PRINCIPAL POLICIES OF THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT

TOKYO’S URBAN STRATEGY
“TOKYO’S BIG CHANGE: THE 10-YEAR PLAN”

In December 2006, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government formulated “Tokyo’s Big Change: The 10-Year Plan” (hereinafter the 10-Year Plan), which presents Tokyo’s vision of the city in the year 2016 and the direction of policies to be taken to achieve this vision.

Having passed through the stages of development and growth, Tokyo is now about to reach maturity. In order to transform Tokyo into an even more functional and attractive metropolis, the 10-Year Plan envisions not only development of the urban infrastructure but also the accomplishment of higher levels of growth in a variety of areas including environment, safety, welfare, culture, tourism, industry, and sport.

Pioneering initiatives will be taken by 2016 to turn this design of the near future into reality. This will make Tokyo a new urban model for the 21st century, which will be presented to cities around the world. An overview of the 10-Year Plan is as follows.

Achieve higher levels of maturity

Tokyo is a city with a tradition and history that stretch back over 400 years to the establishment of the Edo Shogunate here, and it has flourished as a modern city for over 100 years. So that Tokyo can aspire to reach even higher levels of maturity following its development and growth in the 20th century, it would be necessary for the following three initiatives to be taken.

(1)Resolve the “negative legacy” from the 20th century

The construction of new roads in Tokyo has not been able to keep up with rapid urban sprawl; this is particularly notable in the significant delay in development of ring roads compared to radial roads. The resultant chronic traffic congestion is the largest weakness of Tokyo, and this negative legacy of the 20th century must be overcome by completing the three loop roads, which are integral to the traffic network in the Greater Tokyo Area, and other major roads.

(2)Present a more functional and attractive Tokyo

Along with achieving pleasant and highly convenient urban living by fully utilizing the ease and comfort that would come from mitigating traffic congestion, it would be essential to promote urban development incorporating universal design so that everyone can appreciate urban life.

(3)Make Tokyo a “beautiful and safe city” to enhance Tokyo’s international profile, and leave this legacy to future generations

The international profile of Tokyo will be enhanced by making it a safe and beautiful city. This will be achieved through initiatives such as landscaping, which focuses on views from the water, and intensive efforts to deal with the urgent challenge of reducing the risk of earthquake disasters. This precious legacy will also be handed down to the following generations.