How Tokyo Works: Spontaneous Urbanism on a Human Scale

Lecture by Jorge Almazán hosted by Lakeland University Japan on October 13.

Tokyo is one of the most vibrant and livable cities, a megacity that somehow remains intimate and adaptative. But how does Tokyo successfully balance massive growth and local communal life? We can answer this question by delving into Tokyo's most distinctive urban spaces, from iconic neon nightlife to tranquil neighborhood backstreets. Tokyo, at its best, offers a new vision for a human-scale urban ecosystem, where ordinary residents can shape their own environment in ways large and small, and communities take on a life of their own beyond government master planning and corporate profit-seeking. This lectue will uncover how five key features of Tokyo's cityscape- yokochō alleyways, multi-tenant zakkyo buildings, undertrack infills, flowing ankyo streets, and dense low-rise neighborhoods enable this "emergent" urbanism, allowing the city to organize itself from the bottom up.

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[GabeSyme]

Great video! The emergent areas that you described are definitely the parts of Tokyo that I remember most from my trip. Golden Gai in particular is a really memorable place.

[GeraldFigal]

Btw, I also teach a “World Heritage Asia” course in which the very question Professor Almazán addresses about the Western bias toward material preservation in the the World Heritage criteria is examined. In fact, when Japan finally joined the World Heritage treaty in the early 1990s, Japanese representatives questioned this bias and it became a topic of discussion. Study groups were formed and reports and recommendations written. Ultimately, some of the criteria to qualify sites for WHS consideration were indeed revised to correct this bias.

[GeraldFigal]

i’m a big fan of Emergent Tokyo. I teach a Tokyo seminar at Vanderbilt University and we just spent two weeks with this brilliant book. Students loved it! Teams of 2-3 students presented each chapter, including their own identification and analysis of an example of the chapter’s urban pattern not included among the case studies. The assignment worked great, mainly because of the form, content, and layout of the book. One interesting discovery by “Team Ankyo” was the existence of a subculture of “ankyologists” online who seek out and blog about little known ankyo streets. I am now planning a special month-long Maymester course for a small group of undergraduate students in Tokyo for spring 2025 structured around this book. I hope to connect up with Professor Almazán and his Studiolab to plan fieldwork projects for students.

[Tom-ctdy]

Fascinating video. Congratulations on the book and this knowledge!

[OneEyedMonkey]

Interesting. Could you plan for 'Emergent Urbanisim' ?