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by

student id

date

graduation studio

main mentor

BT mentor

research mentor

external examiner

advisors

Joris Berkhout

1275208

april 20th, 2012

Explorelab 12

Roberto Cavallo

Huib Plomp

Willem Hermans

Daan Vitner

Didier van de VeldeHans Daane

“The sakariba of Tokyo require no fine buildings to lure the punters; a few noisy shacks

are enough. As a result, places like Kabuki-cho burst into flower practically overnight. And

Kabuki-cho is only the most famous. As Tokyo’s population swelled and the city bulged

further and further beyond its old limits, more and more minor halts became major stations,

more and more unimportant crossroads became huge intersections, more and more thirsty

workers and students disgorged on the streets eager to drop into anywhere welcoming for a

quick one or three before the last leg home. This was the process, and whenever a certain

critical state was reached, another minor halt, another fork in the road had become a major

sakariba. Nothing else is needed -no squares or plazas- the alley is cozier; no imitations of

history or tradition- there are plenty of carpenters who can cobble together the likeness of a

country farmhouse or an English pub for those who want atmosphere. All you need is trains

and crowds; all you need is mass thirst, and a few people canny enough to see the sense in

catering to it.

Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya on the west side of the loop; Nakano, Koenji, Kichijoji

on the Chuo Line going out beyond; dozens of smaller spots in between, and bigger ones

further on and out: all over the map they light up like candles, each with its rows of red

lanterns hung outside, its smells of barbequeing chicken, soy sauce, cheap saké, and roasting

chestnuts, clouds of smoke, huddles of office workers and laborers and tradesmen and

students hunkered down on beer crates, yelling at each other over the roaring of the trains.

All the sakariba look pretty much the same, but oddly they’re all quite different: each brews

a special character from its own unique mix of residents and passers-through. Ikebukuro,

north and west of Shinjuku on the loop, has a raw, bumpkin quality, thanks to the farmers

who come through on their way in from the wilds of Saitama prefecture. Shibuya and

Harajuku, to the south of Shinjuku, are young, girlish, full of fashion stores. Kichijoji’s full

of jazzmen, and Shimokitazawa, a bit to the south and west, is good for theater. Roppongi,

inside the loop, breaks the pattern because it’s relatively hard to get to, being located on a

single subway line, so it’s the one for the inner-city kids, the local foreigners, and the people

with cars.”

From: Tokyo: the city at the end of the world. By Peter Popham, 1985, pp.115-118

fascination

1. introduction & outline

introduction 07 research outline 10

2. mobility in Tokyo

a brief history of Tokyo 15

transportation in Japan 19

3. living in a network city

the station as the central element 26 leisure and mobility 31

infrastructure based cities 36

4. conclusions

reflection on research 43 peripheral nodes 48

a potential Dutch network city 50

5. design project

project proposal 59

project drawings and images 66

6. reflection 76

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introduction & outline1.

Cities are simply no longer recognisable. They used to be the populated areas around religious

institutions or seats of political power. These days they’re whatever

an infrastructure can support.” (David d’Heilly, Financial Tmes, nov 4th 2011)

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The patterns and routes of travelling people are among the most elementary principles shaping the built environment. The movement of people is a fundamental urban mechanism, causing settlements to grow in a particular spot and subsequently defining the structure of these settlements. Because of this the structure of cities varies greatly depending on the prevalent mode of getting from one place to another. The earliest cities developed at crossings of trade routes and the social life of most inhabitants remained limited within the city walls. (Knowles, Shaw, & Docherty, 2008, p. 86) (Smets, 2003, p. 23) (Priemus, 2008, p. 15) Over the course of centuries, new transport and communication technologies have greatly increased people’s opportunity to travel and stay in touch, turning present day cities into network regions. Mobility is becoming ever more important as these networks are reducing the consequences of physical location. Because of this the realms of mobility, urbanism and architecture have become ever more linked in a reciprocal relationship.

network urbanism

As the city is becoming more and more a part of a regional network relying on mobility it becomes clear that the only way to deal with these urban regions is by acknowledging their network characteristics. (Dupuy, 2000, pp. 3-4) (Priemus, 2008) (European Council of Town Planners, 2003) Network urbanism defines the framework of the city as a system of nodes and connections based on people’s movements. Because of this, spatial relationships become less relevant, instead the mobility of every individual becomes a crucial factor. In other words: “networks are the non-linear, non-hierarchical organizing

principles of today’s cities.” The important aspect of network urbanism is that it places infrastructure back at the root of the urban discipline. Networks interconnect people rather than places and essentially they exist to serve human settlements. (Rooij, 2005, p. 171) Yet despite their significance, network urbanism theories have not accepted widely. As Dupuy explains: “This idea of a territorial urban organization in the form of networks, which would seem pertinent to today’s cities, has not been able to evolve”. (Dupuy, 2000, p. 3) Because the network urbanism has been neglected for a long time, the notion of the city as a network has not been a part of mainstream urban thinking.

the (re)integration of mobility

While the bond between mobility, the urban environment and society is fundamental, it has become neglected or even broken. Driven by an increase in technical and organizational complexity infrastructure and transport have become disciplines of their own. At the same time architects and urbanists have also contributed to the detachment of mobility away from architecture and urbanism as this separation was one of the prominent features of modernism. The reduction of infrastructure to a technical element means that it has become a barrier instead of a connection and the physical networks of transportation do not overlap (any more) with the urban and social networks of people, especially when considering the city as a network. As a result the design of infrastructure has recently become a much-debated issue and the need to reintegrate infrastructure with its roots in the city and society has become clear. (Calabrese, 2004, pp. 19-37)

This research is set against the background of reintegrating mobility in its urban context and the acknowledgement that “the

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be seen in their urban context but also in their regional context, which includes suburban, rural and natural areas. Currently there is no paradigm for this and accordingly infrastructure is badly linked with recreational and leisure networks, undermining the significance of both. The detachment of mobility and leisure will be an important subject of research later on in this thesis.

The station is a vital element in the network city because it is the node where various networks cross. It is the element where the local scale comes into contact with the regional scale and therefore it has both a node and a place value. (Bertolini, 2008) The station is the point where mobility, urbanism and architecture interact in the most essential way and as such it will be the main subject of this research.

spaces of mobility need to be restored to the realm of urban design and architecture.” (Calabrese, 2004, p. 22) In order to reintegrate infrastructure with urbanism and architecture, a common and multidisciplinary design practice is essential “Since all fields are claiming that the design of the urban spaces of mobility is their major challenge for the years to come, the question is whether and how this challenge can be taken up collectively.” (Calabrese, 2004, p. 537)

There are many more authors pointing to the fact that dealing with mobility merely as technical infrastructure has lead to severe problems and that because of this our approach towards it needs to change. For example the necessity for a “democratization of mobility”. (Freudendal-Pedersen, 2009, p. 130) Because transport shapes society and space its wider consequences for society must be understood and accounted for. (Knowles, Shaw, & Docherty, 2008, p. 221) Or the love-hate relationship that exists between railway, road, landscape and city. (Provoost, 1995) In addition, Marcel Smets argues that in order for realize the necessary transformation of technical constructions into public meeting places solutions must be found outside of the normative technical design approach. (Smets, 2003, p. 27)

Especially in the urban context the impact of infrastructure is enormous. As Cavallo points out: even in the urban context railways are dealt with mainly as technical instruments. They are built as “the mere solution for the program given by the transportation needs but should be considered as a project of architecture for the city.” Therefore it is vital “to point out a clear architectural theme in order to develop a coherent intervention in relation to the city.” (Cavallo, 2008, p. 183) Furthermore, taking into account the urban region, transport networks must not only above: diagram of node-place dynamics. (Bertolini, 2008)

node

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ueplace value

unbalanced node

unbalanced place

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AIRPLANE

HS TRAINTRAIN

TRAM

METRO

BIKE

HIGHWAY

ROAD

FERRY

BUS

WALK

NETWORK MOBILITYFAST, UNCONTROLLABLE BY USER, NO RELATION TO SURROUNDINGS,CONCENTRATED

LOCAL MOBILITYSLOW, CONTROLLABLE BY USER, STRONG

RELATION TO SURROUNDINGS,SPREAD OUT, LINEAR

speedinteraction with environm

ent

decentralized concentration on routes concentration on nodes dominance of nodes

AIRPLANE

HS TRAINTRAIN

TRAM

METRO

BIKE

HIGHWAY

ROAD

FERRY

BUS

WALK




speed

interaction with environm

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network characteristics for transport modes

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This research will be put in the broader context of reintegrating urbanism mobility and architecture in the network city. It will be concentrated specifically on urban public transport by rail. As explained in the introduction, the gap between infrastructure and the urban context is most urgent for railways, while at the same time the current and future metropolitan region is dependent on them. A large part of this research will be based on mobility in urban Japan and in Tokyo specifically. Tokyo is a fascinating metropolis, where railways constitute the primary means of mobility. Moreover, the urban structure is essentially based on mobility by rail; analogous to the way the structure of historic cities is based on mobility by foot and the modern city on mobility by car. This has the remarkable and unique implication that the network of railways is the most important form of spatial order and recognition. “Topologically speaking, metropolitan residents rely on the network of railways to establish geographic relationships.” (Ohno, 2006, p. 106) The understanding of the city is thus highly diagrammatical, not based on the entirety of the metropolis but merely on the very few parts with which people are able to be familiar. This makes Tokyo truly a network city. Its urban structure is based on nodes (stations) and abstract connections (railways), which makes it an interesting case for further investigation.

research outline

a comparison of data

It is important to note at this point that Tokyo is not the only metropolis where public transport plays a significant role because most big cities rely on public transport. What makes Tokyo special is that the population of the whole city from the outskirts to the center uses public transport, mostly by rail. As studies show the proportion of people in the central area of Tokyo using public transport is higher but still comparable to other major cities such as Paris, London or New York. But when looking at zones more distant from the center the picture changes dramatically. Only in Tokyo do railways continue to be the dominant means of mobility. Other data such as the total number of stations per zone of the city leads to a similar conclusion. (Institut d’aménagement et d’urbanisme de la région d’Ile-de-france, 1998) This is very interesting because it is not the city centers that will be the main stage of future urban developments. The changing city (regardless if it is because of shrinking or growing populations) will mostly affect the suburbs and peripheries. Because of these considerations, this research will mainly look into the suburban railways of Tokyo (instead of the central metro lines) as these seem to be noticeably different from other major cities and promise to hold the most interesting network characteristics.

mobility, urbanism and architecture

Another aspect that makes mobility in Japan unique is the fact that mobility, architecture and urbanism were never separated in the way like it happened in other places. However this does not mean that mobility has remained in the field of the urbanist or architect. As will be explained in this thesis, the situation in Tokyo is reversed and urbanism has always been a part of a dominant realm of technical and pragmatical mobility. The integrated approach, which Calabrese advocates, has been

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prevalent in Tokyo all along. But it is not lead by the urbanist, instead transport companies have taken over urban design and architecture. “Most of the urban centers are not the product of the planning efforts of local or national governments, but rather the result of commercial activities or business strategies of railway related companies.” (Sacchi, 2004, p. 85) Because of this and as already mentioned above, most existing knowledge is limited to a real estate and planning point of view. This means that it is especially interesting to investigate what kind of architectural principles have resulted from this approach.

