The redevelopment project of the city of Tokyo will overturn one of the most iconic neighborhoods of the city: the citizens are rebelling.
Meiji Jingu Gaien
The residents of Tokyo they are not living very well redevelopment plan which will lead to a real upheaval of some iconic areas of the city, which will never be the same again. In particular, the decision to intervene on the famous garden of the Meiji Shrine, one of the most beloved parks in the Japanese capital, visited by citizens and tourists in search of peace, who are enchanted by its colours, is attracting quite a bit of criticism. Jingu Gaien is considered a precious cultural heritage, to be preserved and not modified. For this reason, a demonstration was also held last month, which saw massive participation from those who would like the project to be reconsidered.
The project that will revolutionize Tokyo
Meiji Jingu Gaien nel quartiere Shinjuku (Tokyo) is a huge park that includes green areas, attractions and numerous sports facilities including an ice rink, tennis courts, baseball stadiums, one of the most popular sports in Japan. Among the most famous are the Meiji Jingu Stadium (the oldest in Tokyo) and the adjacent Prince Chichibu Stadium. The Meiji Shrine also stands out in the neighborhood, one of the most important sites of the Shinto religion, completed in 1926. The centerpiece of the park is Ginkgo Avenue, a 300-meter promenade lined with over a hundred ginkgo trees, many of which are more than a century old. The proposed urban redevelopment plan puts them all at risk.
The protest a Meiji Jingu Issues
The plan in question was approved in February: 349 billion yen (2.3 billion dollars) to redevelop a portion of 28.4 hectares. The project will take more than a decade to complete: the stadiums will be razed and rebuilt, a new luxury hotel will be built, a tower and two skyscrapers containing offices and luxury apartments will be built. All this will take away considerable space from green areas. Work officially began in March and since then the developers have pledged to protect the iconic row of ginkgo trees and preserve and improve the vegetation around the sports complex, but this has not been enough to quell the ire of residents. A petition was also born, signed by over 225,000 people.
The largest miniature park in the world: Small Worlds Tokyo
The protest a Meiji Jingu Issues
The request to the authorities is to withdraw support for the project. Rochelle Kopp, the business consultant who organized the aforementioned petition, said that people don’t want to see trees sacrificed in the name of large construction projects. But that is not all. Plans to build the foundation of the new baseball stadium at a depth of 40 meters will interfere with tree roots and block their access to sunlight and water. In fact, the fears of the locals are not unfounded. Last month the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO, issued a heritage alert for Jingu Gaien.
Meiji Jingu Gaien
The organization warned everyone: the potential destruction of around 3000 trees and green spaces in the park could cause an irreversible loss of cultural heritage. Tokyo authorities and the real estate company Mitsui Fudosan, which is leading the project, responded by saying they would deepen conservation efforts. For their part, there is a desire to plant new trees in Jingu Gaien, which has always been considered the “people’s forest”. But it’s not a popular move: Old-growth trees are disproportionately better at absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than younger, newly planted ones.
Meiji Jingu Gaien
From its creation until the end of World War II, the park was owned by the Japanese national government (and operated by the sanctuary). But after the country’s surrender, the American occupation controlled the site until Meiji Jingu’s religious leaders took responsibility on the condition that it remained open to the public. Now this is also feared: that the purely commercial nature of the redevelopment could make the promise fall, effectively making it a space that is no longer public.
2023-10-19 13:47:40
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