiful Research Group," Architecture Magazine, No. 477, 1925).

Reported under the headline "Movement to Beautify the Imperial Capital with a Diverse Group: Literati and Artists Join to Avoid Making a Boorish Capital" (Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, October 24, 1925), the City Beautiful Research Group was a movement where a diverse range of people—including urban planners, architects, journalists, painters, economists, philosophers, poets, novelists, anthropologists, collectors, and designers—gathered to carry out the reconstruction of the Imperial Capital themselves. The City Beautiful Research Group was reorganized into the City Beautiful Association the following year, 1926, with influential politicians and heavyweights from the fields of architecture, civil engineering, and landscape gardening as presidents and officers. While maintaining close ties with Tokyo City, it engaged in activities such as making suggestions and expressing opinions on specific projects, holding events to enlighten and spread the concept of city beauty to citizens, publishing magazines, and holding National City Beautiful Conferences. Its philosophy was to contrast urban planning by bureaucratic experts with "Civic Art" based on civic pride and citizen autonomy rooted in civic consciousness, aiming for a reform movement in urban planning. The participation of citizens, including artists, in urban development began with the City Beautiful movement 100 years ago. In other words, 2025, the 100th anniversary of the City Beautiful movement, is a 100-year milestone for citizen urban planning including artists, and a year for the rebirth of that spirit.

The Yuraku Building (Yurakukan), located at 1-1 Yurakucho, Kojimachi-ku, in front of Yurakucho Station, was where the City Beautiful Research Group held its founding general meeting in October 1925 and where the City Beautiful Association kept its office and meeting space for some time afterward. This building was demolished in 1979, and the Shin-Nisseki Building now stands on its site. In fact, Art Urbanism 100 years later also began at the same spot. "I can see you / I can't see you from here now" was performed for "YAU TEN" on the second floor of the Shin-Kokusai Building, which forms a single block with the Shin-Nisseki Building. Post-COVID Tokyo will also be spun within the history and stories unique to individual towns and places. I want to make the post-COVID era one where countless stories of urbanism are created in Tokyo by various urbanists.

・Naoto Nakajima + Urbanist Association, "Urbanists: Creators of Attractive Cities," Chikuma Shinsho, 2021

・Naoto Nakajima, "What is Art Urbanism in the First Place?" On the Beginning of Art Urbanism | YAU Editorial Office

・Naoto Nakajima, "City Beautiful Movement: A History of Urban Planning in Civic Art," University of Tokyo Press, 2009

・Koji Mori, "The Popularity of 'Art for Business People' Books and Educational Cautions," Journal of Human Life and Culture, No. 31, pp. 409-419, 2021

・"Introduction to an Art-Driven Future," Forbes Japan, April 2022 Special Supplement