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Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 210222

The history and future directions of greenwaysin Japanese New Towns

Makoto Yokohari, Mamoru Amemiya, Marco Amati

Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Japan

Available online 21 November 2004

Abstract

A number of societal changes such as an ageing population and a lack of economic prosperity mean that Japanese greenway

planners will be faced with a number of new challenges in the coming decades. These societal changes will be particularly

dramatic in the Japanese New Towns, which were constructed in the late 1950s. Some of these New Towns marked a departure

for Japanese planning by including a network of greenways, which were planned to provide pleasant corridors for pedestrians

and bikers. Around 30 years have passed since these areas were developed; today the greenways in these New Towns have

become corridors with dense and rich greenery. Such matured greenways, which were supposed to provide an amenity for local

residents, have increasingly come to be regarded as a cause of fear of crime. To try and mitigate this, trees and shrubs along the

greenways are now closely trimmed or even removed.

However, such mature vegetation along the greenways may be regarded as a feature that maintains the history of the town.Such

vegetation is also expected to provide ecological corridors that accommodate wildlife species which were abundant in the ruralareas surrounding these New Towns. Within the context of proposing an optimum management scheme for Japanese greenways,

the following study aims to explain and discuss how the fear of crime on greenways can be prevented whilst maintaining their

ecological and historical functions.

2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Green matrix; Greenway; Japanese New Town; Fear of crime

1. Introduction

For the last 30 years, Japanese planning has beenundergoing a shift in emphasis towards preserving the

environment and more recently, towards involving peo-

ple in the decision-making process. These shifts have

run parallel to a continued interest in greenway plan-

Corresponding author.

E-mail address:[email protected] (M. Yokohari).

ning. In addition, recent changes in Japanese society

mean that the planners of such greenways are faced

with a number of growing concerns.The following study aims to examine a growing con-

cern for greenspace planners in Japan. This is achieving

a balance between security, i.e. the fear of crime, and

the needs of the environment. In the following we trace

the historical development of greenspace planning in

twocase study areas, describing the context andthe rea-

sons behind the planning of the greenspaces. We show

0169-2046/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.09.033


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M. Yokohari et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 210222 211

how this context determined how these greenspaces

were planned and that planning for the fear of crime

was not a concern at the time. We then describe the re-

sults of a study that show the factors that affect the fearof crime in present-day greenways. We discuss these

results arguing that the future of greenway planning in

Japan is to achieve a balance between fear of crime and

the environment by encouraging public participation.

2. Greenways in Japanese New Towns: history,

present situation and problem

Based on current estimates, Japans population of

130 million people is likely to begin declining from

2007 and by 2015 as many as 25% of the population

will be over 65. Japans economy is unlikely to bene-

fit from the exceptional years of growth that it enjoyed

during the 1960s and 1980s and will continue to rely on

imported resources. In the near future, Japanese plan-

ners will haveto plan for a society affected by an ageing

population and a deteriorating economy.

Such changes in society will be particularly strongly

felt in Japanese New Towns. These New Towns were

originally designed as bedroom communities to accom-

modate young couples with their children. Such areas,

and the greenways and greenspaces they contain, were

designed during growth years that were assumed to bepermanent. They were designed for a steadily growing

and coherent society. Now that this society is declining,

greenways and greenspaces will have to be designed

and managed differently. This includes designing and

managing these areas to mitigate the fear of crime in

these areas.

In addition, the important ecological and environ-

mental role of greenways and greenspaces must also be

considered. These roles include, conserving biodiver-

sity, reducing summer heat and providing recreational

space for outdoor activities (Ministry of Land, Infras-tructure and Transport Government of Japan, 2002).

Unawareness of the necessary balance between the

needs of fear of crime and the environment can be

seen in the current management practices of green-

ways in New Towns. Here greenways can often be

found without any green. Local authorities tend to

simply trim and cut down trees so as to make the in-

terior of the greenways as visible as possible from

the surrounding neighborhood (Amemiya and Yoko-

hari, 2004).Given the declining situation in Japanese

New Towns, planners should consider how the fear of

crime in greenspaces can be mitigated whilst maintain-

ing their ecological function.