Tokyo as a network city based on rail is unique in the world because of its scale and influence on urban life. The goal of this research is to find architectural and urban elements related to this dominant position of rail transport, and to put these into theoretical context of network urbanism. This will lead to ideas and concepts which can be used in a different context. The Netherlands for example, where the separation between architecture, urbanism and mobility is preventing cities from attaining network characteristics. This is a problem because the main potential for cities lies in their development as a cluster of networks. As stated in the introduction, the acknowledgement of the network characteristics of cities is essential for the urban regions of the future. This problem leads to the main question: How can stations, being both nodes and places, enable the development of an urban network region? Because the Japanese city is a prototype of a network city based on mobility by rail it will be used as a source for ideas and concepts, which will then be put in a broader context of mobility in the urban region as a network.

total motorized urban transport, divided in public or private per zone. (1 and 2 being the most central zones)

(Institut d’aménagement et d’urbanisme de la région d’Ile-de-france, 1998)

private transportpublic transport

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methodology

In order to be able to answer the research question it is first necessary to gain a complete understanding of mobility and public transport in Tokyo. How and why did the railways become so important? What are the main characteristics of the Japanese approach to public transport? There is a considerable amount of literature and existing knowledge on this topic, mostly from a transport and planning point of view. A literature study of this existing knowledge will be at the basis of the first part of this thesis, explaining how and why railways became so dominant in Tokyo and identifying their main characteristics.

Subsequently the distribution of program and the spatial setting will be investigated. These are the realm of the architect and urbanist, and as Calabrese argues it is exactly this realm to which the subject of mobility needs to be restored. The analysis of mobility in Tokyo will result in a documentation of the architectural and urban principles resulting from mobility by rail in Tokyo. Finally these architectural principles, derived from a technical and real estate focused approach to mobility, will be put back in the broader architectural and urban context. Not only will this relate them to the architecture of mobility in other situations, it will also demonstrate their relevance or irrelevance in a non-Japanese situation. Would it be possible to apply architectural concepts from Japan in the Netherlands? And what are the considerations? As a result of this a design project will be proposed, an architectural exercise to demonstrate the possibility of a different approach to mobility in the Netherlands.

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mobility in Tokyo

“most of the urban centers are not the product of the planning efforts of local

or national governments, but rather the results of commercial activities

or business strategies of railway related companies.” (Sacchi,2004, p.85)

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a brief history of Tokyo

In order to understand the urban condition of Tokyo and its relation to mobility it is essential to take into account the history of the city and the concept of urban culture in Japan. The present day metropolis has its roots in the old fisherman’s village of Edo. In 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu seized power and choose to relocate Japan’s capital from Kyoto to Edo, which was a small town at that time but its strategic location on a coastal plain in the middle of Japan gave it much potential. The Tokugawa clan would rule Japan from Edo until the Meiji restoration in 1868 when the city was renamed to Tokyo. During this time the population and trade in Edo increased tremendously and it was then that the foundations of the city that is Tokyo today were laid out. (Speidel, 1983, p. 36)

the legacy of edo

Edo was a very distinctive city. It was ruled by a dictatorial and oppressive Shogun who exercised his power over the people through a system of separated social classes between which there was no means of contact. Samurai classes, commoners and merchants all lived in separate parts of the city in a distinctive type of housing and traffic was restricted. From a morphological point of view the city was deliberately fragmented and labyrinthic as a means of control over its inhabitants. In contradiction to Haussmann’s Parisian boulevards that imposed power by order, in Edo chaos and disorder enforced the authority of the ruler. (Jinnai, 1995, p. 20) Because the city structure was meant to oppress its inhabitants it successfully prevented the development of any civic consciousness. As a result the Japanese city was never considered a separate entity and when Edo turned into Tokyo it was merely an assemblage of different neighborhoods, lacking a distinct urban culture.

Several more processes undermined the development of a coherent city in Japan. While the western paradigm defines urban culture in contrast to a barbaric nature as the pinnacle of civilization, this is not the case in Japan. Monumentality is not to be found in stone buildings or grand avenues, instead it is preserved as a complex system of (social) rituals and references to an abstracted version of nature. (Berque, 1993, p. 95) Japanese cities do not have centers with market squares and church towers. Instead they are an conglomerate of individual and unrelated buildings, each built on its respective individual plot. (Maki, 2008) The dominant type of housing nowadays can be traced back to the yashiki type samurai estate. (Jinnai, 1995) This is a type of house surrounded by a wall, ignoring its urban context at the most basic level and instead referring to a distant or abstract image of nature. Other types of housing such as the machiya, which was related much more to its urban surroundings, have become almost extinct.

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the japanese city and its planning

In other words: an urban ideal, if existing at all, is very weak. Japanese culture consistently values traditions and rituals over built structures, which is why it is no surprise that little value is attached to buildings or urbanism. (Berque, 1993) “The Japanese city was (and in all likelihood still is) in certain respects an enormous village, and has always been inherently rural in character.” (Maki, 2008, p. 159) As a result the endless additions and alterations to the fisherman’s village of Edo that resulted in contemporary Tokyo were mainly based on short-term pragmatic and functionalistic decision making. In the Japanese city, the part precedes the whole and as such there has never been an urban plan for the city as a whole. Moreover, there has always been a certain resistance against any form of urban planning, as the very concept if a city that should be planned is not very strong. (Sorensen, 2002, p. 37) In fact, the first urban planning system was imported from abroad only in 1919.

The reason for this was that the rapid industrial growth of the late 19th and early 20th century had caused the urban populations to increase dramatically. For example, the population of Tokyo grew from 420.000 to 1.180.000 inhabitants over the course of just 15 years. New houses were built on the edges of the existing city in a disorganized and haphazard way, leading to worsening living conditions as basic facilities were lacking and the risk and the risk of fire was critical. Because of this it became necessary to implement some kind of planning system. The planning laws introduced in 1919 were based on several existing European systems and featured a zoning system, a building code, a building line system, a system for designating public facilities and a land readjustment system. As such it was the first urban planning law ever to be implemented in Japan. (Sorensen, 2002, pp. 108-115)

Map showing unplanned developments in suburban Urawa City, Saitama prefecture (north of Tokyo). Housing is built in small patches, just small enough to evade planning legislation. As a result they are not equipped with basic services such as sewers, gas and electricity. Note the narrowness of the access roads, lack of through connections and houses built under a high voltage line. (Sorensen, 2002, p.237)

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Despite the good intentions behind the new planning system, its influence was weakened significantly. For example the zoning system did define residential, commercial and industrial zones; but this system was not strict at all. For example, small factories and commerce were allowed in residential areas and even on heavy industrial sites (employee) housing was allowed. Furthermore there were many loopholes for unplanned developments. Actually, most people continued to consider local roads, parks and cleaning as goods to be provided by local residents themselves. As a result most of the rampant growth of Tokyo continued to take place in a hardly planned way. (Sorensen, 2002, pp. 112-203) Even the great Kanto earthquake in 1923 and the bombings of the Second World War would prove to be minor standstills. In 1968 history repeated itself with the introduction of a new urban planning system. For similar reasons as in 1919 this system would prove to be insufficient. For example any project below a thousand square meters and any government-initiated project would be exempted from the planning laws. Off course this had the unwanted effect of even more small scale unplanned developments as the map shows. (Sorensen, 2002, pp. 224-255) Obviously when the government steps back and does not control urban planning this will cause other parties to engage in urban planning, such as railway companies for example.

urban flexibility

An important aspect of the Japanese city is its flexibility. As described previously, not much value is attached to buildings and as a result they are easily demolished and replaced by a new building. The average lifespan of a building in Tokyo is 26 years, a fact that makes it a fundamentally different from western cities, which are very static (and thus fragile) in their appearance and structure. (Kitayama, Tsukamoto, & Nishizawa, 2010, p.

29) Combined with a very loose system of building regulations this has resulted in Tokyo being an ever changing and fluid like city. If an alien element such as infrastructure is inserted into the urban fabric, it will gradually blend in over time as the city around it changes and develops in an almost organic way.

The above explains that in Japan the urban realm and the city as a coherent system are very weak. The cityscape as a cultural element of importance does not exist and an urban ideal is almost not existing. Because of this cities have never been planned by architects and urbanists. Architects are restricted to individual buildings each on a separate plot, while the discipline of urbanism does not exist at all. Instead of top down planning from above, mobility as a force behind urban developments has been very strong throughout time. In the Edo times the underlying landscape and road structure were the governing principles for the lay out of the growing city. After the industrial revolution the rapid growth of the city took place unplanned on a local scale, but was channeled through the railway system on a larger metropolitan scale. In this way mobility remained to be the driving force behind urbanism. Transport companies representing the technical pragmatical side of mobility took over urban planning, and to a certain extent also took control of architecture by being able to design the stations and their direct surroundings. This has lead to a very remarkable type of urbanism by rail, which will be the topic of the next chapter.

