8-2 The Power of Greenery — Creating and Connecting Tree-Lined Streets in the City —

Modern cities are filled with man-made structures such as steel, glass, and concrete, but these alone can create a stifling sense of oppression. To alleviate that sense of oppression, green spaces are essential in the city. It is believed that the “power of greenery” plays a major role in creating refreshing scenery and a revitalizing environment for the people who live there. Of course, greenery also helps mitigate the urban heat island effect.

Within an area of about three city blocks west of Yodoyabashi Subway Station on Osaka’s Midosuji, there is a pleasant avenue lined with camphor trees. Especially on hot summer days, it serves as a shaded promenade where people can stroll beneath the greenery, providing a refreshing respite for passersby.Stylish restaurants and cafés lining the tree-lined promenade add character to the streetscape, and this bustling area, teeming with people coming and going, has recently become an attractive spot known as “Midosuji West.”
However, 30 years ago, it was a completely barren street, with nothing but dust swirling from the hurried pedestrians and passing cars. The story of how that bleak street transformed into the green promenade we see today begins with a single office building: the Ginsui Yokobori Building.

It was 30 years ago. When designing the Ginsui Yokobori Building, there were two proposals: Proposal A and Proposal B. Typically, for rental office buildings, a larger standard floor area is preferred because it offers tenants greater flexibility.Plan A involved setting the building back 2 meters from the road and extending it to the very limit of the “Semba Building Line” established by Osaka City, thereby maximizing the standard floor area. Plan B involved setting the building back 6 meters from the road and providing the city with a wide sidewalk lined with camphor trees as a public open space under the Comprehensive Design System.From the building developer’s perspective, while Option B would allow for a bonus in total floor area, it is common to have reservations about reducing the standard floor area.All parties involved—including the building developer and the design team—were deeply torn over which option to choose. Although there was a time when the balance seemed to tip toward Plan A, in the end, supported by the developer’s keen insight, Plan B was selected.Thus, an office building was born—one that provided greenery to the city, a rarity in the area at the time—surrounded by two zelkova trees and 16 camphor trees lining the 6-meter-wide sidewalk. This building would go on to lay the foundation for connecting a network of green spaces throughout the district in the future.

Over the more than 30 years that have passed since then, thanks to the understanding and cooperation of neighboring landowners, urban development efforts have continued to gradually connect the sidewalks within this site and link the greenways one by one.More recently, the network has extended to the greenway and walkway of Yodoyabashi odona—a large-scale development facing Midosuji that opened in 2008—and has finally reached Midosuji itself. This initiative is being carried forward in the office buildings currently under construction.
The creation of this pleasant streetscape did not stem from a master plan established from the outset, nor was it the result of legal regulations or incentives. Rather, it has gradually taken shape through the construction and renovation processes undertaken by individual building developers. The high level of foresight that these developers have long possessed has nurtured this neighborhood.

Iidacho, in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, has a long and rich history. During the Edo period, it was a district of daimyo mansions within the Edo Castle town; from the Meiji period onward, it also served as the starting point for modern transportation following the opening of the Kōbu Railway. From the early Shōwa period, it became “Iidacho Station,” a freight station.In the 21st century, the site of the former freight station was developed, giving rise to “i-Garden Air.” A central theme of the urban planning for “i-Garden Air” is to “connect” the extensive greenbelt stretching from Koishikawa Korakuen Garden to the Imperial Palace.

This large-scale development, with a total floor area of 280,000 square meters and featuring office buildings, hotels, commercial facilities, and condominiums, includes a “Shaded Mall” for pedestrians that runs north to south for approximately 300 meters.The southern half of this tree-lined promenade features an avenue of metasequoias that have grown tall and conical, allowing visitors to enjoy the greenery throughout the year—from their beautiful winter silhouettes to the fresh green foliage of spring, the shade of summer, and the autumn foliage.These trees grow rapidly, and now, 11 years after the mall’s opening in 2003, they have formed a majestic metasequoia avenue—a sight rarely seen in the heart of a Japanese city.Meanwhile, on the north side of the Shaded Mall, a gently winding path has been created, covered by a green tunnel formed by a row of large maple trees. This path has been named “Hirakawa Path.”“Hirakawa” is the name of a river that flowed through this area until the early Edo period; the stone masonry from the river’s embankment—unearthed during archaeological surveys—was used in the stonework of this path.
Here, too, history is being carried forward.

From the initial planning stages through to completion, the consistent concept behind the Iida-cho iGarden Air project was “connecting with the surrounding community.” People working in the neighborhood stroll comfortably along iGarden Air’s green paths, it serves as a walking route for children from a nearby kindergarten, and seeing parents with their children, or people jogging or walking their dogs early in the morning—these scenes make us truly realize that a sense of spatial unity as a community has been restored to Iida-cho, where a freight station once sharply divided the surrounding neighborhoods into eastern and western sections. This passion for community development has been passed on to the town’s residents through joint efforts such as festivals and volunteer cleanup drives.

Greenery possesses a mysterious power. Perhaps there is a kind of “green space energy” that soothes the human spirit and brings people together. Seeking this power of greenery, Nikken Sekkei’s Tokyo office is located in Iidacho Garden Air, while its Osaka office is housed in the Ginsui Yokobori Building, surrounded by 16 camphor trees that have now grown to a considerable size. The Nagoya office is situated in a building that overlooks the expansive green space of Hisaya Odori Park.

(References)
Nikken Sekkei (1994), *FACT—Nikken Sekkei Pin-Up Board '93*, Nikken Sekkei
Nikken Sekkei (2006), *FACT—Nikken Sekkei Pin-Up Board 2005*, Nikken Sekkei
Nikken Sekkei (2006), *FACT—Environmental Dialogue 2006*, Nikken Sekkei