Land Reclamation Project in Tokyo Bay - Essay Example

Japan is one of the most densely populated nations on the planet. Its extreme population density is a reflection of the land constraints on a growing population. The Japanese government has attempted to deal with the limited land with a series of massive land reclamation projects over the last 100 years. Tokyo Bay a long and deep bay on the southern coast of Japan has been the principal site of these operations. Twenty percent of land has been reclaimed over the last 100 years(5, Mason). Many major development projects have been built on this land including the international airport completed in 2001. Today the process of reclamation of land from the sea is going on but it is faced with resistance from environmentalists that argue the bay is more important as an ecological buffer for both the land and the commercial fishing industry. Future land development is this area will now have to deal with balancing environmental concerns and the need for space in the face of limited supply on Japan's Island nation. This paper will explore the alternative ways in which Land reclamation project in Tokyo bay could proceed in light of all the competing motivations that exist. After introducing the history of land reclamation in Tokyo Bay it will look at the the way in which construction would ideally have to be implemented using the ideas of famed Japanese Architect Kenzo Tange. It will look at the arguments for conservation projects in the area that would perhaps be more attractive to the Japanese population than monolithic construction projects and it will touch on the possibility of using floating structures to expand construction. In exploring these alternatives this paper will place the rationales for these approaches in their appropriate historical, social, cultural and scientific context. Tokyo Bay formed about 12000 years ago following the last glacial age(1, Tomoyuki). Over the millenia an intricate network of coral grew in the pattern of coral in all coastal regions. This coral today provides a vital role in the protecting the delicate ecosystem that exist in the area. There are many life forms that presently exist. Major groups of corals were only discovered within the last decade but now there is found to be an extensive network of coral all throughout the area. Indeed the bay is teeming with life. A rich population of plankton that have ironically thrived on the treated sewage waste that has been released into the bay provide the food base for a number of fish that live in the area, including bass, parrot fish,and shrimp to name just a few. The area has long been noted to produce fish stock at a higher rate than the surrounding ocean precisely because of the plankton. The problem has been that the encroachment by land reclamation has also claimed much of the flat land that surrounds the bay. Over 90 % of this land has been reclaimed in the last 50 years(4 , Mason) . The reasons for this expansion are rooted in Japan's need for more space. There are 127 million people in Japan living in a geographical area the size of only five times the size of Britain(6, Mason). Land reclamation therefore is almost an historical inevitability. The earliest example of land reclamation occurred in the Edo era over 400 years ago. While this reclamation undoubtedly effected the delicate ecosystem the scale was small enough that the system was able to absorb the shocks. This remained the case till the postwar period when industrialization proceeded at a rapid pace. Ironically the first widespread utilization of land reclamation arose out of a need to curb pollution. The Asanao Cement Corporation was the principal culprit in the the pollution of the inland areas of Fukagawa. A plan was therefore devised, ill conceived in retrospect, to reclaim land along the Tokyo bay and situate much of the heavy industry in this area(5, Amazaki). This was in 1912 and the growth expanded during the years of World War II, but only really dramatically increased in the post war rapid economic expansion. Amazaki describes the post -war land reclamation occurring in two styles, the "Tokyo"style and the "Chiba" style to describe the regions in which they respectively flourished. The Tokyo style period dated from 1946 to 1965 according to Amazaki to accommodate the need for large Wharves (2, Amazaki). The Kanto Earthquake had forced city planners to acknowledge the need for large Wharves for the unloading and loading of supplies in the event of a major natural disaster. This wharf area while a public venture proved attractive to industry and the money made from the sale of this land furthered the land reclamation efforts in an ongoing cycle with financed capital allowing more work to occur. The Chiba style, on the other hand Amazaki describes as distinct in approach and time period running from 1966 to 1975. In this region the prefecture - higher regional area of government- of Chiba initially did not have adequate capital backing until the real estate industry moved in and financed the area. The capital earned by the prefecture was used to then buy waivers of fishing rights from the area fisherman. This was perhaps an unfair arrangement since the fisherman