2.1. New Town developments in Japan

Rapid and immense post-war industrialization in

Japan from the late 1950s to the early 1970s resulted in

a successful economy with the second highest gross na-

tional product (GNP) in the world. However, the costs

of this successful economy were changes to Japans so-

ciety and to its environment. Already in 1965 more than

63% of Japans total population was living in cities,

while almost one-third of outlying municipalities, 1100

out of 3300, were depopulated. This enormous migra-

tion of people from the countryside to major cities,

which resulted in over-crowded cities and a depopu-

lated countryside, can be seen as among the most seri-

ous social and environmental problems brought on by

economic growth (Yokohari et al., 2000).

To accommodate people who moved into major

cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, the Japan

Housing Corporation, now called the Urban Renais-

sance Agency, was established in 1955 with the objec-

tive of providing inexpensive apartment flats to the new

comers as quickly as possible. Housing complexes, in

many cases known as New Towns, were a part ofJapans welfare system (Fig. 1)and were regarded as

a symbol of the strength of Japans post-war economic

revitalization. More than 1.5 million apartments in 300

complexes were provided by the corporation from the

late 1950s. By the late 1970s, 11 New Towns had been

completed in the Tokyo area alone (Kiuchi and Inouchi,

1976).

Fig. 1. A typical housing complex developed in thesuburbs of major

cities in Japan.


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212 M. Yokohari et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 210222

Fig. 2. A typical plan of housing complexes developed during 1960s with a large amount of open space. The buildings are represented in black

(JILA, 1978).

2.2. Greenspaces and greenways in the New

Towns

One of the features of the New Towns that were

used to emulate western and modern ideal living were

parks and open greenery.Fig. 2is a typical example

of a network of greenspaces in the New Towns devel-

oped in early 1960s. A surprisingly large portion ofthe total land area, more than 40%, was taken up by

greenspace. A landscape of high-rise apartments sur-

rounded by wide-open green-yards with plenty of sun-

shine, a replica of Le Corbusiers Ville Radieuse, was

the target image of New Towns at the time.

The criteria for planning the network of greenspaces

in these New Towns were laid down in the 1956 Urban

Park Act (Table 1).The Act designated a conceptual

diagram for the allocation of the parks (Fig. 3). This

proposed a series of block parks with differing catch-

ment areas, from the smallest, with a catchment radius

of 250 m to the largest, which was intended to have a

catchment of 1000 m radius.

Table 1

The hierarchy of urban parks designated by Urban Park Act 1956

Type Size (ha) Enticement zone (m)

Block park 0.25 250

Neighborhood park 2 500

District park 4 1000

Another feature of the parks and greenspaces net-

work illustrated inFig. 3is a web of greenways con-

necting the greenspaces to one another. These green-

ways are mostly corridors lined with trees, bushes and

lawns to make walking comfortable, and are separated

from the road network for safety. When implemented

in the New Towns, the network of greenways was ex-

pected to function not only as a series of recreationalpaths that connect greenspaces but also as corridors for

pedestrian and bicycle commuters.

Fig. 3. A conceptual diagram of the allocation of greenspaces and

greenways designated by the Urban Park Act.


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2.3. Greenway system of Tsukuba Science City

Of the New Towns created during the post-war pe-

riod Tsukuba Science City was one of the largest andmost influential projects. Tsukubas development be-

gan in 1963 when the plan for a New Town built ex-

clusively for scientific research was approved by the

cabinet. The citys development was based not only

on realizing ideal facilities and surroundings for sci-

entific research but also on relocating all national re-

search institutesand severaluniversitiesformerlybased

in Tokyo to assist in Tokyos decentralization and ease

its overcrowding. The land area of 2700 ha on a flat

plain in Ibaraki Prefecture, approximately 50 km north

of Tokyo, was purchased by the government, and the

construction of the city started in 1970. By 1980, all of

the 43 national institutes and universities in the orig-

inal plan had moved into the city (Ibaraki Prefecture,

1999). Today, Tsukuba accommodates over 100 pri-

vate research institutes and 46 national institutes, and

has become the center of scientific research in Japan

(Fig. 4). Although 55% (1500 ha) of the land area of the

city is for research and educational institutes, the city

also includes areas for housing development (670 ha,

24%) and land for public facilities including schools,

Fig. 4. Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki.

hospitals and retail shops (570 ha, 21%). Because of its

importance as a government project the Japan Housing

Corporation was appointed to develop the land for the

whole city.Tsukuba has been regarded as a landmark in the his-

tory of Japanese New Towns not only because of its size

but because of the ideas that went into its plan. Drawing

on almost all of the latest concepts and technologies in

Japanese urban planning, architecture and landscape

architecture, the plan was executed with the relative

ease of sketching on a blank canvas. AsNumadate et

al. (1998)recalls, Tsukuba was a huge experiment of

concepts and technologies in late 1960s modern urban

planning.

