A Study on Urban Regeneration making the most of the Riverfront

Abstract

The urban environment has deteriorated in the 20th century due to growing urbanization and the intensive concentration and increase of the population in cities. Clearing this negative legacy will be the task of future generations. As part of the research into river basin and urban regeneration scenarios that coexist with nature, this paper focuses on the Tokyo metropolitan area, where changes to the water infrastructure in the city as a result of the disappearance of the network of rivers and waterways following the urbanization of the river basin and the construction of roads in the vicinity of rivers affords a long-term perspective.Moreover, the paper points to the urban regeneration of riversides in Japan and overseas, the demolition of elevated roads and the move to build roads underground, and presents a wide range of progressive examples of collaboration between river regeneration and urban development. Based on this, designs and proposals are made for future urban regeneration models (regeneration scenarios) that take rivers as the starting point. In addition, the enquiry considers river walks, which are tools for reviving river space in the city, and are vital from a social perspective, and the urban regeneration near rivers in the metropolitan area. Finally, the enquiry considers specific rivers and urban areas including the Nihonbashi River