were obliged to obtain the licensing of their rights from the same officials that were behind the expansion of land reclamation so it was hardly a treaty of equals. There was as a result of this expansion a dramatic decrease in the number of fishing households in the area. The problem of this widespread land reclamation has been the increase of pollution. With the increasing pollution the fishing supply has been rendered as inviable and this has led to more fisherman relinquishing their fishing rights and the cycle has progressed in this distressing, untenable pattern. While this approach may seem clearly to outsiders as self destructive, the process of land reclamation has to be placed in the context of the great success that Japan has had in the utilization of its scarce space including the success of the greatest architect Kenzo Tange. This detour is necessary to place the sophistication of the Japanese people in dealing with their geographic limitations and in light of the adjustments that the government is making in response to the environmental impact of land reclamation gives a clearer perspective of the emerging problems and the various solutions proposed. The attitude toward public space in Japan is unlike the that in the West. The development of real estate is an unwieldy process requiring agreements between the individual owners and the government that can often take years to become operational. These restrictions do not exist with land reclaimed from the sea and hence the bias to move toward the ocean despite the technical difficulties. The restrictive laws are perhaps a reflection of Japan's unique history. Unlike other industrialized nations Japans infrastructure has been destroyed and rebuilt in a pattern of regeneration following the 1923 earthquake and the devastation of the attacks of world war II. The architecture is a reflection of this pattern. It is a constant battle to use and re-use space in the most efficient way possible. The modernists schools of architecture left their impression early in Japan's history, where during the expansionary times of the 1930's Architects in Japan went abroad and took in the ideas of the modernist Architects like Le Corbusier. The greatest home grown exponent of the modernist creed was Kenzo Tange who not only left an indelible impression on the architecture of Japan but also on the world of architecture at large. Kenzo Tange introduced the concept of Metabolism to architecture. His ideas essentially argued that no one part was indispensable but rather adaptable to changing context and therefore could be changed to serve new purposes. This style of architecture saw the use of capsules and interchangeable parts. This ready adaptation to limited space is now a feature of urban planning in Japan and in the construction of its buildings. Others have followed in Tange's footsteps and this approach has been used in construction of the newly built large structure on reclaimed land. The Central Japan International Airport was built on reclaimed land. It includes a 3, 500 meter operational airport. The 470 Hectare Airport was built on from reclaimed land with a massive scale of soil used to build its base. It makes as efficient a use of space as possible but it has its limitations. Also, the Kansai Airport that was completed in 2001 was even bigger at 570 Hectares. A high standard container terminal is being constructed in Osaka bay( 7. Watanabe). Clearly these structures indicate the scale of the projects underway and their utilitarian function indicate their great importance in the future of Japan. But the question still remains whether this expansion is in the best interests of Japan as a whole. In every aspect Japan shows itself to be an adaptable nation. While this review of the driving forces of what pushes Japan toward the reclamation of land it is now important to examine the the other forces that challenge the expansion into the bay : the environmental argument that was only hinted at in the beginning of this paper. The Environmental movement only truly started to take shape in the 1960's and 1970's when many well known environmental disasters entered the Japanese public consciousness such as the Cadmium poisoning at Itai-Itai in Yohama and then the Mercury poisoning that occurred at Minamato. These events galvanized public opinion and Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1971( 4, Mason). This organization led the the implementation of some pollution laws that appeared to make a difference. After this the drive behind environmentalism started to wane. Polluting industries started to relocate in other parts of the world and in the the expansionary times of the 1980's little heed was paid to the Environmentalism in the face of the economic success that was everywhere. Then after the economic bubble figuratively speaking burst and Japan entered a long period of recession the Environmentalists started to regain a little ground in the 90's but they were still was not on par with other developed nations. Robert Mason has suggested that this reluctance on the part of Japanese people to become involved in Environmental issues was based on a lack of awareness of environmental issues. This lack of information