The Tsukuba greenspaces plan faithfully followed

the latest planning concepts at the time. In addition

the plan was easily implemented and was free from

topographical restriction since Tsukuba is located on

a plateau without undulation. As a consequence, 83

greenspaces (99 ha, 3.7% of the land area) were desig-

nated in the city according to the criteria laid down by

the Urban Park Act (seeTable 1).Fig. 5shows the cen-

tral district of Tsukuba. The allocation of greenspaces

and the network of greenways demonstrate how faith-

fully the greenspaces plan follows the conceptual di-

Fig. 5. The central district of Tsukuba Science City.


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Fig. 6. The network of greenspaces and greenways in Tsukuba Sci-

ence City.

agram in the Urban Park Act (compare Fig. 5 withFig. 3).

The criteria of the Urban Park Act led to an ar-

rangement of greenspaces which was typical for the

late 1950s and early 1960s, i.e. an arrangement which

relied more on symmetry and aesthetics than knowl-

edge of the landscape. Despite this, what character-

izes the greenspaces in Tsukuba is the extensive net-

work of greenways, which was an innovation for the

time (Fig. 6). In total 48 km of corridors with rich

greenery run throughout the city, connecting all 83

greenspaces (Fig. 6). The widths of the greenways varyfrom 2 to 20 m, according to their location and func-

tion. Most greenways are elevated when crossing trunk

roads so as to allow pedestrians and bikers to pass

safely.

Another feature that characterizes the greenspaces

of Tsukuba is a spinal greenway running the length

of the city. This spinal greenway was built on a drier

upland section of the land. It connected and preserved

much of the wooded vegetation and small lakes along

its length. Having the campus of the University of

Tsukuba as its northern end, the spinal greenway,

named the Urban Axis, penetrates the city for 9 km

until it reaches Akatsuka Park at the southern end of

Tsukuba (Fig. 6).All of the four major greenspaces inthe city, Matsumi, Chuo, Ninomiya, and Doho parks

are located along this greenway.

The spinal greenway is divided into three sections

reflecting the zone that it penetrates (Housing and De-

velopment Corporation, 1985). The northern section

is named Campus section, as the greenway runs

through a zone with three universities and two hos-

pitals. The path in this section is characterized by a

relatively wide width, 1520 m, and a smooth pave-

ment. This ensures an easy passage for students and

a safe therapeutic walk for hospital patients. The next

section is named the Central section, as the green-

way runs through the central zone with Chuo (Cen-

tral) Park, shopping malls, a bus terminal, and a con-

ference center. The path is widest, 21 m, at this point

to accommodate heavy pedestrian traffic. Finally, the

southern section is named the Institutional section,

as the greenway penetrates a zone containing four re-

search complexes. The path in this section is relatively

narrow, around 10 m, lined with dense vegetation so as

to emulate the atmosphere of the woods which domi-

nated the plateau prior to the development of Tsukuba

(Fig. 7).

2.4. Green matrix system in Kohoku New Town,

Yokohama

Kohoku New Town is located inland from Yoko-

hama City, approximately 20 km from Tokyo, and cov-

ers an area of 2500 ha (Fig. 8).The plan for Kohoku

New Town was established in 1965, as one of the six

major developments of the City of Yokohama to en-

courage the development of inland areas of the city.

Unlike Tsukuba, where most of the planned area waspurchased by the public sector, Kohoku New Towns

plan employed land readjustment to maintain private

land ownership (Sorensen, 1999).The planned area of

Kohoku New Town thus became a mosaic of newly

developed and conserved lands. Almost half (1316 ha,

52%) of the total planned area comprises a develop-

ment area of housing lots (766 ha, 58%), educational

and commercial facilities (174 ha, 13%), and public fa-

cilities including roads, greenspaces, and water bodies

(376 ha, 29%). After more than 30 years following the


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Fig. 7. A typical scene of greenways in Tsukuba Science City.

