Evaluation
This is a project where the Mayor, who has a vision to create a park city, and a landscape designer, who has experience in involving communities, collaborated to materialise substantial green spaces in a city. The Mayor often mentions that well designed green spaces can raise people’s spirits. In many ways, he plays a role as a design champion to promote good public spaces design. It seems universally understood that good green spaces contribute to public health. The project was awarded the Prime Minister’s “Green City” Award (Japan) in 2005.
A physical achievement of this project has been proved by statistics showing that the area of green space per citizen has increased from 3.7 sq meters to 11.4 sq meters. A key part of its success seems to be the participation of so many citizens. As a matter of course, those volunteers tend to support further green space development projects. Furthermore, these participants have encouraged citizens to join volunteer activities in general. Now, there are about 22,000 volunteers in the city, which is 13% of the city’s population. A major part of the volunteer group is those aged over 60, however some university students, from Chubu Gakuin University which was opened in 2006 next to the park, joined as well, both groups benefiting from working with those of other ages.
The park’s design is generally supported by the citizens. Many of them had participated in design workshops with the support of Professor Ishikawa’s students. A resident mentioned that it was good to have young people from outside, as it was easier to be honest with them than local municipal officers.
The park’s functions seem to correspond to citizens’ needs; there was already a park in the nearby area for children to play, but the area lacked a place where adults could relax and enjoy green spaces. Thanks to Manabi-no-Mori’s inclusive nature, there are interactions between people of different ages and backgrounds, such as elderly people and families with small children, or local residents and university students. These are an intangible but important effect of the park.
The involvement of local residents has functioned as a drive to realise other projects in the Corridor Plan. For instance, the Meditation Forest, which opened in 2006, is a complex of a park, cemetery and a crematory. Unlike typical Japanese cemeteries, this park has an environment that attracts families and couples to spend their time during weekends. A symbolic white crematorium designed by architect Toyo Ito stands by a pond surrounded by green space.
The Corridor Plan seems to be going very well, however all developments have been public sector projects so far. An issue is that the city does not have an effective system to encourage private sectors to make their development greener through good design. Street design is another issue. To revitalise the city, it is important to raise the level of design quality of all types of public space projects. It is a first step that the citizens now take pride in their city and have confidence in improving their environment.