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Seibukyuyomae station and leisure park

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While Tokyo is a very remarkable city in many ways, but one of its key characteristics is the vital role of public transport as a means of transport. More than 80% of the city’s population commutes by rail, the greater Tokyo area includes 882 stations and 121 passenger rail lines which are operated by 30 different operators. (Mizutani, 1996) These data by themselves are impressing, but what is most interesting about public transport in Tokyo is the way it is integrated in the city and the daily life of its inhabitants. Travelling through Tokyo would be impossible if it would not be covered by such an extensive mass transit system, which actually provides a framework for the urban landscape. (Ohno, 2006, p. 106) This chapter will start with an explanation of how rail transport became so important in Tokyo, followed by a documentation of its most interesting features and characteristics.

The first railway boom in Japan took place in the years between 1885-1893 and was followed by several subsequent booms. In the 1920’s the electric railway was introduced in Tokyo which was relatively late but was an immediate success. It is important to distinguish the differences between the private and public railway lines, between 1906 and 1907 the government nationalized all private interregional lines as there was a political and military demand for a nationwide railway network. (Saito p.3) This meant that private railway companies were restricted to urban and regional transportation, a business at which they have become very successful.

urban planning

Because urban planning regulations were weak and there was a great demand for new housing in the fast growing cities of Japan private railway companies could take full advantage of a very profitable situation. It meant that private railway developers could construct new infrastructure into undeveloped areas unlocking a huge potential for real estate developments. The policy of the Meiji government which wanted to catch up with the west was to encourage this development by readily granting permits for railway companies in areas without infrastructure. In addition, the national government did not have a sufficient budget to facilitate a transport network it encouraged initiatives from the private sector. (Mizutani, 1996, p. 9) In this way the practice of combining infrastructure and urbanism which is characteristic for Japan could come into existence. In the Japanese situation the national government was relatively strong but local governments very weak. (Sorensen, 2002) This meant that railway companies could essentially take over the role of the municipality and engage in city building by themselves. From the beginning the newly established railway companies sought to increase the population living around their railway line and to attract as many passengers as possible by creating entertainment and recreation near their stations. (Saito, 1997, p. 4)

the emergence of business diversification

The first example of this approach took place in Osaka in 1905. Hanshin Railways built a new tram line between Osaka and Kobe, introducing new residential areas and recreational facilities (spas, mountain-climbing sites, playgrounds) along the line. At the terminal stations department stores and hotels were built. Hanshin’s business proved to be very successful and it did not take long for competitors such as Hankyu to reproduce

transportation in Japan

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this approach. The railway boom in Tokyo which took place around 15 years later was heavily influenced by the success of the integrated development of infrastructure, urbanism and architecture in the Osaka region. In the new suburbs of Tokyo this practice would be continued at an unprecedented scale. (Saito, 1997)

Over ten different railway companies currently serve the urban and suburban areas around Tokyo’s central core. As the map shows: Tokyu and Odakyu corporation operate to the southwest of Tokyo, Keio and Seibu to the northwest, Tobu to the north and Keisei to the east. The former public railway company Japan Rail has been privatized in 1987 after the success of the private companies and operates in roughly all directions out of central Tokyo.

The typical commuter line radiates outwards from a terminal station which provides transfers to the Yamanote loop line and the city’s subways. These massive composite stations are the busiest in the world with Shinjuku station serving 3.6 million passengers daily in 2007, Shibuya and Ikebukuro each handled well over 2 million passengers. These terminal stations are often dominated by multi story department stores sitting on top of them. In the direct surroundings of the station hotels and offices are developed. Traveling along the line outwards of the central city the line one passes smaller stations interchanged by several bigger ones, which provide transfers to other railway lines. The smaller stations serve as central points for their surrounding local communities: restaurants, shops, convenience stores and public facilities are all located in the direct vicinity of the station. The bigger stations where two or more lines cross have grown into sub centers catering to the community on the scale of the the railway line and featuring a larger selection of shops

and entertainment. When the railway line enters more rural areas and property prices start to drop the transport company has typically developed amusement parks, sports facilities and promotes tourist attractions. These hubs focusing on leisure and recreation are the counterparts of the enormous terminal stations on the city side of the line, attracting passengers in the opposite direction and outside of rush hours.

the node place mechanism

Bigger stations with more trains attract more activities and vice versa. This mechanism can function almost organically in Japan because of the integrated approach of urban planning and rail development combined with a very flexible urban fabric. It means that the functions and program in and around the station reflect its transport value. As a result the system of node-place dynamics as introduced by Bertolini can move unhindered towards a balanced state. Bertolini’s diagram which provides an analytical framework for this node-place dynamics shows that station areas can be in a balanced state, or in a state where the either the node or place value differ from the other. (Bertolini, 2008, pp. 35-47) In Tokyo the node and place values of stations are kept in balance by a market led mechanism.

a transport business model

The main reason for railway companies to integrate mobility, residential and recreational development was to increase profit. More housing means more potential travelers, at the same time recreation leads to an increase in off peak hour travel and an increase in property value. “In many cases, community building by private railway companies accompanies development of residential and commercial areas, improvement of public access to the stations, and construction of neighborhood amenities. Some companies even invite campuses of well-

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infrastructure has constantly lagged behind demographic trends. While overcrowded trains negatively affect the image of the community along the line, commuters have to move to a new house in order to use another line because railway companies usually have monopolies in the areas along their infrastructure. On a map of Tokyo displaying the main private railway companies, it is clearly visible that each of them has a monopoly in a certain region. The option of commuting by car is extremely limited, lack of urban planning means that there are few main access roads and parking is very problematic. For example it is prohibited to own a car without having a proper parking space for it, parking on the street is in most cases illegal or impossible because of their narrowness. As Mizutani explains: “Ordinary commuters are left with no alternative to rush hour trains. Private railways’ very high load factor at the peak period might serve to reduce their cost, but may also be a sign that they are abusing their monopoly position by reducing their service quality to create more profit.” (Mizutani, 1996, p. 2)

Seibu corporation is a stereotypical example of a railway company pursuing the kind of business diversification described previously. It focuses on the area to the northwest of central Tokyo, with large transfer hubs to the Yamanote and subway lines Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. These hub stations are combined with shopping malls and office developments. The Seibu department store in Ikebukuro is the largest in the city. On the other, rural, side of the line network Seibu operates a large entertainment park, stadium (home of the Saitama Seibu Lions) and recreational facilities concentrated around the Seibukyujomae, Seibuyuenchi and Seibuen stations. Along the line Seibu Real Estate develops housing and hotels.

known universities to improve the town’s image.” (Saito p.4) This pragmatic and economically driven approach is sometimes ironically referred to as ‘cradle to grave security’ because everything the inhabitants of a railway community would need in their life would be provided by the railway company. However this is not perceived as negative, instead the towns developed by private railway companies became associated with a comfortable life in a carefully planned and maintained space. Because of this private railway companies receive high social recognition as developers. (Saito, 1997, p. 4)

On the other hand rush hour trains are often extremely overcrowded, commonly filled with twice as much people as the normal capacity. (Eichhorn, 1996, p. 36) In the meantime the growth of Tokyo’s suburbs continued to rise above all expectations and the development and increase in new

table showing railway company revenues, note the large share of non-transport related income. (Saito, 1997)

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expenses. This policy obviously encourages transport companies even more to diversify their business and look into other areas to increase their profits. (Van de Velde, 1999, pp. 11-12) For example by developing real estate and facilitating leisure. As the table shows, it is not uncommon for a railway company to make more money with side businesses such as real estate and tourism. It raises the question if ‘transport company’ is an accurate description for these businesses, so sometimes these companies are referred to as ‘lifestyle suppliers’. The integrated approach of mobility and urban planning has had profound effects on the urban structure and the daily life of people. The next chapter will illustrate what kind of urban and architectural principles result from this integration of mobility and urbanism in Tokyo.

Program is distributed by Seibu in a very rational and pragmatic way. Commercial functions are placed on the urban end of the railway line and near several sub-centers along the line. Along the line suburban residential development occurred, creating several communities concentrated on their local railway station surrounded by local shops and restaurants. As population density and property prices slowly decline as one travels further from central Tokyo leisure starts to play and increasingly important role, usually culminating in a gigantic leisure and entertainment park.

In this light it is important to note that Japanese railway companies hardly receive any government subsidies. Furthermore, in order to limit the abuse of their monopoly position, the government does only allow ticket pricing to cover

map of Seibu railways

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YURIKAMOME LINE

NIPPORI TONERI LINER

KEIO INOKASHIRA LINE

SEIBU IKEBUKURO LINE

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living in the network city

“Regardless of whether one is in a central area of the city or in the suburbs, the railway

stations are at the center of the neighbourhood and it can be said that there are as many district and neighborhood communities as there are train stations.” (Ohno, 2006, pp. 104-106)

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In Tokyo urban planning and to a certain extent also architecture have been dominated by transport companies developing communities along their railway lines and introducing program into their stations. The underlying motives were to maximaze the amount of passengers using the railway line, and to increase property values by taking care of the quality of life for those living along the railway line. These purely pragmatic motivations have -sometimes unwantedly- resulted in several fascinating urban and architectural types and ideas.

1. station = central element. p.26

2. leisure and mobility. p.30

3. infrastructure based cities. p.35

Map of railways combined with distribution of convenience stores. (Ohno, 2006, pp.104-106)

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station, Tokyo Metro station and a Keio Line station. Most of the railway lines do not run parallel to each other, so consequently the whole complex has grown without planning because there is not much coordination among the different railway companies. In contrast: the station consists of several competing stations. Because of this it is structurally and spatially spread out in all directions into various substations.

