Tokyo "Green Biz" project eyes business of developing city's green spaces

The Tokyo metropolitan government in July revealed measures to develop and harness the Japanese capital’s green spaces in order to tackle social issues over the next 100 years, through a project tentatively named “Green Biz.”

Citing changes in the functions required of cities and the values held by residents, the metropolitan government is eyeing Tokyo’s greenery as a means to help develop solutions for social issues that include the challenge of adapting to a changing climate and an increasing demand for green spaces realized during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the tentative name “Green Biz,” the new project will seek to build on initiatives to "protect," "increase and maintain," and "utilize" Tokyo’s greenery, working with residents of the capital as well as businesses and organizations to enhance its value.  

Green Biz will be part of a larger green urban development project in Tokyo looking forward to the next century. 

“With our eyes set on the next 100 years, we will work together with Tokyo citizens to further enhance the value of greenery, giving a sense of ease and richness to people’s daily life, and pass our urban green spaces to the future,” said a metropolitan government press release. 

Speaking to reporters on July 28 Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike highlighted a proposed “tree bank” among the measures under consideration to help protect the capital’s greenery.

Under the proposed measure, trees in Tokyo facing removal would be saved and kept safe in a tract of land owned by the metropolitan government ready to be transplanted for use in the development of new parks, among others.

“We will preserve precious trees and pass them on to the next generation and under the Tokyo Green Biz banner we will promote the creation of a city where people can live with greenery with a view to the next 100 years,” Koike said. 

Other proposed measures under the project include the promotion of green infrastructure systems like rooftop greening and a stormwater infiltration greenbelt (rain garden) to limit the flow of harmful materials. 

Through past initiatives the metropolitan government said it has steadily pushed ahead with its efforts to increase greenery in the capital. 

The total area of metropolitan parks open to the public as of 2022 was 2055 hectares, up from 2006 hectares in 2014, according to data cited by the Green Biz project organizers.

The green coverage ratio in Tokyo’s central wards of Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato has also increased in recent years, up to 23.22 percent in Chiyoda (as of 2018), 10.7 percent in Chuo (as of 2017), and 22.62 percent in Minato (as of 2021).

In the meantime however, the metropolitan government continues to come under fire for its approval of a controversial plan to redevelop the Jingu Gaien district near the Japan National Stadium, an area famous for its avenue of ginkgo trees. Opponents of the Jingu Gaien Redevelopment Project say it will see hundreds of trees cut down to make way for a high-rise complex not due for completion until 2023. 

The metropolitan government recognizing the increasing need for open green spaces due to the COVID-19 outbreak may also raise eyebrows among critics after government-owned parks in Tokyo were closed to the public during much of the pandemic, arguably at a time when such spaces were most in need.

In early August an advisory board was established to seek consultation with experts and help promote the Green Biz project. The board was due to hold its first session on August 10.