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Architects: Takenaka Corporation
Project Architect: Nikken Sekkei Ltd.
Client: Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.
Contractor: Takenaka Corporation
Photographers: Atsushi Nakamichi/ Nacasa & Partners Inc Kouji Horiuchi/ Shin-Shasin-Koubou Inc.

MIYASHITA PARK - “Green Urban Island” as a Shibuya’s infrastructure

In various cities, there is a transformation in progress to make infrastructure more people-friendly, such as the High Line in New York, the Transit Center in San Francisco, and Singapore, where the government has a policy of promoting greenery, etc. The hope is to create a new culture for a new generation by developing cities as elevated gardens, thereby bringing even a little experience of and interaction with nature into people’s daily lives and counter the worldwide trend of isolation from nature.

Miyashita Park aims to produce a new culture of interaction with nature through its green infrastructure and the events held in it and contribute to new green infrastructure in Tokyo. Shibuya is one of the 23 wards of Tokyo, but often it refers to the busy shopping streets around Shibuya Station. This means that Shibuya is one of the most colorful and lively districts of Tokyo, bustling with many people enjoying shopping, restaurants, and nightclubs every day.

Shibuya is the center of fashion and culture for young people, and the source of Japan’s fashion and entertainment trends. There are more than 10 major department stores in the area that cater for all types of shopper. The main landmark of Shibuya is the huge scramble at the crossroads in front of the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station.

The area is lit with neon advertisements and massive videos and bustling with many pedestrians when the lights turn green, so it is a popular spot for photographs. The scramble at the crossroads is famous from the cover of Lonely Planet Tokyo, and many young people gather here for Halloween and New Year’s Eve.

On the other hand, Shibuya has no public spaces as open spaces. At present there is a large-scale redevelopment in progress around Shibuya Station for the first time in about 20 years, and although the flow of pedestrians around the station has been greatly improved, and the area around the station has been developed in an integrated manner by the railway companies and advanced use is progressing, there is not sufficient open space being developed.

The aim of this project was Green Development of Shibuya by the renovation of a public park around Shibuya as a public asset to receive many people, using private sector capital. Also, this was a financially challenging development in which private sector capital was used to renovate public parks and public car parks, and the land rent is paid to the Ward, thereby contributing to its tax revenue.

Miyashita Park had several issues, such as aging, seismic resistance associated with aging of the structure, insufficient barrier-free lines, etc. In addition, it was necessary to deal with the changes in function required of the park, such as the requirement for disaster prevention function which increased following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto earthquake, and the increasing number of visitors to the park.

The park has been rebuilt as a 30-year fixed tenancy project as a private-public partnership system. By applying the “Elevated Urban Park System” which can define the 3-dimensional extent of the park, it was possible to integrally develop the functions of urban planning park, urban planning car park, and commercial facilities, etc., and simultaneously achieve effective utilization of land owned by the Ward and updating of the urban park.

In order to evolve into a mature international city, Shibuya Ward places importance on the concepts of diversity and inclusion. This means not just acceptance of the diversity of peoples living in the world, but also putting energy into this diversity to produce change (inclusion). In other words, the power of all the people that gather in Shibuya becomes the driving force for urban development, beyond race, sex, age, and physical ability.

Shibuya’s vision of the future is that “the main actors in the city are its people”, and this has been the aim of transforming the old Miyashita Park into an elevated urban park having multi-purpose facilities such as commercial and hotel through this rebuilt project. In determining the shape of the park, the geometric topography (embankment) was formed in sympathy with the geometric plan shape, expressing Shibuya taking a lead in accepting diversity. Also, to provide the soil depth for high trees, the high trees are planted together, and as a result, the environment at their base became unsuitable for grass because of insufficient sunlight, so planting of ground coverage species was planned.

The south area is provided with urban sports function, and the north area is provided with the Lawn Square, and the whole facility is covered with the canopy, with the aim of creating a 4-story park. The 330m continuous street expresses urban infrastructure that is a platform with future changeability. Excessive and arbitrary architectural design has been actively eliminated, framework and services equipment have been provided so as to be visible within a civil engineering scale, and spaces provided that can accommodate diverse tenants. Also, about 70% of the common parts are arranged so that the vitality is expressed to the outside streets as much as possible as an Open-Air Mall.

Greenery and furniture are also casually arranged in the mall parts, with the aim of providing a new park-style commercial facility where time can be spent, as in a park. The terrace space of the broad Outer Mall is a well-ventilated space where the stores’ furniture and bridge furniture are arranged.

The shop facades can be left open using sliding doors, and there are many restaurants that are integral with the outside space. It is possible to choose from various places to be, including the park, where people can be at their ease, which is an important choice for the coming age. Miyashita Park, which has been designed for comfort and completed in 2020, will be a choice in the post-Covid-19 age.