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[フォーラム後記|Forum Epilogue]中野先生は、今回の講演の前半で、学生時代から現在までの50年近くにわたる、ご自身の都市との関わりを時系列でご紹介されました。それは先生の半生記というよりも、「近代都市計画」直系の現行都市計画法にどのような問題と限界が生じ、それを克服するためにどのような苦労が重ねられてきたかというドキュメンタリーのようでした。同時代人として共感を覚えるとともに、あの右肩上がりの時代に「都市デザイン」の重要さをいち早く見抜き、実践されてこられた慧眼と行動力に改めて感服した次第です。 これからの人口減少社会の時代こそ、人が戻りたくなる居住環境や居心地の良い都市空間を創出する「都市デザイン」の概念は、地方都市に限らず都市づくりに携わるすべての人にとって、拠りどころとすべきもののように思います。中野先生がこれまで取り組んでこられた「都市デザイン」の仕事において、自らを「触媒人間」と称し、「デザイナーではなくプランナーとしてコミュニケーションやコラボレーションに徹してきた」「時には『人間サンドバック』とも言われた」と話されたのが、事の本質をついているようで特に印象的でした。 [ファシリテーター:竹内直文]In the first half of Prof. Nakano’s talk, he introduced to us his relationship to cities, spanning the 50 years from the time he was a university student. Even more than the story of one person’s life, it seemed to me like a lively documentary recounting the issues and limits of the currently in-force urban planning laws that directly reflected the ideas of the “modern urban planning” movement, and the arduous efforts made to overcome those problems. As a contemporary of Professor Nakano, I not only felt great empathy for that story but was impressed once again by the per-ceptiveness and energy with which he recognized the importance of “urban design” even when the econo-my continued expanding, and put that concept into practice in his work and teaching. Especially in these times when population is decreasing, the concept of urban design aimed at designing residential environments people will want to come back to and urban spaces that are comforta-ble offers a reliable guide not just for local cities but for everyone who is engaged in city building. In his work relating to urban design, Professor Nakano described himself as a “catalyzer,” explaining that he has striven to act not as a designer, but as a planner engaged in communication and collabora-tion, and his remark that he sometimes felt like a “punching bag” impressed me as aptly capturing the nature of his crucial go-between role. [Facilitator: Naofumi Takeuchi]What, After All, Was “Urban Design”?So-called modern urban planning was designed to divide up the functions of “residence,” “work,” “leisure,” and “trans-port,” and disseminate a model. The European cities that introduced these ideas earliest had been experiencing the decline of their central business districts since the 1930s. Post-“modern urban planning” (urban design) is what began from the 1960s in the attempt to overcome the problems spawned by the “modern urban planning” ideals. European Projects for Recovery of a Pedestrian-centered SocietyIn Europe, efforts to reassess land-use subdivision policies and promote a return to the pedestrian-centered society included not only traffic planning to improve pedestrian spaces but a variety of projects to encourage home repair in order to preserve the townscape. The Study in Conservation series (HMSO,*1 1968) and Streets for People (OECD,*2 1974) became the center of much attention. I myself traveled over and over to the cities taken up in these books. England’s Chester, pictured here, is treated in the 1968 series. In the United States in the 1960s and 70s, around 200 pedestrian malls were built. Today, however, save for a very few cases, automobile traffic is making a comeback. The difference between the two is their historical beginnings: the European city emerged from the human-scale medieval city while the American city was shaped by the horse-and-buggy era. Revival of Local Cities: Toward “Tactical Urbanism”In Japan, fifty years have passed since enactment of the “New Town Planning Law" in 1968. From my point of view, the big-gest issue is how local cities have changed since the introduc-tion of “modern urban planning.” In no time at all, my own home city became a classic case of the “shuttered-street” town. The hollowing out of local city business districts in Japan is generally discussed in relation to the decline of local indus-try, but many of the causes derive from demographic shifts. Proprietors themselves, thinking suburbia is the ideal, move to residential districts, and when the majority of citizens fol-low that pattern, the city centers are emptied. What is most important for the revival of urban areas is for city residents to change their thinking and “move back to town.” What it will take to make them want to return is to restore a city environ-ment they will want to live in, and that is precisely what we must do for city renewal “urban design.” Along with improv-ing the street environment so as to support urban residence, efforts have to be made toward more lively utilization of pub-lic open spaces. This is the approach known as the “tactical urbanism” movement. The conclusion I draw from my 40-year career is that town centers that have achieved the realm of “urban design” are those that manage to sustain a resident population within the center. The vibrant activity of these citizens creates happy urban scenes and provide the source of urban revival.*1 HMSO :Her Majesty’s Stationery Oce/英国政府印刷局*2 OECD :Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/経済協力開発機構*3 出典/Source|“Chester: A Study in Conservation,” Donald W. Insall and Associates, HMSO, 1968332017 WINTER33FORUM

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