Tokyo Mapping - The city of the rising sun shows the merits and demerits of our future | The Plan
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Tokyo Mapping - The city of the rising sun shows the merits and demerits of our future

Tokyo Mapping - The city of the rising sun shows the merits and demerits of our future
By Andrea Boschetti, Federico Parolotto -

After Singapore and Beijing, our investigation of the great cities of the Far East now turns to Japan and the super-modern urban conglomeration of Tokyo where 10% of the Japanese population - over 13 million people - resides, making it the second most populous city in the East after Beijing. Post-war urban development created the “Greater Tokyo Area” extending over more than 13,500 sq km, an immense swathe home to more than 35 million people, the most densely populated area in the world.
Once again, our GIS maps present comparable scientific data in a pleasing form. The colour coding results for Tokyo mirror the vibrant multi-coloured character for which the Japanese capital is famous. The first map - population distribution - is, as always, the key yardstick for understanding a city against the other four maps featuring geographical features, service provision, public transport density, and green areas respectively.
The population map shows brutally clearly the immense extension of the city and how most inhabitants are crowded into suburban districts. Like many other metropolises, Tokyo is no exception in the low-density population of its central area.
Tokyo has a hub-and-spoke layout. In the centre is the Imperial Palace surrounded by its splendid park.
The geographical map shows a city built for the most part lying on the flat: the vast plain of Kanto traversed by the rivers of Tama, Edo and Sumida. The urban area is, however, enclosed by two hills on each side and overlooks the bay of Tokyo on the southwest.
Like many other cities examined in CityPlan, the neighbourhood with the largest number of hotels, commercial and tertiary activities - in this case the area overlooking the bay - enjoys the most dense public transport service, one of the best in the world.
Tokyo’s overland rail system is astoundingly efficient. Yamanote, one of the main lines running in a circle through the historic centre carries millions...

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