Fig. 8. Kohoku New Town, Yokohama.

announcement of the plan by the City of Yokohama,

the development of Kohoku New Town was finally ac-

complished in 1996 (Housing and Urban Development

Corporation, 1998).Whereas, Tsukuba Science City is a typical exam-

ple of a New Town for which greenspaces were planned

according to the guidelines laid down in the Urban Park

Act, Kohoku New Town, used a different system. Ko-

hoku New Towns plan is characterized by a mosaic of

lands reserved for either new development or conser-

vation. The original intention of this plan was that the

network of greenways would make the best use of the

areas vernacular landscape. The basis of this plan was

known as the Green matrix system. This is a tool

to decide the character of each greenspace by apply-

ing a matrix which allocates various possible activities

on its vertical axis, and the types of open space that

can be found in Kohoku New Town on its horizontal

axis (Table 2). For example, according to the matrix

inTable 2,a given greenspace can be designed for a

variety of activities such as sun-bathing, hide and seek,

bike-riding, walking, nature-watching and sports.

Fig. 9 illustrates the greenspaces network of Ko-

hoku New Town designed by applying the Green ma-

trix system. Greenspaces and open space cover 122 ha

(9.3%) of the development area with 85 greenspaces

(98 ha, 7.4%) and 15 km (22 ha, 1.7%) of greenways(Housing and Urban Development Corporation, 1998).

Running between these greenspaces are what has been

regarded as one of the key features of the Kohoku

New Town plan, the trunk greenways that penetrate

the town. These surround the town in five routes and

were planned to connect major greenspaces by largely

following conserved natural valleys. As illustrated in

Fig. 10, the trunk greenways have paths of 1040 m

width paths at the bottom of the valley. These are sur-

rounded by conserved woods along the valley slopes,

which were designed to maintain the vernacular land-scape of thearea.Housing development behindthe con-

served woods is almost completely hidden when walk-

ing the paths (Fig. 11).F.L.Olmsted designed Bostons

Emerald Necklace with the idea of bringing a series

of oases of abundant green to the busy city, provid-

ing the ambience of a deep forest (Zaitzevsky, 1992).

The influence of Olmsteds planning and design con-

cept is obvious in the trunk greenways in Kohoku New

Town, which may be said to be a Japanese version of

the Emerald Necklace.


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Table 2

Green matrix for the planning of parks and open space in Kohoku New Town (Housing and Urban Development Corporation, 1997, re-

illustrated)

Fig. 9. The network of parks and greenways in Kohoku New Town (Housing and Urban Development Corporation, 1997).


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Fig. 10. A typical cross section of trunk greenways in Kohoku New Town (Housing and Urban Development Corporation, 1998).

2.5. Contemporary issues in greenway planning

and management in New Town

When greenways were first implemented inJapanese New Towns about 30 years ago, planners

intended to provide a comfortable and smooth pas-

sage for pedestrians and bikers without hindrance

from vehicle traffic. Both greenways in Tsukuba Sci-

ence City and Kohoku New Town, are two out-

standing examples which embrace this concept. How-

ever, the evolution of planning concepts in relation to

greenways and the changes to society since the late

1960s have resulted in new demands on these green-

ways.

Firstly, the historical perspective above shows thatthe greenspaces and greenways were designed with a

different threat in mind. They were designed to ensure

an easy and smooth passage for pedestrians and sepa-

ration from automobiles. Their rich vegetation was in-

tended to shield them from automobiles and also from

their urban surroundings to evoke the nature that ex-

isted before the New Town was built.

Fig. 11. A typical scene of trunk greenways in Kohoku New Town.

An important issue for planning and managing con-

temporary New Town greenways is personal safety. In

most early New Towns, trees along the greenways were

densely planted so as to provide a rich green backdropfor when the trees were small in size. However, after

more than 30 years of tree management without ad-

equate thinning, greenways in the New Towns today,

have turned into linear jungles with an overwhelming

amount of vegetation (Fig.12). Affected by the increas-

ing crime rate in Japan, greenways are now starting to

be perceived as green corridors whose vegetation has

becomeasourceoffear(Amemiya and Yokohari,2002,

2003).In the original concept most greenways in the

New Towns were designed to accommodate not only

recreational pedestrians but also commuters. Becauseof rising concerns for personal safety, greenways are

losing their function as paths for commuters and be-

coming corridors exclusively for daytime recreational

uses. As a consequence, trees along greenways are

starting to be intensively pruned or thinned in many

New Towns to ensure that commuters feel comfortable.

However, over-pruning/thinning of the trees may not

Fig. 12. Greenways have turned into linear jungles today.


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only affect their function as ecological corridors, but

will eventually detract from what should be a pleasant

ambience provided by the greenways rich vegetation.

