Urban Renewal and Sustainability of Historical Urban Center

Ref.: 107
Key theme: 03 Visual integrity of historic urban landscapes
Date of reception: 15/11/2008

AUTHORS (*Main author)

MORISHIGE, Sachiko * (Japan) - Kyoto University
TAKADA, Mitsuo (Japan) - Kyoto University
KOURA, Hisako (Japan) - Osaka University

ABSTRACT

In the central area of Kyoto city, recent urban renewal accelerates confusion of the historical townscape and living environment based on mixed land use characterized by the traditional urban housing of the Machiya with shops and workshops.
The historical urban center of Kyoto is composed of two major types of block and site patterns. One is the 120m grid block based on ninth century development with the later transformation of site pattern associated with the emergence of the Machiya(Japanese shop-house). The other is the 120m and 60m grid block developed in the sixteenth century. Traditional Machiya building is faced to street and it has small garden behind the building. This space composition of buildings and gardens formed well-ordered streetscape and contiguous open spaces that have advantages of quality of living environmet and disaster prevention in densely inhabited area. These block types have been maintained basically for centuries even though buildings have been rebuilt over and over, but recent development of large scale condominiums in this area has changed this historical space structure, and has caused confusion of townscape.
In order to cope with these ongoing urban renewal, Kyoto city government formed new local regulations on building height and shape in the central area of Kyoto city on 2003, and fully revised it on 2007 as a new landscape policy of Kyoto city. The new policy is composed by 5 major elements, building height regulations, building design regulations, outdoor commercial display regulations, regulations to preserve fine views from selected viewpoints, and framework for preservation of traditional buildings, especially Machiya. Especially the new height regulations are quite strict, it is the first trial in city of considerable scale in Japan to make standard height lower than that of former regulation.
Althogh the new policy includes comparatively more detailed regulations in accordance with revised smaller zoning system than former regulations, there are a lot of ambiguous part of design criteria, and it has caused arguments over the criteria and confusion at actual procedures of permission. Contiguous revision will be needed together with the efforts to accomplish residents' consensus.
On the other hand, residents are beginning to realize the necessity for planning measures to cope with ongoing changes. Diverse activities are being carried out by residents in order to know more deeply about their own towns. Most activities are not directly related to making rules for the preservation of historical landscape, but they will cultivate basic strength of community which is essential for community-based townscape management.
This paper is going to show what the spatial characteristic of historic urban area and how it has changed, then to clarify the significance of the new policy, and to point out what is to be done hereafter.

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