The spatially fragmented station is a different architectural type than the coherent station as an enclosed box. As the maps show it is spread out and intermingled with its surroundings. It is definitely not an alien element inserted into the city, but it becomes a part of the urban fabric. The dynamic nature of the urban fabric as described previously helps this process of dissolving.

integration with local routes

This mutually dependent relationship is most striking in the huge stations where the Yamanote loop line and commuter lines connect. However it is certainly not limited to large stations handling millions of people a day. For example Shimo-Kitazawa, a relatively small station located on the crossing of the Keio Inokashira line and the Odakyu line. The neighborhood historically featured many theatres and has since developed in an artistic area with many specialized shops for fashion. As the map shows, the shopping streets run right through the station. Even the smallest stations function as the focal point of the surrounding community by attracting restaurants and shops. The convenience store is a particular type of shop of which there always is one or probably more around the station. The main goods sold in these stores are instant meals and miscellaneous products for daily life, but in recent years it has become common for them to provide additional banking and

Because infrastructure preceded urbanism in most parts of Tokyo the stations have truly become the central points in their communities. Even if built in existing urban fabric, the flexibility of the Japanese city has made it possible for the station to develop into the center of an area. It is a kind of economic force of gravity attracting businesses such as restaurants and shops towards the station, keeping the node and place values of the station in balance. There is not much urban planning regulating this force of attraction so in Japanese cities its effect is very pronounced. As a result the station gains importance the number of passengers increases making this a self-enforcing process, which could even attract more railway lines. Nodes of mobility networks become true nodes of the urban and social networks of people. Sometimes this process gets out of hand, for example Shibuya and Shinjuku which were small railway stations at the crossings of several lines but have gradually evolved into massive urban conglomerations. The concept of business diversification that would make Japanese railway companies so successful meant that they are actively engaged in attracting program and functions towards their stations.

dissolved stations

Not only does the city around the station grow, the station itself also develops organically. An important reason for this is the fact that there are many different railway companies in Tokyo. Each of these has their own rail tracks and their own stations. For example Shibuya station (see map on page 29)is actually not one station but several connected stations. At Shibuya Tokyu Corporation has two separate stations, one below ground and one elevated. Furthermore there is a JR

station = central element

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postal services. There also is a trend to turn them into disaster relief zones and a convenient meeting point serving the local community. “Regardless of whether one is in a central area of the city or in the suburbs, the railway stations are at the center of the neighbourhood and it can be said that there are as many district and neighborhood communities as there are train stations.” (Ohno, 2006, pp. 104-106) Because the station is the central element, the shopping streets run at both sides of the station creating and urban pattern resembling an ‘+’ .

On the other hand the ‘T’ like pattern for stations found in European cities means that the station always has a backside which is underdeveloped. This is in fact true for surprisingly many stations in the Netherlands. From a western point of view, the city core itself has much more value and contains churches, markets and public squares which serve as central points for the community. In these city centers the urban, social and cultural networks overlap and form a strong center for society. This central city has a very static structure and is not adaptable to changes in a way Japanese cities are. In this context it is understandable that the insertion of stations and infrastructure

“+” and “T” layouts of stations and their environment in, respectively, Japan and Europe. (Ohno, 2006, pp.104-106)

Maps of railways combined with shopping centers (above) and shopping streets (below). (Ohno, 2006, pp.104-106)

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area around Shibuya station

convenience store fast food restaurant

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area around Shimokitazawa station

convenience store fast food restaurant

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creates a clash between the existing urban fabric and the new structures. Because of this the station is usually located outside of the main urban area, and as such cannot function as a central element. (Priemus, 2008, pp. 17-18) Or: “Keeping the railroads always outside the city had the advantage that there was no direct confrontation between the historical city and the new means of transportation.” (Cavallo, 2008, p. 32)

However in several other cities (underground) metropolitan railway lines are much more entangled with the city. In cities such as Paris or London the metro networks are much more developed than in the Dutch cities. By building underground the confrontation between the historical city and the infrastructure could be avoided, allowing large stations to spread out into the city in similar ways as described in Tokyo. However in the Netherlands it was only after the second world war that metropolitan railways emerged and even nowadays they are not widespread. (Cavallo, 2008, pp. 79-86)

As a result mobility is treated as an autonomous system which is superimposed on the city and stations are designed as encapsulated machines, only subject to their own norms and logic. Inside the station shops and facilities are introduced but because the station remains an encapsulated entity it lacks connections to the real urban structure and thus these attempts remain unsuccessful. The station cannot imitate or replace the city. By enclosing it and creating an internal city it only becomes more isolated and its immediate surroundings more desolate. (Smets, 2003, pp. 23-27) In other words and as stated in the introduction: the infrastructural network does not overlap with the urban and social networks. Because the station merely has a meaning as an infrastructural hub its relation to the city and therefore its relevance are undermined. When at Amsterdam central station you have essentially already left the city.

programmatic relations

In addition to the spatial structure of the station, the programmatical link between the station and the functions and activities around it is very direct. Shopping malls are inserted directly on top of train stations and restaurants can be found right on the train platforms. Hotels and cultural facilities are developed in a direct relationship to the station. For example the Komaba campus of Tokyo University is designed in direct relationship to the Komaba-Todaimae train station. The map shows that the main building is situated right at the end of an axis leading to the entrance of the station which is thus defined as an important point of access to the campus. The node-place dynamics work both ways. If the station is the main point of access to an area it will automatically become a point of attraction, causing other developments to be focused on the station. Ultimately, the station and the city exist in a symbiotical relationship in which it has become impossible to distinguish one from another.

Komaba Todaimae station and relationship to university campus

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Summerland, Sanrio Puroland and Yomiuri Land. The latter is not part of Keio Lines but nonetheless connected directly to the Keio Lines station by a gondola.

Existing or potential tourist attractions are ingeniously connected to the rail infrastructure and then marketed as an essential part of it. In this way entire resorts are developed by railway companies. If a mountain, lake or beach is not an attraction yet, it can be transformed into one.

small scale recreation

Theme parks, stadiums and tourist attractions are a very commercial part of leisure. But even on a smaller and less commercial scale leisure occurs in direct connection with train stations. There are numerous examples of stations built inside a park or along riverside greenery. Two very interesting examples are found along the Nippori Toneri Liner, a relatively new automated transport railway built in a straight line from Nippori station on the Yamanote line into the suburbs north of it. Where the line crosses the Sumida and Arakawa rivers Adachi-Odai station is built. Located right between the two rivers on a place without much potential for housing or offices. Yet it provides access to the waterfront recreation areas and several cultural facilities in the vicinity. A bit further north, Tonerikoen station lies in the middle of Toneri park. The park is clearly focused towards the station and features playgrounds, ponds, green meadows and sports fields.

transport as leisure

Transport itself can also be leisure, the gondola and tourist train from the previous examples illustrate this. But even regular railway lines can have touristic value. The Yurikamome line is an elevated automatic transport system connecting the artificial

The previous part shows that Japanese railway stations are integrated to a large extent into their urban surroundings. But an even more interesting principle occurring in Tokyo is the far reaching integration of mobility and leisure. The most striking aspect of the insertion of program right into the station is leisure. As explained previously, transport companies often utilized leisure and recreation to generate traffic and to boost the living quality (and consequently property prices) along the line. Leisure can range from a small community park or playground to sports facilities, recreation and musea or even large stadiums and amusement parks. This direct link between public transport and leisure is very characteristic for Japan. Mobility by rail is not only used for commuting between the home and the office, but also for trips in the weekends and for sporting. In this way the transport system becomes much more a part of people’s daily life. As stated before, this practice has caused the transport companies to be referred to as ‘lifestyle suppliers’.

large scale entertainment

There are numerous examples of leisure oriented stations in and around Tokyo. Most big railway companies have built amusement parks along their lines. For instance Seibu corporation which runs a vast entertainment complex and recreation area in Tokorozawa, including not less than four stations. Around Seibu-Kyuyo-mae station one finds the Seibu Dome stadium, an indoor ski hall and a temple. Seibuen station is the site of a Seibu theme park and a velodrome. In between the stations runs a tourist train line and lies a natural reserve with forests and lakes. Other train companies include similar areas in their train networks, such as Keio Lines with Tokyo

leisure and mobility

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Keioyomiuriland stationKeio Sagamihara line

Kasai Rinkan Koen stationJR Keiyo line and JR Musashino line

Toneri Koen stationToei Nippori-Toneri Liner

Adachiodai stationToei Nippori-Toneri Liner

Seibukyuyomae stationSeibu Sayama and Yamaguchi lines

Futako Tamagawa stationTokyu Denen Toshi and Oimachi lines

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island of Odaiba with the city of Tokyo. Initially Odaiba was planned as a new business district relieving the pressure on the exisiting central areas. However this proved to be an unfeasible plan after the end of the economic boom. Instead Odaiba has turned into an island where entertainment, recreation and tourism play an important role. There are several remarkable buildings such as the Fuji TV headquarters by Kenzo Tange and the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. In addition there are museums and exhibition centers, a beach, a gigantic ferris wheel and Japan’s biggest indoor bathhouse. Because the Yurikamome line is elevated and snakes over the island it provides excellent views over Odaiba. Before it crosses the landmark Rainbow bridge it makes a 270 degree turn providing panoramic views over the city and the bridge. Together with the fact that the trains are driverless and run automatic this has caused the infrastructure line itself to become a tourist attraction. Consequently the Yurikamome line is the most popular way of accessing Odaiba, even if it is more expensive and slower than a second underground subway line.

The small maps on the left page show the spatial lay out for several stations related to leisure in Tokyo. It is essential to note that the entertainment and recreational functions are located in the close vicinity of the stations and directly connected to it, if necessary connected via walkways and pedestrian bridges. In this way the station becomes merged with its context. Or, following Bertolini’s model, the place value of the station needs to be positively influenced by its location in a recreational area or the vicinity to an amusement center. In this was mobility and leisure can be integrated and positively influence each other.

It is clear that transport and leisure have proven to be a strong combination in Japan. More generally, it is understood

that tourism and recreation are processes that are reliant on transport and at the same time have the potential to generate transport demand. However, recreational travel is relatively difficult to grasp as a discrete functional entity for analytical and policy purposes. At the same time the ability of mobility to function as leisure in its own right seems to appear in increasingly more places. “Not only is transport important as an essential underpinning for tourism, and helps to place tourism within a wider societal and environmental context, but it can also be a focus of interest both because of its functions and also because of its intrinsic attributes.” (Hall, 2008, pp. 197-207) It appears that the touristic value of infrastructure and the advantages of combining it with leisure and recreation are often underestimated.

international examples

Indeed, surprisingly few examples of integrated mobility and leisure can be found internationally. Usually this integration arises only in relation to specific events, or around highways on the urban fringes. Along highways it is relatively common to have zones with for example furniture shopping and large-scale amusement as shown in Neutelings’ Ringcultuur. (Roodbol, 1988) However these areas in the periphery of the city are usually only accessible by car. The integration of public transport and leisure generally occurs solely in the cases of large stadiums, exposition sites and similar major events such as the Olympic games.

