A Lo Que Vinimos: Revitalization of Central San Jose, Costa Rica
GSD 1501, Fall 2007, with Peter Rowe

Paradoxically, perhaps, as the economic fortunes of Costa Rica have rebounded from the downturn and regional political crises of the late 1970s and 80s, the life and vitality of the central area of San Jose—its capital and largest metropolitan area—have declined appreciably. Propelled by accelerated outward peripheral expansion, the now sprawling greater metropolitan area in the country's central region has risen in population to around 2.2 million people, accounting for 57 percent of Costa Rica's total, up significantly from 42 percent in 1973. By contrast, the resident population of San Jose's central area has declined from around 180,000 inhabitants to about 65,000. Similarly, many employment opportunities in Costa Rica's now more diversified economy have been deployed to locations largely on San Jose's periphery. Commercial activities have also followed, with, for instance, the recent establishment of over 20 malls and retail outlets, eroding the significance of the traditional city center. These phenomena are, of course, not uncommon elsewhere in the world where automobile oriented urban decentralization has taken its toll on central areas. In San Jose, however, they have arrived relatively late, or are still in the process of occurring, placing severe strains on the metropolitan area's under-developed infrastructure, relative lack of planning and environmental carrying capacity—a sensitivity to which the nation as a whole has otherwise become a world renowned. Moreover, concentration of public institutions, banking, cultural facilities and urban tourism remain predominantly in the city center, despite its declining security, relatively neglected public amenity, lack of quality services, traffic congestion, and deteriorating housing choices. In aspiration, most in public office and many within the private sector appear to decry the central city's decline and espouse a desire for orderly compact city development. Nevertheless, the profound and recent shift in needed policy emphasis from largely rural to urban development has caught many up short, as municipal and regional authorities strive for better balanced solutions to urban growth.

The aim of the studio is to generate, explore and demonstrate strategies and physical planning and design proposals applicable to the central area of San Jose. Based on short preliminary exercises, urban structure plans and urban-architectural proposals are prepared for all or significant parts of the central area, addressing issues of more appropriate mixed use, infrastructure alignments, cultural conservation and urban-environmental amenity, capable of bringing people back to the central city and making it a desirable place, once again, for metropolitan residents, sojourners and tourists. Throughout, a local perspective should be emphasized, roughly congruent with a municipal vision, although the implications of broader regional planning approaches should not be ignored. Work is conducted in collaboration with the Universidad del Diseno in San Jose, and sponsorship is provided mainly through a grant from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard and with the support from the Municipality of San Jose. The studio is open to eligible students in urban design, architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and a field trip is conducted between October 6th and 12th, 2007.

Tokyo's 'New Order' from a Local Perspective: Redevelopment of the Chuo-ku Waterfront
GSD 1501, with Peter Rowe, Fall 2006

In the aftermath of the bursting of the "bubble economy," which beset Tokyo and much of Japan during the past 15 years, the city is making concerted efforts to regain its competitive advantage, internationally, and to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods and commercial districts at a local level. By the late 1990s, Tokyo saw its international ranking as a business center plummet from number one to number 18, its share of conferences and conventions fall by 30 percent, its prominence as a site for tourism, leisure and cultural activities decline by a similar amount, and the dissatisfaction of many of its economically-strapped and service-deprived citizenry rise appreciably. In effect, the rather narrowly defined production-oriented trajectory of Tokyo's lengthy first round of post-war urban development had come to a less than satisfactory end. Moreover, among the consequences of this period were the needs for re-balanced metropolitan development; more amenable living and working environments; higher degrees of integration among urban functions, including infrastructure improvements; and better and more appropriately placed facilities for hosting both national and international events. Nowhere were these consequences more evident than within the 23 wards of central Tokyo, of which Chuo-ku, at the very center, is one, with a population of around 100,000 people and notable commercial districts like Ginza and Nihonbashi, historic areas like Tsukishima and Tsukiji, and reclaimed waterfront sites, now ripe for redevelopment, like Harumi and parts of Kachidoki.

Among the efforts to revitalize inner-city Tokyo and to regain the city's international prominence are the recently designated "Special Districts for Urgent Urban Revitalization," emanating from the Prime Minister's office through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government; the new "2010 Vision Plan;" the "Landscape Law" of 2004 and, even more recently, the announcement by Tokyo's Governor that the city will compete for the 2016 Olympic Games. Essentially, the designated "Special Districts" are legal and administrative overlay zones, supplanting local authority in an attempt to provide greater flexibility and capacity for economically-productive and amenable environments. The "Landscape Law" aims to better control the shape and appearance of urban development - the "townscape" as it is called - especially in relationship to sites of historical cultural importance. The "2010 Vision Plan," while giving up on prior efforts of continued decentralization, aims to orient the city towards more balanced and strategically coherent redevelopment and urban growth; and the early thinking about the Olympic bid aims to confine all of the necessary facilities within a 10km radius of central Tokyo and to subsequently use these sites as catalysts for both renewal and new development. In effect a new kind of "order," including planning and revitalization, is being brought to bear, on inner-city Tokyo, from various quarters. However, the likely outcome of these efforts remains to be thoroughly tested, especially in combination and from a local perspective. Moreover, the broader waterfront area of Chuo-ku, roughly from Ginza to the southeast, is an excellent location for such a test, or demonstration, as it is simultaneously affected by all the new initiatives. It at once lies within one of the seven designated "Special Districts" of the city. It has a conspicuous potential role within the "2010 Vision Plan," including major planned infrastructure improvements. It has reasons to thoroughly employ the "Landscape Law" in conjunction with sites of historic and environmental significance, and it is slated to be the site of two potential Olympic facilities — the stadium and the media center.

Therefore, the aim of the urban design and planning studio is to generate, test and demonstrate an urban strategy, or strategies,that conform to the "new order" being brought to bear on areasof inner-city Tokyo and to do so from a local governmental perspective, including satisfaction of local aims and ambitions. Based on short exploratory exercises and analyses, urban structure plans will be prepared involving at least three prominent components: infrastructure, capital facilities and redevelopment. Approaches for implementing the urban structure plans are also investigated and a general analysis conducted of the implications of the urban strategy, or strategies, for broader policy purposes, i.e., an evaluation in the light of the broader new planning initiatives. Throughout, a local perspective will be pursued, guided by Chuo-ku, for the purpose of illuminating likely local response to what are essentially "top-down" mandates. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Keio University in Tokyo (SF Campus) and sponsorship is provided by the government of Chuo-ku through Keio University. The studio is open to eligible urban planning, urban design and architecture students at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and findings were presented formally to Chuo-ku in January of 2007.