In Tokyo, opposition to the redevelopment of a historic district does not weaken

In February, Tokyo City Hall approved the project to transform the Jingu Gaien district, currently made up of numerous green spaces and sports facilities including the Meiji Jingu baseball stadium, the oldest in the capital, dedicated to this very popular sport in Japan.

The project involves the construction of several skyscrapers and the replacement of existing baseball and rugby stadiums with new enclosures.

A total of 743 trees must be felled, a spokesperson for real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, one of the project leaders, told AFP on Monday.

This number was 892 initially. “We continue to study how to preserve” as many trees as possible, underlined this spokesperson.

Because beyond their environmental and ornamental virtues, many trees in the neighborhood were donated by citizens a century ago, when this haven of greenery was created in homage to Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), who oversaw the modernization of Japan.

Jingu Gaien is “an exceptional example of a citizen urban park”, which makes it “unparalleled in the history of urban parks around the world”, argued the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) in a “heritage alert " published on September 7.

The redevelopment project, which is due to start this month, risks leading to the destruction of around 3.000 trees in total, according to Icomos, an organization of experts which advises Unesco on the protection of world heritage.

This NGO also called for the immediate withdrawal of the project as it stands, which was approved “in the absence of appropriate dialogue with local citizens and other stakeholders”.

The Tokyo government and the project's developers will argue that the number of trees and green spaces will actually increase with the redevelopment of the district.

With only 7,5% of its surface area occupied by parks and public gardens (2015 figures), Tokyo is one of the least green cities among the 39 global metropolises making up the World Cities Culture Forum network.