Paper short abstract:

Via a review of recent "post-growth" discussions and curatorial work in art and architecture, the paper assesses the significance of academic and aesthetic representations of urban and regional social movements in Japan, as a potential forerunner of global trends and source of new politics.

Paper long abstract:

There is a growing recognition of urban and regional development in Japan in terms of "post-" or "de-growth" and social sustainability. These observations echo a homegrown production of philosophers and sociologists drawing political inspiration out of quite marginal rural and urban social/cultural movements, as well as the self-representations of avant garde urbanism and critical regionalism: for example, as seen at successive recent Japanese pavilions at the Venice Biennale in art and architecture (e.g, the work of Koki Tanaka, Kyohei Sakaguchi, Atelier Bow Wow and followers, and the youth share house phenomena, such as the Tokyo collective art project Shibuhouse; see, especially, Fumihiko Sumitomo's recent exhibition, Living Locally: Reconsidering Critical Regionalism).

Via a review of recent "post-" and "de-growth" (and "post-disaster") discussions, as well as selected examples of curatorial work in art and architecture, the paper assesses the significance of these academic and aesthetic representations of Japanese society as a potential forerunner of global trends and source of new politics. In these discussions, observers often emphasise the uniqueness of the country as a case. This can be variously grounded in reference to particular cultural resources said to be latent in Japanese collectivism; to Japan's special relation to nature; to its relative insulation from post-industrial immigration trends; or to its particularly "post-political" form of liberal democracy—to cite four familiar (and, more or less, dubious) utopian tropes. However stylised, though, elements of these explanations need to be considered: beginning the task of discussing the adaptation of concepts and the comparative backdrop of data (on economic performance, demography, political behaviour, values, etc) needed to avoid methodological nationalism, and adequately situate Japan as a case or (even) paradigm of "post-growth" society.

The paper presents work developed in collaboration with the architect and urbanist, Julian Worrall. A forthcoming book looks at distinctive experimental movements in contemporary art and architecture in the "post-growth" (i.e. post 1990) era, in the context of global debates on political ecology (questions of social and environmental sustainability beyond growth) and political demography (questions of population change, containment and growth/decline beyond taken-for-granted nation-state units).

Paper short abstract:

Concerns of alienation provoked by the constant acceleration of society lead to new questions in urban planning. 'Resonance' and 'human scale' are two approaches to understand and tackle those problems as seen in the urban environment of Shimokitazawa, Tōkyō.

Paper long abstract:

In the district of Shimokitazawa in the west of Tōkyō, different ideas of what it means to be a city dweller are colliding. Despite strong and long-lasting opposition from residents, large-scale remodeling of the district currently takes place. The Odaykū-Railway-Line has been placed underground and the surrounding area of Shimokitazawa station undergoes a remodeling that includes the construction of a 26 meter wide road. While residents are trying to protect the individuality of the district, urban planners primarily focus on traffic control and disaster prevention. A clash of concepts concerning the very essence of city-life takes place, addressing the question of how we ought to construct our living-environments.

For the vast majority of the global population, the future will be defined by urbanization. This trend brings upon us tremendous challenges. While we design our future cities, we also define our shared living environment. It is a growing understanding that this environment must be shaped for the well-being of its inhabitants. Only some weeks ago, the participants of the third UN-Habitat conference pointed towards the 'quality public spaces and streets […] considering the human scale'.

While the concept of 'human scale' is not new to architects and urban planners, it is difficult to unveil the exact meaning behind it. I argue that the 'human scale' can and must be combined with the concept of 'resonance' as formulated by the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa. According to Rosa, human beings need to establish a connection to the world to counter the acceleration of modern society and to prevent alienation. A carefully designed living-environment, a tremendously important element in life, easily qualifies as what Rosa calls an 'axis of resonance' and allows us to establish a meaningful connection to the world. As both, recipients and emitters of resonance, we need human-scale cities to live in and a city-planning framework that allows individuals to have significant impact on their surroundings without permanently colliding with the interests of others. Taking the example of Shimokitazawa, my research explores the meaning and significance of resonance in urban environments as consideration for future city-planning.

Paper short abstract:

An ethical turn is unfolding concerning the ideal of good living in terms of bottom-up city planning in Tokyo. The paper will discuss the importance of 3.11 as a catalyst and the role of latent civil networks for this development. Then the paper compares these new concepts to the Italian slow city.

Paper long abstract:

The current discourse about "good living" in urban areas emerged in Japan as a result of the transition from a long period of rapid economic growth into a multiform period of stagnation since the 1990s. Processes such as the migration of industry, population decline in rural areas, the aging of society, and structural changes and reforms of the labor market have led to complex differences in the social space and called for the development of sustainable urban planning processes. As an alternative model to the functional, fast moving city focused on efficiency and growth, which an increasing number of citizens struggles to participate in, for quite some time various stakeholders/actors have been developing strategies and visions for a post-growth city, which have recourse to the slow city (cittàslow) movement.

This paper focuses on bottom-up participatory implementations of concepts of "good living", which are put into practice by local stakeholders as a perceived-necessary answer to counter the fast-paced and "unsustainable" lifestyle of modern Tokyo. By drawing from 2 case studies conducted between 2015/2016 in the district of (1) Yanaka (谷中), which is subject to gentrification and desperately trying to protect its traditional values and city scape and (2) the transition town movement in Koganei (小金井), which aims to create an alternative lifestyle with less dependency on resources and growth (脱依存), the paper will illustrate the following:

1.) The triple disaster of 2011 has served as a catalyst for the discourse of "good living", increasing the number and the acceptance of informal/formal citizen movements who pursue an alternative lifestyle in the city.

2.) Small-knitted communities with intact neighborhood organizations and social ties between its inhabitants play a central role for initiating alternative, bottom-up participatory concepts of good life, as they provide the political-ethical spaces for its citizens to gather and actually design and try out alternative lifestyles.

3.) The paper will discuss to what degree similarities to the decelerating concept of slow city, that is normally only applied to rural areas in Japan can be found in the urban space of Tokyo.