from the government down to the people at large changed somewhat when Japan became involved in the UN conference on the Environment in Rio in 1992. Surprisingly Japan took a leadership role in this event pushing for controls on carbon dioxide emissions. But this was in keeping with the area on which the Japanese people had performed on par with other industrialized nations, that is in carbon dioxide emissions and in recycling. It took the shock of the Kobe Earthquake Mason argues to finally instill the need for an extra arm of control in the form of Non Governmental Organizations(NGOs); and after this national disaster the process of incorporating NGO's was made much easier and this in turn allowed to the Environmental movement to take an institutional hold in the country and more firmly influence public policy. Problems with defects in nuclear reactors in the country were very much in the news and highlighted by the efforts of newly empowered Environmental groups. But one of the main lightning rods of public opinion and the focus of environmental groups and media was the plight of the the Isahaya Tidal Flats, three thousand acres of tidal land that had been cut off by land reclamation projects. The efforts of the Environmental groups had and continues to be to reduce the level of construction in this area. Before following any individual case it is important to complete the train of thought about the challenges that the Environmental groups face in hierarchy of Japan's administrations because overcoming these institutional road blocks will do much to determine the direction of the land reclamation projects in the future. While Japanese NGO's have received corporate status they are still restricted in many ways unfamiliar to western NGO's. The corporate status does not at the same time confer tax free status which is necessary for any organization in Japan to survive. Until this status is achieved the organization will hampered by lack of funds. The other problem is the difficulty in accessing the system. Japan does not allow the same degree of involvement of outside influences in its public policy and this presents a challenge for environmental groups in Japan. New laws will have to pass through the Diet to allow these steps to take place. In the meantime Environmental NGO's have raised their funding through membership fees and from support from sources outside the country. Globalization has fueled the environmental agencies in Japan with funding and public exposure. In the face of the public and international scrutiny and not yet ready to allow NGO's open access to political decisions, government agencies have taken to taking the environmental issues into their decision making plans, making it appear that the policies are internal. Whatever the method and regardless of where the credit goes this phenomenon has been good for the aims of environmental agencies. Having set up the infrastructure problems it is now important to examine some of the banner issues that the environmentalists have raised in regard to the land reclamation projects. It is important to examine two well studied cases of the conflict between environmental groups in regard to tidal areas and land reclamation projects and the problems that they incur. Amazaki has studied and presented two such examples in the Shiba area of the Kanagawa Prefecture and in the Funabashi of the Chiba prefecture. The Shiba area of the Kanagawa prefecture had long been a profitable coastal region for fishing that stretched back into its early history. There was a lucrative sea weed harvesting industry in the area. In the late 1960's efforts to incorporate the land for reclamation projects was met with considerable resistance as the fisherman in the area ran a profitable industry. The move to take the land in this area for land reclamation despite strong resistance was achieved and the fisherman were able to transfer their established capital into another kind of fishing enterprise. Trawl fishing in the coastal regions replaced theSea weed fishing industry. The types of Shrimp comprising the principal part of the catch in this industry required a more labor intensive process than the previous family business of sea weed farming. In this sense the move to this new kind of fishing created new jobs. The net effect of the struggle with the old fishing industry was to achieve the initial land reclamation; and then the creation of a new fishing industry placed a focus on the importance of the fishing industry in this area. This has been good for opponents of the land reclamation since they can now count on the support of the fisherman who have established some political clout in their previous struggle. Further movements to take more land in this area would be associated with the negative publicity on dealing with a group that has already been displaced and now have an even more important part of the market share of fisheries to support their claims. The events of the Funabashi area in the Chiba prefecture provide perhaps the best example of how the Environmental movement managed to stem the land reclamation of Tokyo Bay to some degree. The Funabashi area had a long history of being a fishing territory that went back to the