Such rich vegetation and landscaping can contribute toquality of life by increasing social interactions (Coley

et al., 1997).

Secondly, these greenways are expected to have an

ecological as well as a leisure or transportation role.

Because of the conceptual and technical advances in

landscape ecology, it is widely accepted that green-

ways are now expected to function as ecological corri-

dors (Smith and Hellmund, 1993; Fabos, 1995; Ahern,

2002).New Town greenways are no exception. When

the development of New Towns started, they were usu-

ally surrounded by a rich variety of rural flora including

secondary forests, paddy fields, wetlands and unchan-

neled rivers. This flora is considered to be among the

most important for conserving biodiversity in Japan

(Takeuchi et al., 2003).However, it has rapidly deteri-

orated because of urban development on the outskirts

of the New Towns.

Greenspaces in New Towns have come to be seen as

a way of compensating for the loss of rural diversity, as

a way of maintaining the integrity of the areas ecosys-

tem and as a way of conserving the vernacular land-

scapes in the area. The City of Tsukuba, for example,

has recently drawn up a comprehensive greenspacesplan, and greenways in Tsukuba are regarded as indis-

pensable elements of a city-wide, extended ecological

network (City of Tsukuba, 1996).Kohoku New Town,

has taken this idea even further, by restricting access

to certain ecological preservation areas to allow the

preservationof organisms whichcontribute to restoring

regional ecosystems(Housing and Urban Development

Corporation, 1998).

Thirdly, public involvement in greenway planning

and management schemes have come to play an in-

creasingly important role. In many New Towns in-cluding Tsukuba and Kohoku, residents who used to

perceive greenspaces and open space in the town as

places that should be planned and managed only by

the public sector, are starting to show their interest in

being involved in planning and management schemes.

A system called Adopt-a-park which commissions a

group of citizens to maintain a park was introduced

in Tsukuba in 1999, while various programs to in-

volve local citizens in the planning and management

of greenspaces have taken place in Kohoku since the

1980s (Iwamura and Yokohari, 2002). Planning and

management of greenways follow this track. An ad-

equate greenways planning and management frame-

work, which ensures successful partnerships betweenresidents and the public sector, is coming to be the key

factor in the successful planning and management of

New Town greenways.

Planners and designers must find an appropriate

pruning and/or thinning regime for trees along the

greenway which removes the fear of crime, and bal-

ance this against the maintenance of an ecologically

sound and enjoyable environment. In the case of green-

ways a trade-off exists between, the positive impacts

of ecology and landscape preservation, and the neg-

ative impacts of fear of crime. Furthermore, plan-

ners have started involving the public in decision-

making. It is necessary to discuss how this involve-

ment affects the planning of greenways in Japan and

whether it could have a mitigating effect on the fear of

crime.

3. Fear of crime in greenways: a case study in

Tsukuba Science City

Though Japanese cities are still safe relative to many

citiesin the developed world, recentfigureshave shownthat the crime rate is rising and greenways in particular

are the scene for grievous crimes such as murder. Per-

sonal safety in greenways has since become a serious

issue in Japan, which explains the use of signs to warn

of crime, and the fact that children are now told not to

walk alone on greenways during the evening.

Such information will induce understandable fears

of crime, and lead to a reduction in the use of green-

ways. Garofalos model explains how a trade-off exists

when users experience a fear of crime and may seek

an alternative travel option in a greenway (Westover,1985). By placing an opportunity cost on the plan-

ning system through a lack of use, fear of crime may

have other impacts on the environment (e.g. through

increased car-use). Though crime does occur on green-

ways, the causal relationship between the two is by

no means clear-cut (Flink and Searns, 1993, pp. 76;

Schroeder and Anderson, 1984).Crewe (2001)looks

at the effect of a Boston greenway on crime in nearby

residential buildings, finding no relationship between

these, but shows how greenways induce fear of crime.


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Fig. 13. Thestrength of thefearof crimeexhibited by residentsliving

along greenways (n =79).

Kaplan et al. (1998)and others have discussed the im-

portant relationship between the physical layout of a

setting and the feeling of fear or comfort in human

beings that perceive that setting. Is there something

that planners, designers and managers can do to work

against the trend of increasing crime fear in mature

Japanese greenways?

In order to address this question, the following de-

scribes the results of a study that looked into the fear

of crime in greenways in Tsukuba Science City. De-

tails on the method used in this study can be found in

Amemiya and Yokohari (2002, 2003).