In the case of such large evens the development of the infrastructure is usually related to a specific event. From the International Exhibition of 1967 in Montreal onwards, public transport has been an important theme in the development of the large expo sites, partly also to showcase new transport

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top: overview of attractions along the Keio Lines networkbottom: the layout of the Yurikamome line has (unwantedly) turned it into a tourist attraction providing views over Tokyo Bay and the artificial island of Odaiba.

technologies. In Montreal a new subway line was built from the city to the Expo site, while the site itself was situated on several islands linked together by a monorail. These large event sites certainly bear resemblance to amusement and theme parks yet they do have a more public character. More examples of public transport development due to an international exposition are the Expo’s of Osaka in 1970 with a gondola and monorail system linked to an rail station, the Expo of Sevilla in 1992 (monorail, ferry and cable car) and Hannover (new metro line, gondola). (van Duin & Cavallo, 2000) Also at the Lisbon Expo of 1998 a metro line was built and the new spectacular Gare do Oriente metro, rail and bus station forms the main entrance to the Expo. In this way, it integrated into the public space of the Expo site.

An interesting example because it is (unusally) not linked to a particular event, is the Neue Mitte development in Oberhausen, a small city in the Ruhrgebiet urban region. It is not so much focused to a particular large event but it contains a mix of everyday amusement and shopping facilities in an area called Neue Mitte, meaning ‘New Center’. The tram and bus station obviously has a central role in the development. Around it lie the CentrO shopping mall, an amusement park, an arena, sports fields and the Gasometer, an enormous former gas tank which now is a tourist attraction. Attractive public spaces create direct links between the station and the surrounding activities.

So the combination of public transport and leisure is not limited to Japan. But what seems to be a unique characteristic of infrastructure and leisure in Japan is that these two are also integrated on less prominent sites and along regular railway lines. There are many examples of stations related to nearby riverbanks or parks without any major event taking place. Remarkably, in some cases there is no housing or offices in

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information sheet for Adachiodai station. (see map on previous page) The waterfront and a museum are the main attractions related to this station.

the direct surrounding of a station, instead it is connected to a recreational route or several sports fields. The diagrams provide several examples where this is the case. Even though for practical reasons leisure program and activities are not placed right into the station, it is vital that they do have a direct link to the station. In some cases by being built in the immediate surrounding of the station. In other cases where this is not possible a direct link in the form of attractive public space is created. In the case of the Yomiuri amusement park the distance form the station is so big that a secondary transport system in the form of a gondola lift which has an inherent touristic value.

leisure and the network city

In the context of the network city it becomes evident that by integrating and creating links between the infrastructural networks of mobility and personal networks of leisure and recreation both will benefit. Because of this, even smaller areas of recreation can have a positive influence on developments along the whole line. A park around the station may not be

feasible on the scale of a single station, but it is very important on the scale of an entire railway line. It is this kind of urban planning along infrastructure that will be the topic of the next chapter.

CetrO shopping mall and leisure complex in Oberhausen, integrated with a railway station.

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describes: “A slight social stratification linked to the lines can be seen in the manner of consumption. Although the actual landscape is not noticeably different, and the time needed to travel to the center is equal, there are great differences in land price, depending on the train line.” An example of a relatively coherent and affluent railway community is the Inokashira line from Shibuya to Kichijoji. Along the line lies the prestigious Komaba campus of Tokyo University as well as several ‘artist communities’ (Shimokitazawa, Kichijoji). Because the stations are located at only 800 meters distance from each other the 20.000 people who use the station on average can get there from their house on foot. The stations are simple and small and their surroundings not dominated by large shops and bus platforms but instead small shops selling everyday necessities. (Ohno, 2006, p. 109) All these factors contribute to the prosperous character of the community along the Inokashira line.

the japanese garden city

Whole suburbs of Tokyo have been developed in this way, one of the most famous examples being Tama Den-en-Toshi, or Garden City in Japanese. The first plans were conceived in 1918 under influence of the Garden City movement in England but it took until 1953 for developments to start. The Tokyu Corporation was responsible for its realization and as a result the company has grown into the largest railway conglomerate in Japan. Up to today Tama Den-en-Toshi is widely considered as one of the most successful urban projects in Japan. Along the line there are around 19 stations, each of which functions as the center for its respective community. The biggest station is Tama Plaza, which is being developed into a larger shopping center serving the whole railway community complementary to the main hub Shibuya. (Röntgen, 2007) Another station along

In the Japanese situation, developments around stations are planned in the context of not just the station, but of the whole railway line. This kind of urbanism along an infrastructural element results from two in essence economic processes described previously. On the one hand railway companies want to increase the amount of passengers, especially in off peak hours and in the opposite direction of regular commuter traffic. To achieve this, planning along on the scale of the line is necessary. On the other hand, planning on the scale of the railway line is necessary to create an attractive living environment for the people living along the line by making sure recreational and sports facilities are distributed well. As a result the area around a railway line becomes a distinct community, where the functions of daily life are spread out over the railway line. Resulting from this purely pragmatic and economic approach, the railway line becomes the backbone of a coherent community living along it.

As the diagrams illustrate, the typical railway community is divided into three parts: a large hub station with many shops and offices, a sequence of many small and medium stations functioning as neighborhood centers and thirdly recreation and leisure on the outskirts of the city. Universities and museums near stations provide the entire community with an attractive living environment. All of these have been described in the previous chapters, but when combined properly they can truly form a coherent railway community where people work, live and recreate.

Tiny characteristics of a community along the railway line can have profound effects, leading to a differentiation in social economic status among railway lines. As Ohno (2006, p. 78)

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the line is Den-en-Chofu (Garden Suburb), which is considered as one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Tokyo and is laid out according to Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City ideals.

ciudad lineal & plan obus

A different example of a community along an infrastructural network is Arturo Soria y Mata’s proposal from 1882 for La Ciudad Lineal, a theoretically never-ending 40 meter wide corridor containing railways, roads, electricity, heating and a pneumatic tube for mail distribution. In practice its scale is limited to a suburb in Madrid. An important aspect of the Ciudad Lineal is its complete homogeneity. The corridor, which is the sole element of the urban network does not other networks and thus no nodes exist along the line. As a result there are no places where activity and program concentrate and instead they are distributed evenly. (Calabrese, 2004, p. 357) This an important contrast with the Japanese railway community in which activity concentrates at nodes, and each node acquires its distinct character. It is a natural feature of mobility by rail to concentrate in nodes because unlike a car, a train only stops at a station. This leads to a fundamental difference between cities built along railways and cities built along roads. Le Corbusier’s Plan Obus (1933) is an example of the latter and is also characterized by a uniform development along the infrastructure line. However, this uniformity evades to the diversity that is inherently a part of the urban region. Adittionally it does not allow for nodes to appear at crossings, which can lead to a hierarchy and diversity within the network.

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broadacre city

While the two previous examples are linear networks, in his Broadacre City proposal Frank Lloyd Wright introduces a network city based on a two dimensional grid. Every inhabitant of the city is designated one acre of land, this means that the entire 1939 population of America could live in a space as large as the state of Texas. In Broadacre City houses, factories, offices and anything else is dispersed randomly leading to the ultimate decentralisation. Everything is connected with everything by means of an undefined freeway network. “Ubiquitous connection, vital flows ensured, permanent regulation, the biological image which Wright uses revisits the three dimensions of the modern network: topology, kinetics, adaptivity.” (Dupuy, 2000, p. 25) Yet Broadacre City is not an plea for suburbanization and the abolition of urbanity, instead the new city would have neither center nor periphery. A geographic center becomes obsolete when as a place of social communication it is replaced by the nodes created by the network of roads.

Tokyo has many characteristics of Broadacre City. Even though its density is much higher it consists essentially of an amalgam of autonomous plots distributed randomly and without planning. Unlike Broadacre City connections are not (mainly) provided by freeways but by an organically developed railway system. The urban condition is able to adjust itself to the network, inherently leading to a nodal hierarchy where functions concentrate at crossing points where accessibility is ensured for everybody. Some argue that as a result Tokyo has no periphery.

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Tokyo Fibercity 2050(Ohno, 2006)

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fibercity 2050

Centrality is no longer determined by geographic position, but by the level of connectedness. The position in the network is the most vital characteristic of a house and thus takes up an essential part of advertisements for new housing developments. (Popham, 1985, p.55) Because of the network characteristics, the concept of communities along railway lines is not only a valid paradigm for growing cities, but can also be used to modify existing and even shrinking cities. In the Tokyo 2050 Fibercity publication an urbanism of lines is propagated to deal with a declining and ageing suburban population. Accessible transportation becomes ever more important as vital services cannot be maintained on a local level. Areas not served by railways will gradually become green as the population concentrates around the railway lines. With minimum intervention a compact, railway metropolis based on linear elements will emerge: in other words: a Fibercity. “Networked compact cities will arise where people can live in socially and physically cohesive areas and simultaneously enjoy the allure of the city.” (Ohno, 2006, p. 27)

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right: perception of the city as a network of separate places connected by infrastructure. there is no coherance and the mental map of every individual inhabitant differs.

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conclusions4.

“Future urban designs could edit surfaces by manipulating lines. In

making lines as opposed to points, the object of manipulation is a natural strategy, and one that does not deny

the existing environment.” (Ohno, 2006, p. 19)

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The statement in the research outline that Tokyo is a prototype of a network city based on mobility by rail seems to be supported by the results form the analysis and comparisons in the previous section. Rooij defines the network city as an entity that functions on three levels. The first level consists of the suppliers of the hardware, the physical elements of the network such as roads, railways, electricity and other systems of infrastructure. Secondly there are the suppliers of network services, providing services as production, consumption and distribution to the third level; the people living their daily life by creating personal networks on the basis of the networks conditioned by the first two levels. (Rooij, 2005, p. 171) The reason that Tokyo works so well as a network city is that there is a lot of coherence between the city’s networks. Infrastructural nodes almost automatically overlap with urban nodes. The rail network and the trains on it (the first and second levels of Rooij’s model) overlap with the networks in the daily life of people; their trips to work or school, local shops and even the network connecting the places they go for recreation and leisure. (The third level of the network city) This overlapping makes it possible for the railway communities described previously to emerge.

connections are essential

Not only do the networks themselves overlap, the connections between them are essential, because in a network city connections are everything. Places that are not connected lose their relevance and as a result cease to exist. (At least for those not in the direct vicinity) In Tokyo this is illustrated by the fact that the neighborhoods between the stations do not exist in the minds of people not living there. (Ohno, 2006, p. 106) From

a conventional point of view it is not understandable that large portions of central Tokyo consist of small and low rise houses. Surely the density of dwellings and functions should be higher in a traditional central city area. However in the network city this phenomenon turns out to be perfectly logical because the notion of spatial centrality becomes insignificant. Instead central functions (with a value as a place) emerge around the nodes, the places where networks cross. The location of the node in physical space is irrelevant in this process, because the node is defined not by its location but by its connectedness with the various networks.

