「渋谷を駄目にした 鉄道会社どもーー再開発は100年に1度の「大失敗」」 “The Railway Companies That Ruined Shibuya — A Once-in-a-Century Redevelopment Disaster.”
…という有料記事を見つけた。渋谷再開発が行き詰まっている。渋谷スクランブルスクエア、渋谷ストリームをはじめ高層ビルが続々建ち上がり、渋谷の弱点である高低差を解消する歩行者デッキも建設中だが、テナントを埋めるのに苦労する商業施設、客の入らない店が少なくない。高層化で建物容積が大膨張したほどには渋谷への需要がなく、雑然とした都市の魅力が消えたこともある。「街づくり」といいながら局所的不動産バブルを狙った東急グループ、JR東日本、東京メトロなど「鉄道屋」の限界が残酷なほど渋谷に映し出されている。「渋谷には空がない」。高村光太郎の詩集『智恵子抄』ではないが、最近、渋谷駅周辺で見上げる空は極端に狭くなった。日本有数の繁華街の土地から最大限の賃貸料を稼ごうという東急、JR東日本などの邪心が高層ビルで空を塞いだからだ。罪滅ぼしに山手線などを跨ぎ、高層ビル間をつなぐ歩行者用自由通路を建設する予定だ。 だが、地面に足をつけて人々が行き交う街路と空中の歩行者デッキは似て非なるものだ。街路は昔ながらの土地に根付いた店が…ここから先は有料になるが、私はたまたまSmartNewsの無料枠の残りで読むことができた。ざっくりと要約すると、おおむね以下のようなことだ。各鉄道会社が部分最適で資産の最大限の活用と賃貸収入の最大化を目指した結果、供給過剰を起こし、後発のビルや立地のやや不便なところは空きテナントが目立つ。景観的には、ニョキニョキと高層テナントビルばかりが立ち並び、高層ビル同士を空中回廊でつなげようとしているが、同様の香港などのように味わいのある街並みが地上に残っているわけでもなく、渋谷の街としての味わいが希薄になってきている。大阪がグラングリーン大阪で実現したような、来訪者が長く留まりたいと思わせるような緑地空間もない。渋谷と同様の再開発がさかんな新宿も似たようなことになるのではないか。まあたしかに、私も最近できた「アクシュ」の空きテナントの目立つ内部やサクラステージの閑散とした様子を見て、テナントの供給過剰感は感じるところだ。そもそも、いろいろな名前のビルが乱立しているが、どこがどこなのかきちんと把握していないし、またそれぞれの商業施設にどんな特徴があるのかもわかりずらい。ちなみにこの図は、SakuraStageのサイトから拝借した。たしかにこのところ商業ビルばかりが乱立しているイメージは強いが、個々に見れば、渋谷SKYとか、MIYASHITA PARKとか、買い物以外にも魅力的なところはあるし、渋谷川のせせらぎを再現した渋谷ストリームの周辺などはよい感じに再開発が進んだと思うのだが。もう少し各商業施設が連携して、渋谷の街としての魅力を発信したほうがよいのではないかと思う。I came across this article.Shibuya’s redevelopment appears to be stalling. While skyscrapers like Shibuya Scramble Square and Shibuya Stream have been rising one after another, and a pedestrian deck is under construction to resolve the drastic elevation differences—long a weakness of the district—many commercial facilities are struggling to fill their tenants, with some shops seeing scant customer traffic. The demand for Shibuya has not grown nearly enough to justify the explosive increase in floor area that accompanied these high-rise projects, and the district’s erstwhile charm—rooted in its lively disorder—has faded. Despite their talk of “urban development,” the limitations of the so-called “railway operators” such as the Tokyu Group, JR East, and Tokyo Metro—whose true aim was a localized real-estate bubble—are being laid bare in Shibuya with ruthless clarity.“There is no sky in Shibuya.” As if recalling Kotaro Takamura’s poetry collection Chiekoshō, the sky visible around Shibuya Station has recently grown extremely narrow. The ulterior motive of Tokyu, JR East, and others to maximize rental revenue from Japan’s prime downtown land has resulted in skyscrapers that shut out the sky. Their attempt at atonement takes the form of elevated pedestrian walkways spanning the Yamanote Line and connecting high-rise buildings.However, there is a world of difference between a street at ground level—where people walk with their feet on the earth—and an elevated pedestrian deck. Traditional street-level stores that have long taken root…The remainder of the article required payment, but I happened to be able to read it using the remaining free quota on SmartNews. To summarize, it said roughly the following:Because each railway company has sought to maximize the value of its assets and rental income from a narrow, self-serving perspective, the result has been oversupply. Newer buildings and those in slightly less convenient locations are particularly plagued with vacant lots. Visually, rows of sprouting high-rise tenant buildings have thinned out Shibuya’s distinctive feel as a city. Although they are now trying to link buildings with elevated walkways—much like in Hong Kong—the ground-level streetscape lacks the charm found in comparable cities, diminishing Shibuya’s overall appeal. With no genuine urban-planning vision, Shibuya also lacks green spaces where people would want to linger, such as those realized in Osaka’s Grand Green Osaka redevelopment. The article suggests that Shinjuku, which is undergoing similar redevelopment, may end up facing the same issues.Indeed, when I recently walked through Akusyu, I was struck by how many units remained empty, and Sakura Stage felt rather deserted as well—clear signs of oversupply. The problem, I feel, is that so many new buildings have emerged with so many different names that I can no longer keep track of which is which, nor can I easily grasp what makes each commercial facility distinctive.(The diagram above is taken from the Sakura Stage website.)While it’s true that Shibuya feels increasingly overrun with commercial buildings, some places are quite appealing on their own—such as Shibuya SKY and MIYASHITA PARK, both of which offer experiences beyond shopping. The area around Shibuya Stream also turned out rather nicely, with the redevelopment reproducing the murmuring of the Shibuya River. Still, I think the various commercial complexes would do well to coordinate more closely in order to better communicate Shibuya’s overall appeal as a cohesive city.