Edo era. The area was later transformed into a prominent Salt production factory of some considerable size. This factory was devastated by Typhoon in 1917 and in the wake of the disaster the government decided to move all salt production to more inland areas where there would not be the vulnerability to ocean storms. The land reclamation in this area started but it ran into a problem of lack of funding since in this area the work could not be funded selling fishing rights. The solution came in funding from real estate companies principally by Mitsui Realty company. Progress on this front continued till the area of inshore ocean know as Sanbanse was targeted as the site of future development. This area was contested by the fishing industry and it appeared that the pattern of resistance with final acceptance would play out in this area as it had in other areas, that is in initial resitance followed by inevitable defeat. But while the fisherman were forced to accept the resignation the tide was figuratively turned by the rapid upswing of oil prices in the 1970's, and many industrial projects in Japan including the reclamation of Sanbanse were postponed if not abandoned. The reprieve offered by this fortuitous occurrence allowed the fisherman and environmental groups to better marshal their evidence and provide more compelling evidence to stop the land reclamation in this area. A number of compelling arguments were put forward to halt the land reclamation project. Among the arguments used was the idea that the flat tidal land allowed the purification of water to take place by the the providing a buffer and also with the regenerative life forms that it supported. This argument was reinforced by arguing that the inland sea prevented the blue tide of all consuming algae coming into contact with land and subverting the vital ecology that exists on this coast. A number of other important arguments were also raised. This land was a remaining stop on the path of migratory birds traveling across this part of the world. The loss of this stop would do untold damage to bird populations and by a chain reaction of events other organisms that came to depend on the presence of these birds. Aesthetic arguments were put forward. The inland sea was a site of natural beauty that needed to remain in the lives of increasingly urbanized city dwellers. The arguments did not fall on deaf ears and remarkably the land reclamation project in this area has been stopped. For the time being the project to expand in this area is halted and as the environmental movement takes a stronger foothold in Japan it is hoped that this area can be saved. These two cases show some of the ways in which the tide of land reclamation are if not being stopped at least reconsidered. There are other possibilities as well for creating space without destroying the vital ecosystems that inhabit the tidal areas of Tokyo Bay. An ingenious alternative to land reclamation is the use of Very Large Floating Surfaces ( VLFS). These come in two types: semi-submersible structures or those based on a pontoon structure. These structure offer a number of advantages over land reclamation projects. The immediate advantage of these structures is the speed at which they can be constructed. Once the design considerations have been taken been taken into account these structures can be erected very quickly in and in keeping the idea of Metabolism in Architecture proposed by Tange the ideas of VLFS seem to fit smoothly into the the needs and traditions of Japan. The cost of Sand in land reclamation has increased and this makes this type of technology more feasible. Whats more, the problem with land reclamation with sand is the problem with the loss of soil by erosion. This problem is countered by this method. The ocean based structure provide a unique advantage in Japan. The ever present threat of earthquakes in Japan is not as much a problem in VLFS as floating on the ocean surface provides protection from seismic shocks. The advantage of preventing the pollution associated with land reclamation is perhaps the most attractive aspect of the VLFS. Land reclamation wreaks havoc on coastal areas. It destroys the all of the vital organisms that exist in this region including the plankton and coral and this in turn wipes out the fishing industry that thrives on the balances and counterbalances of the ecosystems. As already mentioned it is not only the marine life that is affected. Migratory birds rely on these areas and they suffer as a consequence of these changes. Into the vacuum of this death, blue green algae move in and pollute the water ways. A natural extension of this damage is the loss of beauty from the lives of urban dwellers. The importance of aesthetics in the lives of people cannot be understated. The functionality of VLFS depends on many mechanical factors. Semi-submersible structures rely principally on buoyant forces and therefore with sound moorings can exist in turbulent waters. Pontoon structures are based on the ocean floor and therefore are only feasible in calm waters. There are some factors that need to be taken into consideration when using the semi-submersible structures. As long as the dimensions of the base of semi-submersibles