At this point it becomes clear that the necessary (re)integration of urbanism, mobility and architecture, as defined in the introduction on the basis on the research of Calabrese, fits very well in the context of the network city. Because for the network city to function properly the networks of mobility

reflection on research

above: the urbanism of networks. (Rooij, 2005, p.171) (Dupuy, 1991)

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thighways tie them in knots, suburbs destroy their cohesion. It’s one long sob after another.” (Popham, 1985, p.185)

As Calabrese explains, it was the modernists lead by le Corbusier who finally killed the street as a relevant architectural theme. Removed from the realm of the architect, from then on the street was to be a technical space meant for quick and efficient transportation. On the other hand modernism did have its influence in Japan and pieces of it were inserted into the cities, but it failed to have any influence on a larger scale. Just like the Parisian boulevards that were copied into Tokyo, (Omotesando boulevard for example) but they remained individual elements not belonging to a larger system. Because of this the processes that directed the growth and adaptation of western cities would not have much grip on the Japanese urban fabric. In Japan no one bothered to design urban plans on a large scale, so renaissance and modernist ideas of separating urbanism and mobility had only limited effect. This left the basic

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must not be an enclosed technical system but they need to make sense on an urban scale. On an architectural scale the infrastructural network must be connected and related to the activities of the people whom the infrastructure ultimately serves. In other words, a functioning network city cannot emerge without the integration of the networks of urbanism, mobility and architecture.

mobility as a shaping force

In Japan mobility still works as a shaping force. In a similar way as roads and rivers did centuries ago. The particular case of the Japanese city, which is very weak as an independent entity, has enforced this process even more. This is in great contrast to western cities that gradually became separated from the impact of mobility as a result of concepts such as urban beauty in the renaissance or efficiency and functionalism in modernist times. “Western cities, and particularly European cities, seem cast as the permanent fall-guys of the modern world: everything it does causes them grief. New buildings smash their historic patterns,

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mechanisms of mobility in place as the most powerful forces defining urban developments.

The potential results of this reintegration are illustrated by the analysis of Tokyo. The city based on mobility by rail was propelled by the rational economic motives of dominant railway companies. As a result mobility makes sense on the regional scale because it is integrated with all activities taking place in the metropolitan region: from bustling central hubs and smaller sub centers, to residential neighborhoods and recreational areas.

mobility as a paradigm for growth/shrinking

The earliest examples of network cities based on mass mobility as like the plan Obus, Broadacre City and the plans of the Japanese metabolist movement such as the enormous project for Tokyo Bay were all designed for growing cities. Mobility was seen as the solution for providing a place to live for ever more people, in other words: mobility is often a paradigm for growth.

Yet interestingly, it can also be a paradigm for shrinking. The Fibercity 2050 plan hints at how the network mechanism of development based on people’s movements can lead to a concentration of activities and facilities along infrastructural lines, in order for not so well connected areas to shrink in population. It is essential that people and communities do not become disconnected from each other and necessary facilities. Mobility and network urbanism are potential remedies for a shrinking population because they allow a city to grow without increasing its number of inhabitants.

plan for Tokyo Bay. Kenzo Tange, 1960

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above: diagram of node-place dynamics. (Bertolini, 2008)

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unbalanced node

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the role of the station

Consequently this allows stations become genuine nodes where the infrastructural network of mobility intersects with the networks of people’s activities. On the architectural scale the stations are suitable to make full use of their function as a node by providing direct and appealing connections between the infrastructure and the surrounding program and activities.

In addition, the station has a special purpose in the network city. As explained, it is the place where the local scale and routes meet and interact with the regional (or national and even international) scale and its respective paths and routes. For a network city to function properly the stations must so so in a quick and efficient way, linking routes by means of attractive public spaces inside and outside the station. On its local scale the station must be the central element and nearby activities should match its value as a node. Along the infrastructural network activities and program should be accurately distributed in order to create an attractive network community along the transport line. In the end, the station is the gateway from the local scale into the network city.

the peripheral node

Within the network city the peripheral hub plays an interesting role. It is an (arbitrary) place with no special significance of its own. Yet at the same time it is a point where two transport lines or modes intersect, allowing passengers to transfer. For example: a crossing of railway lines, a park and ride facility or an airport.

Such stations developed not because of their location or place value, but mainly because of their importance as a node in the network. Often railway lines cross each other

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physically at different angles. The reason for this is that unlike (urban) areas with a high value as a place there is no need to align railway tracks in a parallel way in order to lay them through an existing built environment. However the effect of this infrastructural junction on the place is often disastrous. A location which had no specific value to start with is even further divided and intersected by large infrastructures crossing each other at different levels. The direct vicinity is usually dominated by parking facilities and leftover spaces. On the next two pages a collection of eight examples of peripheral nodes is shown, illustrating the characteristics mentioned above.

The Japanese urban fabric is very flexible and as described in this thesis the city adapts itself to the infrastructure which is imposed upon it. For peripheral nodes this means that these can easily attract businesses which increase the place value. Peripheral nodes which have plenty of space become sports or large scale shopping destinations. Nodes which have specific natural qualities exploit these and attract facilitate recreational activities. This can as simple as connecting to a nearby waterfront or sport fields. The continuation of local routes is especially important in this case because the location is divided by large infrastructures.

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japanese urban station

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Leidschenveen Randstadrail station. the Netherlands Duivendrecht station. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Sloterdijk station. Amsterdam, the Netherlands Ørestad station. Copenhagen, Denmark

peripheral nodes

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Secaucus Junction. New Jersey, United States Valence TGV station, France

Hialeah tri-rail transfer station. Miami, United States Liverpool South Parkway station, United Kingdom

peripheral nodes

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This part of the research will investigate and demostrate the possibility for ideas and concepts specifically from Japan as found in the previous chapters to be used in the Netherlands. Obviously the Dutch (or western) city and society differs a lot from the Japanese ones. As described before, it was the unique character (or the lack of it) of the Japanese city has resulted in a true network city based on railroads. So while the differences between Asian and Western societies are large, them must certainly not be overestimated. Globalization and the ever-increasing exchange of information are causing every culture and society to change fundamentally. On a global scale old paradigms are becoming obsolete anywhere and the challenges that we face when developing future cities as regional networks are no longer exclusively related to the local context. Because by definition, place becomes less relevant in the network city. The existing city might be Dutch, but the places where the significant future developments will occur: the peripheries and leftover zones between cities, are not necessarily so. With this in mind, it is seems quite logical to find new ideas in unexpected places.

considerations

Nonetheless, it is important to take into account several factors that do lead to major differences between the Dutch and Japanese context. There are numerous authors explaining the fact that Japanese culture favors the collective over the individual on a fundamental level. (Buruma, 2003) It is understandable that this emphasis on collectivism is beneficial for a collective form of mobility like public transport. Furthermore, the Japanese city and its public transport are very

clean and safe, a fact that certainly also stimulates travelling and commuting by train. Factors like these have most likely influenced the emergence of a network city based on rail in a positive way. Yet they are not the fundamental reason why a similar approach cannot work in another context. Because of this, and as a thorough study of Japanese culture would be besides the point of this research, these no doubt influential factors will not be further discussed in detail. Moreover, most findings seem to occur at least to a certain extent in theory and practice outside of Japan.

potential Dutch network city

A second critical aspect to consider is the scale of the Japanese cities. Especially Tokyo, a city of up to 35 million inhabitants -depending on the definition- seems to be incomparable with the Dutch city. At the same time its vastness and fragmented nature mean that it essentially is a conglomerate of urban areas. There are over 15 commuter lines radiating outwards form the center. However, however one can imagine cutting out a slice of the city containing one of these lines and the phenomena occurring along it. In this way the

Delta Metropool. by OMA, 2002.

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results in more direct connections between the station and its surroundings because the routes of the local area converge at the station.

hoog catharijne

Direct connections between the station and its surroundings are essential. Another example to illustrate this is the Hoog Catharijne shopping mall, next to Utrecht Central station. This shopping mall is widely regarded as a barrier lying between the station and the center of Utrecht, the area which most people are headed for when exiting the station. For two reasons the configuration of shopping malls and stations functions better in Japan than at Hoog Catharijne. Firstly, the Japanese shopping mall is located on top of the station, so as a result it is not

results of this research could fit into the Dutch urban region. In most cases of this research the relevance of a finding has been demonstrated on both a large and a smaller scale. For example the type of station dissolving into its context occurs in the enormous composite stations such as Shibuya and Shinjuku, but also on a much smaller scale as the example of Shimokitazawa and the discussion of the T and + patterns illustrates. The metropolitan region of Tokyo contains many amusement parks at railway stations, taking just one would fit in a smaller urban area. Likewise, the parks and other forms of smaller recreation at stations are not essentially dependent at all on an enormous metropolitan context. In short: the differences due to social and cultural factors as well as the population, do exist but are not so fundamental that they would make the Japanese concepts inapplicable in another situation.

central element

The finding that Japanese railway stations often are the central element of their respective area is caused for a great deal by the nature of the Japanese city, of which the urban fabric is relatively flexible. The only way this can be achieved at stations in European urban cores is by moving the station underground, which is often too costly but does keep the urban fabric intact. On the other hand, new developments in unbuilt areas can easily be planned in a way that makes the station the central element. Yet surprisingly this does not normally happen. Almere Centrum station for example, the location of which is at the side of the city center. This placement results in a characteristic T shaped arrangement where the station has a front and backside, making it very similar to the way older Dutch cities are related to the railway. Instead, the Japanese model where the station lies at the center of new developments will lead to an urban model that places mobility at the center. This

node placegeneric

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above: a barrier of generic program prevents a direct connection between the node and the place.

below: by inserting the generic program into the station a direct connection with the place becomes possible.