The results showed that (1) out of all the residents30% and 80% felt a fear of crime during the day and

at night, respectively (Fig. 13);(2) the characteristics

of the places where residents are more likely to feel a

fear of crime occurred were where there were few peo-

ple, where it was dark or where the path was restricted

or where the vegetation was too luxuriant (Table 3);

(3) the places where residents are more likely to feel

Fig. 14. Abandoned scooter and private plants, these affect perceptions of the fear of crime.

Table 3

Features of the place where the fear of crime occurs

Percentage of yes answers (%)

There are few people 62.

0The place is dark 60.1

Shallow depth of view 50.0

Greenery is too luxuriant 45.6

Out of peoples line of vision 39.9

Several hiding places 39.2

No signs of life 36.1

Crime has occurred 30.4

No nearby residences 29.1

No refuges 23.4

Narrow path 10.8

There are cars and bikes 10.1

There is graffiti and garbage 8.9

Enclosed 8.2

Abandoned houses 8.

2Undesirable people 5.7

Study participants could give more than one answer (n = 79).

a fear of crime occurring were defined not only by the

spatial characteristics but also by social incivility such

as existence of a dirty toilet room in a greenspace, lit-

tered garbage, a sign that warns of crime and graffiti

(Fig. 14).

Several theories and studies explain these findings.

Appletons (1975) prospect and refuge theory, for ex-

ample, postulates on how human beings feel safe in en-vironments that are suitable for their survival. A safe

habitat or environmentwill allowthem to keep open the

channels of environmental information (prospect), as

well as offering an opportunity to achieve concealment

(refuge). In relation to this study, therefore, pedestrians

may feel that they have more control over a situation,

should one arise, when they have a deep field of view


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in front of them. Moreover, a residential building will

present a pedestrian with a refugefroma criminal attack

so they will feel safer as they approach the residence.

This explains the fact that respondents felt less safe atnight, on paths that were restricted with many hiding

places for potential dangers. Such findings have also

been repeated in other studies (Nasar et al., 1993).

Another theory that supports the findings is the

broken-windows theory (Wilson and Kelling, 1982),

i.e. that a little evidence of the loss of control in a com-

munity such as graffiti and garbage greatly affects fear

of crime and eventually its occurrence. Such a finding

is also repeated in Shaffer and Andersons (1983) work

on parking lots. Moreover, human beings are very sen-

sitive to evidence that other human beings are present

or have been in a setting before. In a natural setting,

the human element can be comforting and highly pre-

ferred (Kaplan et al., 1998). This was shown on the

greenways study, where a presence that could be con-

sidered to be benign such as the sounds of children, or

the sight of residents flowerbeds was found to have

such an effect. Evidence of destructive activity on the

other hand, led respondents to feel that the area was un-

safe. Therefore, greenways that provoke fear of crime

undergo little interaction between residents and users

physically or socially.

As noted previously, much of the vegetation inTsukuba greenways plays an important historical role,

not only because it provides a link with the landscape

that existed before the development of the New Town,

but also because of the sense of familiarity that resi-

dents will feel towards it. At the same time, the mys-

tery of the landscape also makes it attractive, and the

sense of this is increased when mature vegetation is

present (Kaplan et al., 1998).The maturity of the veg-

etation is also an important factor in its ecological role.

4. Discussion

In first part of this study, we traced the historical

development of Japanese greenways through two case

studies. In the next part, we described the characteris-

tics of greenways that do not produce a fear of crime

and the trade-off that has to be made between peo-

ples safety andthe ecological value of greenways. This

trade-off will be the most important issue for planners

because it results in a potential lack of use of the green-

way. In the face of this trade-off, how can planners and

designers optimize the choices they have to make?

We would like to suggest that public involvement

offers a solution for planning, designing and maintain-ing greenways. The following argues that bio-diverse

greenways that are free of fear of crime associations

may be created through citizens involvement in the

planning process. Citizens that are involved in the plan-

ning of the greenways are able to take a more realistic

view of the risks involved in using the greenways. This

may allow them to permit the preservation of rich vege-

tation with mystery. Such information can be usefully

fed back into the greenways management, preventing

a knee-jerk reaction to the fear of crime, i.e. intensely

pruning and thinning underbrush and dark and leafy fo-

liage. In addition, the outcomes of such participation

can allow users to actually feel safer. For example, a

flowerbed that has been planted with the involvement

of an areas citizens, may act as a sign, which leads

to various positive and possibly sub-conscious conclu-

sions about its safety. For example, that the area is well-

frequented and well-maintained, and that nearby citi-

zens are helpful people. Recent years have seen a rapid

increase in the activity of such groups, which aim to

improve the environment in the two case study areas.

