Tama New Town Project

Abstract

Purpose of the new town projectThe continued concentration of population into Tokyo has brought about what city planners call “urban sprawl” with unplanned housing developments spreading in all directions outward from the inner ward area to the peripheral areas. To cope with this situation, an “urban region” stretching with a radius of approximately fifty kilometers centering around the Tokyo Central Station is set forth for purposes of regional planning according to the Capital Region Development Plan. The major aim in this concept of planning is to ensure an orderly development of the urban region as a whole by way of planned urban development, preservation of green open spaces and others. The Tama New Town Project is directly linked with this regional planning and aims at building a new residential “city” equipped with amenities and environments for human habitation. The town is also planned to form a part of a “Tama urban ring” which is hammered out as a new nuclear of Tokyo Urban Region in “the Tokyo 1990 plan” which was published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1971.Location and topographyThe site of the Tama New Town is located on a Tama hilly land in the southeastern part of Tokyo and has a long and slender shape with a distance of 14 kilometers from east to west (equalling the distance between Tokyo Central Station and Ogikubo Station) and 2 to 4 kilometers from north to south, covering a total area of approximately 3, 014 hectares. In terms of local government units, the site crosses the areas of four cities, that is, Hachioji, Machida, Tama and Inagi.The hilly land of the site is approximately one hundred and fifth meters above the sea level and the main ridge runs in the southern part of the site from east to west forming the watershed in the catchment area of the River Tamagawa. Okuri River and Kotta River, tributaries of the Tama River, flow through the site, penetrating the hills and thereby making small vales and also scattering farming settlements at various parts of the site. Before the site was chosen for new town development project, about ninety per cent of it was occupied by forests and farmlands. The choice was made because there was still a large amount of land left unused and suitable for large-scale development for balanced residential communities.Basic Principles of PlanningThe most fundamental principle in the planning of the Tama New Town is to build a healthy environment and a pleasant and convenient residential town inorder to absorb the increasing population of Tokyo.The major elements in the planning are as follows:area of the site....3, 014 hectares (approximately 9, 120, 000 tsubo)planned population....about 410, 000 personsplanned number of dwelling units....about 110, 000 unitsplanned density of population....about 136 persons per one hectare (approximately 3, 000 tsubo)It is planned to have sufficient public facilities so as to meet the requirements of the fundamental plan. The town is planned to be composed of 23 neighborhood units, which will be the units of daily life of the residents to be formed centering around one or two junior high schools which will be built in each neighborhood unit.In the center of the new town, a large-sized “New Town Center” with big shopping and other commercial facilities will be developed, in order to make the new town equi_??_ed with the commercial and cultural functions as well as with the function of a mere residential town.Plan of Land UtilizationThe composition of areas in the New Town District in various uses is:The area in which the project is to be effected and the effecting bodiesOriginally, a site with a total area of 2, 962 hectares was proposed to be developed according to the New Residential Town Development Law in February, 1965. Later, the planned area was revised to the present 3, 014 hectares.