are longer than the wave length of the ocean waves the threat of damage is minimized because the waves will strike out of sequence and additive principles will not apply. These are design issues that are being worked out. There are other design issues that need to taken care of. The design considerations that are vital in the implementation of VLFS include accounting for the tolerances of wave functions which will be the main limitation of such structure. The problems of horizontal stresses from waves can be diminished by the use of wave breakers that are placed at a distance and physically break up larger waves that approach the structure and therefore reduce the horizontal stresses on the system. Design considerations need to account for the accelerated corrosion that will occur in the ocean environment. The nature of the moorings and the stability of the structures that hold the moorings will need to be ensured. Japan already has examples of VLFS in existence today. There is a VLFS test structure for a floating airport in Tokyo Bay termed a Mega float as it is more than 1 km in length. There is a VLFS amusement park in Hiroshima Prefecture which shows that the structure is already being used for quality of life scenarios. The size of these structures will no doubt increase as the technical knowledge accumulates. The Land Reclamation of Tokyo Bay has been ongoing for over 100 years but the scale of this process has dramatically accelerated since the end of World War II. This process has not been motivated by any kind of malevolent desire to damage the environment but rather to deal with the limitations that Japan faces with its large population and the small size. In fact, the traditions of Japanese Architecture as outlined by the great ideas of Kenzo Tange in the theory of Metabolism have tried to be as adaptive and open to ideas as the necessities of Japan's limited geography dictate. In the past the land reclamation that occurred was buffered by the environment but now the sheer scale of that process has exceeded the ability of the ecosystems to buffer the changes. This Land Reclamation is destroying an ecosystem that has taken over 12000 years to develop and if lost will not be able to be replaced at the same speed at which it is being lost. The idea of this loss is being realized by the groundswell of a new Environmental movement. The problems that this Environmental organization are not of good intent but reversing the traditions of Japanese government that gives limited access to NGO's to the administrative process. This Administrative roadblock is furthered by the limitations to funds that taxation of such organizations impose. In spite of these roadblocks the Environmental organization has grown and with international support has influenced the government in ways that are not directly acknowledged. The success of this movement is clear from the protection of some areas designated from land reclamation that has occurred. In light of the ongoing tension between the need for land and the preservation of the environment other solutions need to be explored. The use of VLFS is an idea that incorporates the Metabolism of Kenzo Tange and at the same time protecting the environment from the devastation that Land Reclamation imposes. This structure at least offers hope and because it depends of technological acumen it is bound to become more and more viable as the body of knowledge of the field grows. Works Cited Kenjii Y. Amazaki Toko Y. Amazaki. Sustainable Development of Tokyo Bay: Collaboration of Anti-reclamation movement and Urban Fishery http://www.uky.edu/ppkaran/conference/Sustainable%20Development%20of%20Tokyo%20Bay.pdf. Coaldrake, William H. Architecture and Authority in Japan. New York: Routledge, 1996. Questia. 10 May 2006 . "Tokyo." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2004. Questia. 10 May 2006 . Kumagai, Yoshio, and Yoshiteru Nojima. "3 Urbanization and Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo." Crucibles of Hazard : Mega-Cities and Disasters in Transition /. Ed. James K. Mitchell. New York: United Nations University Press, 1999. 56-88. Questia. 10 May 2006 . Mason, Robert J. "Whither Japan's Environmental Movement an Assessment of Problems and Prospects at the National Level." Pacific Affairs 72.2 (1999): 187+. Questia. 10 May 2006 . Sharp, Dennis. "Kenzo Tange." The Architectural Review May 2005: 36. Questia. 10 May 2006 . Sorensen, Andr. The Making of Urban Japan: Cities and Planning from Edo to the Twenty-First Century. New York: Routledge, 2002. Questia. 10 May 2006 . Tomoyuki, Kouhara. Tokyo Bay: Very Much Alive http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia5/sp03.html Waley, Paul. "Ruining and Restoring Rivers: The State and Civil Society in Japan." Pacific Affairs 78.2 (2005): 195+. Questia. 10 May 2006 . E. Watanabe, C.M Wang, T. Utsonomiya and T. MoanVery Large Floating Structures: Applications, Analysis and Design Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering. National University of Singapore http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/core/Report%20200402.pdf. Shock of the New http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyofeaturestoriesarchive Read More