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mobility and leisure

As discussed previously, the combination of public transport and leisure does exist in a western context. However this is usually limited to large-scale events such as World Expo’s and Olympic Games, or occasionally theme parks. In the Netherlands it is difficult to find even a single example of this. Here lies a lot of potential because railway stations in urban peripheries that mainly have a significant value as a transport node could attract large scale leisure and entertainment, which increases their value as a place. An example of such a station is Amsterdam Duivendrecht.

The integration of public transport and leisure on a smaller scale is even less widespread. In the Netherlands parks and recreation are not a sufficient reason by themselves for the presence of a station. Yet in places where a station already exists for other reasons, they could further improve the surroundings

necessarily a barrier when exiting. The second difference has to do with what place the station mainly serves. In the case of Utrecht this is the city center with its shops, restaurants and cultural functions. In Japan the primary destination in addition to the urban area is the department store on top of the station, which makes its presence more logical than in the case of Hoog Catharijne.

Even though train stations have originally been alien elements in the urban fabric, the slow development of the city has caused them more and more to be central places. Because of this the station as a central element occurs in the Netherlands in many urban locations, yet not to the same extent as in Japan. In contrast, the more peripheral stations are not central elements at all, and they fail to gain any value as a place. In these places the ideas about leisure and mobility from Japan can provide an opportunity for improvement.

stadsuitbreiding Pampus, van den Broek en Bakema, 1964.

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of the station. Connecting the station with recreation networks can enhance their role as both a node and a place. For example: “Met de komst van OV-fiets hebben treinstations zich ontwikkeld tot hubs voor toegang tot het regional groen.” (Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010, p. 54) In the urban region as a network connections are essential, thus it is clear that by increasing the connections between transport, leisure and recreation all three will benefit, improving the quality of life. Small adjustments creating easier access to recreation can result in a much more diverse usage of public transport, especially by families and elderly. And analogous to the Japanese situation, the incorporation of recreation and leisure in the transport network will have a beneficial effect on the network city as a whole.

a community along the line Urban planning along infrastructure is relatively uncommon

in the Netherlands. Even though its benefits are acknowledged and several proposals have been made to promote a ‘corridor aanpak’. Yet as a reliable and fast transportation network develops, this could form the backbone of a network city in the context of the Netherlands. It is essential that the transport network conveniently connects housing and working locations. But for a true community along the line or network city to arise other functions of daily life such as schools, cultural facilities, recreation, shopping and leisure need to be connected as well. On a lower level it is the station that must ensure a direct and easy link between the scale of the network and the local routes. Usually this does not take place, and as a result the separation of the urban (regional) and architectural scale are one of the problems of designing stations.

By developing such a network it becomes possible for separated places to become a joint network city. From a conventional urbanist point of view Almere and Amsterdam are two places separated by a vast lake, which makes the integration between the two cities problematic. Yet from a network urbanism point of view geographic place becomes less relevant, and as a result it becomes possible to create a network city as long as connections are abundant.

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5 KM4 KM7 KM10 KM7 KM 17 KM

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the amsterdam metropolitan region

Both recently as well as in the past there has been much debate and plans about how to improve the connections between the cities of Amsterdam and Almere. From the first moments in the development of the western part of the Flevopolder it has been argued that the two cities should merge and grow (if only ‘psychologically’) towards each other. As will be explained below, the theories about network urbanism and mobility combined with the results from the analysis of Tokyo as a network city provide interesting and valuable clues for how a connection between Amsterdam and Almere can be made. The impact of such a connection can even trigger the development of the entire Amsterdam metropolitan region, roughly from the North sea coast to the eastern side of Almere, into a network based urban region.

The backbone and main element of such a network urban region would be a new metropolitan railway, partially using new infrastructure and partially along existing rail lines. A light rail based system will be used; making the connection fast, frequent and reliable, as a result the inhabitants of the urban region will use it on a daily basis. But it will not only be used by commuters travelling between home and workplace and by people going shopping in Amsterdam. As the main connecting element of the network region, it will attract and facilitate all functions that the metropolitan region offers its inhabitants. Just as happens in Japan, the line will also provide easy access to cultural facilities, leisure, recreation and education throughout the urban region, rendering the geographic location irrelevant. As a result the quality of life for all those living along the line will increase greatly, because all the amenities of the metropolis will be at their disposal, anywhere, anytime.

Zooming into a section of this new infrastructural connection the area between Amsterdam and Almere seems particularly interesting because it provides a unique potential for new developments. Most of the area is formed by the water and nature of the IJ-lake, making an apparent barrier. But when looking at Japanese way of building infrastructure in combination with real estate it is imaginable that over time (floating) neighborhoods will develop along this new connection. Moreover, the new metropolitan railway will also open up new possibilities for leisure and recreation around the IJ-lake, turning the former barrier into an element of attraction on a regional scale. Zeeburgereiland in particular provides the potential for a new hub to appear because of its location on the border between the city and the water, where the new infrastructure crosses the ring road of Amsterdam and connects to other forms of transport. Because of this opportunity, the design project will be focused on the design of this new hub on Zeeburgereiland.

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this page: investigation into the periphery: Ringcultuur, Willem Jan Neutelings, 1988

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above: Infrabodies, Kleinpolderplein. Monolab, 1997-1998above: Eichbaum countdown, boxing ring and opera in a subway station between Essen and Mülheim. Raumlabor Berlin, 2009-2010.

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design project 5.

Amsterdam - Almere: “een nieuwe metropolitane ontwikkelingsas voor

hoogwaardige woonmilieus aan het water, nieuwe, interessante

vestigingslocaties en een veelheid aan recreatiemogelijkheden.”

(Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010, p71)

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The peripheral station on Zeeburgereiland will be the subject of the design project. Urban stations have their problems, but generally work well. The same can not be said of the peripheral station, which -with the development of a network city- is no longer really peripheral. Yet it does not have the same place value as an urban station. In order to seek a solution for the problem the design project will be about inventing a program suitable for the peripheral hub, and creating a station accordingly. Following from these, a specific set of programmatic requirements as well as a broader range of objectives for the design project will be established.

zeeburgereiland as a node

Zeeburgereiland, which currently is largely undeveloped, will be on the route of the new regional transport link serving the Amsterdam metropolitan region from Almere to the Norh Sea coast. At the point where the new line intersects the existing A10 ring road a P+R station will be developed. In addition there will also be connections to bus lines, a fast ferry, and a tram line 26. Future developments planned by the municipality of Amsterdam include the extension of several more tram lines (lines 7 an 14) to Zeeburgereiland, not at least because the current line 26 to IJburg is used beyond its capacity. The policy regarding P+R sites is to locate these at multi-modal nodes along the A10 ring road and other major roads. Currently the site is home to two P+R sites, together providing space for 650 cars and 20 touringcars, but because the node value of a transferium at Zeeburgereiland will greatly increase this number will be inadequate in the future. Finally the municipality proposes a new east-west metro line, preliminary designs show that this line would terminate at Muiderpoort station. Yet taking into

account the developments on Zeeburgereiland, it is very well possible to extend this metro line towards the new transport hub. (Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010) The maps show these infrastructural developments on the scale of the metropolitan region as well as the local scale, demonstrating the potential value of this location as a node.

The transit flows through the new hub on will have three main underlying motivations. Firstly the station is as a transfer point between regional transport systems (metro, fast ferry) as well as transfers to local transport systems such as trams, busses and bikes. Secondly its excellent connections and proximity to the highway will make it an important P+R transferium, turning it into a gateway where people leave there cars as they continue their journey into the metropolitan region. Lastly the transport

project proposal

P+R sites around Amsterdam.

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the accessibility. In addition the place value can potentially be enhanced by utilizing the attractive waterfront location for recreational functions such as a beach and watersports center. The symbiotical relationship between the station and its surroundings as described previously will cause the node value of the hub to increase along with its value as a place. Furthermore the value of the transport system as a whole will increase by providing access to a much wider range of activities, which will have a beneficial effect on the entire network city. In other words, the transport system in a network urban region should provide access to the whole range of features the metropolitan region has to offer, including leisure and recreation.

On the scale of the station the most important result form the research is that in a succesful network city the station is the central element in its surroundings, the point where local routes cross and converge. In existing (static) Dutch urban fabric this state is difficult to attain, but because the site at Zeeburgereiland is empty and undeveloped the station has the potential to become the focus point of the area. Furthermore, an important ambition for the design project is to facilitate the transition from the local scale to the scale of the network and for the building to fit into both scales. This combination of scales is what makes the transport hub a remarkable place, as a result it allows for a wide range of programmatical possibilities. “The overlap of different scales of movement networks and their intensity provide a spatial condition, which can support mixed urban functions.” (Kusumo, 2007)

hub will serve the local areas of Zeeburgereiland and the western part of IJburg. On the island itself 5500 new houses are planned, along with several attractors on a regional scale such as 3 high schools, sports facilities, event space and a large marina. (Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010, pp. 68-69)

zeeburgereiland as a place

From the above, the potential value of Zeeburgereiland as a node becomes clear. But in contrast the value of the hub as a place according to Bertolini’s model of node-place dynamics is not so well defined. On one hand the location along the water on the edge of the city is attractive, yet on the other hand the dominance of large scale infrastructure makes it an unsuitable place for housing. The accessibility would make it a good location for offices, but these are currently being focused mainly on the Zuidas, as well as to a lesser extent Sloterdijk and the southeastern part of Amsterdam. The value of the Zeeburgereiland transport hub as a place becomes apparent when looking at the results of the research regarding leisure. The examples from Japan show the beneficial effects of combining mobility and leisure, and studies such as Neutelings’ Ringcultuur show that in the European city the fringes along highways are characterized by large scale entertainment, leisure and shopping. Forced out of the city because of their large size and need for accessibility these big boxes are situated along highways and infrastructure on the edge of the city. However the concepts of network urbanism show that these peripheral places can actually become central places in a network city.