From now on, the challenge for the Japanese planning

system is to find ways of further supporting this activ-ity.

In addition to participation, a way to reach a bal-

ance between fear of crime and the ecological role of

greenways may lie in an appreciation of some of the

positive aspects of Japanese planning that exist already.

In Japan, traditional custom has always blurred the line

between what is defined as the public and private in

urban areas (Shelton, 1999). Such a custom can be

traced back to life in the densely inhabited downtown

of Edo (the Tokyo of pre-1868) known as the Shita-

machi. Whereas the public areas such as the streetsand the wells in a block of houses would be enclosed

and protected from the other blocks, they would be

treated as though they were the block residents back-

yards. Expressions of this custom can be seen today in

the flowerpots put into the street to welcome passers-

by and in the laundry and bedding hanging out on the

balconies (Fig. 15).These customs run contrary to the

dictates of creating a tidy landscape, but can provide

an important and reassuring human sign on a green-

way. Instead of blindly adopting standard practices


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Fig. 15. Flowerpots along a street express the residents territoriality to passers-by (Sumida-ku, Tokyo).

and norms, planners in Japan should seek emergent

grass-root reliant activities to provide solutions for the

community. For example, to further promote this blur-

ring and reduce the fear of crime, provision should be

made for the residents territoriality to be expressed in

a number of ways. Encouraging participation in green-

way maintenance would be a part of this. At the same

time, it may be necessary to limit this privatization of

public space to an extent, since too much territorial-ity may exclude passing users. Clearly, fortress-like

greenways, are not desirable. The Japanese experience

and the blurred division of public and private spaces

seen in crowded Japanese urban areas may hold the

answer for solving the trade-off between ecology and

safety.

5. Conclusion

In this paper, we discussed the history and currentproblems of greenways and greenspaces in Japanese

New Towns. We argued that changes in society have

caused a rise in the fear of crime. If such areas are go-

ing to be habitable in the future, planners must employ

a new conceptual framework that incorporates findings

on landscape research in greenways. We show that part

of this research should aim to strike a balance between

ecology and safety. Finally, we argue thatplanners must

allow citizens to participate in the planning process

when trying to balance ecology and safety. This par-

ticipation could take a variety of forms, from advising

on the extent of trimming and pruning to helping with

planting and maintenance.

The story of the Japanese New Town greenways is

instructive because it shows that it is always necessary

to re-evaluate values in planning. Planning which only

gives a short-term response to a given social problem

is of little use. Understanding these values should be

based on an understanding of new circumstances. How-ever, knowing how planners should adjust to these new

values and when they should make this adjustment is

the challenge. Japanese planners may be able to start

to meet this challenge by engaging in an enhanced di-

alogue with citizens.

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Makoto Yokohari is Professor at the Graduate School of Systems

and Information Engineering at the University of Tsukuba, Japan.

He obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo and has been

a longstanding contributor and member of the editorial board for

Landscape and Urban Planning. He has been part of a group which

represented Japan during OECD negotiations in the late 1990s. He

has also served on the consultative committee for the Expo 2005 in

Aichi and is currently active in a number of projects at the municipal

levelin Japan.His interestsincludethe ecologicalrole of urbanfringe

farmland in Asia, the conservation of Japanesevernacular landscapes

such as Satoyama and international landscape planning initiatives

and research.

Mamoru Amemiya is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of

Systems and Information Engineering at the University of Tsukuba,

Japan, wherehe alsoobtained his Mastersin Environmental Sciences.

He hasbeen a member of theconsultative committee for Masterplan-

ning greenspaces in Tsukuba and has worked as a teaching assistant

for several undergraduate courses. His interests include the history

of Japanese New Towns, landscape planning theory and designing

to mitigate the fear of crime.

Marco Amatiis a UK National and a PhD candidate at the Graduate

School of Systems and Information Engineering at the University

of Tsukuba, Japan. He obtained his Masters in Environmental Sci-

ences from the University of Dublin, Ireland and worked as an internand as a consultant to the EU Commission in Luxembourg for one

and a half years. His interests include greenbelts, the UK local plan-

ning system and research comparing Japanese planning with other

planning systems.

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