As a result the value of the Zeeburgereiland hub as a place will be determined mainly by its potential for large scale shopping and amusement complexes, benefiting from

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FESTIVAL

WATER RECREATION

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infrastructure Zeeburgereiland

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“Met de visie op hoogbouw volgens de beschreven vier bewegingen worden de koppen van sommige scheggen door hoogbouw geaccentueerd, daar waar stad en scheg elkaar treffen: Amstel, Zuidas, Brettenzone, Zeeburgereiland. Hoewel hoogbouw in de groene scheggen natuurlijk uit den boze is, is het denkbaar op de koppen van scheggen zonder knooppunt accentuering door hoogbouw in te zetten.”


“Met de drievoudige schaal- sprong in en rondom het IJmeer, beschreven in de raambrief, worden Amsterdam en Almere veel beter met elkaar verbon-den; door een nieuwe metropolitane ontwikkelingsas voor hoogwaardige woonmilieus aan het water, nieuwe, interessante vestigingslocaties en een veelheid aan recreatiemogelijkheden. Een ontwikkelingsas die ondenkbaar is zonder IJmeerverbinding.”


“Parkeer+reisvoorzieningen voor incidentele binnenstadbezoekers en toeristen zullen gecreëerd moeten worden op aanvullende locaties aan multimodale knooppunten rond de ringweg A10 en langs de belangrijkste invalswegen. Essentieel zijn een hoogfrequente ov-bediening, ook later op de avond voor cultuurbezoekers, en nabijheid van de op-/afrit zodat de overstaptijd tot een minimum beperkt blijft.”

(Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010, p.40)

“In Amsterdam overstijgt de aanvraag voor evenementen het aanbod aan ruimte ruimschoots. Er zijn te weinig plekken waar een groot aantal mensen veilig plezier kan maken zonder dat anderen er veel overlast van ondervin-den, die bovendien uitstekend bereik-baar zijn.”


“een hov-verbinding vanuit de Indische buurt naar Zeeburgereiland is gewenst, zeker gezien het intensieve ruimtelijke programma op Zeeburgereiland.”

(Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2010, p.40) relevant

excerpts from the Amsterdam metropolitan region structure plan:

“Daarnaast kunnen er op een aantal strategische plekken groentransferia worden ingericht met fiets- en /of kanoverhuur en routes. Het is door-gaans niet mogelijk zijn om groot-schalige ov-voorzieningen in de vorm van stations of metrohaltes voor alleen recreatief groengebruik rendabel te maken. Alleen in combinatie met een grootschalig evenemententerrein zijn er wellicht kansen. Het is dan ook zaak om zoveel mogelijk voort te bouwen op bestaande of in aanleg zijnde ov-lijnen.”


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programmatical studyZeeburgereiland

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peripheries. A mega-supermarket fits both sides, attracting people for big grocery shopping and food events, yet at the same time it can be combined with station functions such as a kiosk or to-go supermarket. The supermarket will be comparable to the French Hypermarkets, featuring non-food shops and restaurants as well as small-scale events and food workshops.

A vital function of the transport hub is its role enabling interaction between the local scale and the regional scale of the network. A network city arises when the local scale is put into direct and easy contact with the regional scale, so this is a crucial ambition for the design project. In other words, the building should make sense on a local scale as well as a larger, infrastructural scale. The transport hub will be the gateway to the network city, and its design should reflect this. Because this site is currently undeveloped the transport hub will become the central element, as is described in the research examples. If the design succeeds in this, the leisure and entertainment functions around the station will have a beneficial effect on the network city as a whole.

programmatical study

A study of passenger numbers at existing stations in the Netherlands show that the potential number of people transferring at the Zeeburgereiland hub will be at least 20.000, and possibly more. Examples of such peripheral transfer stations are: Schiedam Centrum: 12.465, Duivendrecht: 21.153 and Sloterdijk: 39.555. (Data over 2006, ProRail) The hub on Zeeburgereiland will be of similar or larger scale, and will have a comparable amount of facilities such as toilets, waiting areas, information desks and offices. In addition café/kiosk and to-go supermarket are required. As explained above, an important part of the station’s node value consists of its function as a P+R transferium, a place where people leave their car to travel further into the network city by metro, tram or bus.

The large number of people traversing through the transport hub makes it an attractive place for more retail functions. The type of retail needs to be able to serve daily commuters as well as saturday leisure shopping taking place at highway

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project drawings & images

Almere Parkwijk

Almere M

uziekwijk

Almere Strand

Almere Centrum

Steigereiland

Vennepluimstraat

tram

line 26

amsterdam-almere metro

Diemerparklaan

Ruisrietstraat

Theo van Goghpark

P. Oosterhuisstraat

IJBURG

fast ferrytowards Almere, Lelystad or Huizen

Pampuseiland

IJburg Centrum

Amsterdam

Noord

Buikslotermeerplein

Zaandam

A10

NORTH

A10

EAST/S

OUTH

Muiderpoort

Weesperplein

Vijzelgracht

Amsterdam Zuid

Schiphol Airport

oost-west metro line

slow traffic route to central Amsterdam

recreation route along Diemerpark

(groene scheg)

Amsterdam

CS

Sloterdijk

Haarlemmerplein

Rietlandpark

Haarlem

Zandvoort

CENTRAL AMSTERDAM

events

SHOP

site plan

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intro

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concept diagram

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node

placecommercial areafacilitiesservices

public area

100 m

metro platforms

elevator to platform

walking routea full walk around is 530m which takes about 6 minutes.

the open area is approximately 9000 square meters in total.

main route for transfers

service entrance

building layout

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cross section

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SHOP

WATER BUFFERwarm in wintercold in summer

WATER BUFFERwarm in winter

cold in summer

smart grid

ELECTRIC CARPARKcharging with excess electricityuse as buffer at peak demand

solarenergy

energy diagram

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skyline Almer

e

IJmeer

rural north

IJ

IJburg

Bovendiep

skyline Amsterdam

A10

Zeeburgereiland void

views diagram

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waterside view

views diagram

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Amsterdam

Noord

Buikslotermeerplein

Oostzaan

Zaandam IJburg Centrum

Centraal Station

Haarlemmerplein

Station Sloterdijk

Halfweg

Zandvoort

Station Muiderpoort

Weesperplein

Pampuseiland

Almere Strand

Almere Muziekwijk

Almere Centrum

Almere Parkwijk

Vijzelgracht

Amsterdam

Zuid

Schiphol Airport

tram 26 to: IJburg

tram 4 + 17 to: Slotermeer

Zuiderzeeweg

Steigereiland

Vennepluimstraat

Diemerparklaan

Ruisrietstraat

Theo van Gogh park

Rietlandpark

Centrumeiland

Middeneiland

Strandeiland

Buiteneiland

Flevopark

Insulindeweg

Soembawastraat

Wibautstraat

Station MuiderpoortPassenger Terminal

Jan Schaeferbrug

exterior view

exterior view night

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exterior view

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platform view

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At the basis of the graduation project “Mobility in network cities: The peripheral hub” lies a fascination for the city of Tokyo. The starting point of the Explorelab research was to investigate mobility by rail in Tokyo, and its consequences for the urban environment.

Gradually the scope of the research has been broadened. Tokyo is just an example of a city that functions according to the principles of network urbanism, as developed by Dupuy and others. As cities have grown ever larger and rely more and more on infrastructural systems the way people perceive the city changes fundamentally. Hidetoshi Ohno, who describes that in Tokyo the geographical understanding of the city consisting of spatial relationships has been replaced by a diagrammatical understanding based on a train system, illustrates this. The urban fabric is no longer continuous but consists of several smaller areas which have a significance to a particular inhabitant (places to live, work, etc.). These “islands” or patches are connected merely by a diagrammatical network which makes their spatial relationship irrelevant. The features of network urbanism can be particularly interesting for a context such as the Amsterdam metropolitan region which is to big to be a conventional urban area, yet its network characteristics are not very well developed. This problem is especially clear in the case of Amsterdam and Almere, which has been the location of the design project. Between these two nearby cities there is a clear goal to link them closer together “psychologically”. But because of the IJmeer lake which separates the two cities this is geographically impossible. Instead strategies from network urbanism should be used to transform the Amsterdam metropolitan area from a region based on geographical relationships to one based on network relationships.

reflection

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The train or metro station is the point which links the individual patches of the city to the network and as such it is a vital point of transformation where one moves from a local scale to the bigger scale of the network. This dual character of the station leads to a system of node-place dynamics, as developed by Bertolini. This node-place relationship has become the central theme of the design project for a station on Zeeburgereiland, lying between Amsterdam and Almere. At a crossing of several proposed metro lines as well as easy accessibility by car it is an important node. However as a place its potential is not used at all, in other words: the location is an important node firstly and as a consequence can develop into an important place as well.

Peripheral hubs typically emerge at crossings of different infrastructure, providing a place to transfer from one to another. As a result the immediate surroundings are dominated by infrastructure providing not much chance for the node to develop into an equally significant place. In the proposed hub on Zeeburgereiland therefore a fundamentally different approach is chosen for the layout of the station. By introducing a loop-like plan it is possible to connect all the different places around the station while at the same time providing access to the railway lines. Instead of breaking existing routes the loop provides a continuation and even possibilities for new routes to emerge.

The use of a loop also results in an inside and outside area. This division is used to arrange the organization of the station building: functions associated with the node such as rail platforms and generic commercial program are assigned to the inside of the loop. This allows the area outside of the loop to maintain its specific character as a place. The resulting

space inside of the loop is turned into a spectacular climax of infrastructural elements: rail lines and roads cross each other enclosed by a glass façade. The loop itself is the connecting element between both worlds, and provides a direct view of both. As a result the local qualities of the place and the generic qualities of the node are presented opposite to each other, the resulting contrast thus strengthening the characteristics of both worlds.

The combination of place and node is also used to define the different spatial parts of the building. The base is shaped according to its surroundings: a quay along the water a bridge over the highway or a place to sit facing the sun. Its relationship with the place is emphasized by the use of stone-like tactile materials. On the other hand the roof is shaped and finished in an abstract way and refers to the station as a node in the network on a larger scale. The roof fulfills the requirement of the station to be a recognizable sign along the highway, intangible and to be seen from a distance or at high speeds.

The design acknowledges the position of the station as both a place as well as a node, and it seeks to intensify the characteristics of both. The result is a new type of station, derived from its condition as a hub in a peripheral location.

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Mobility in Network Cities - The Peripheral Hub

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