| This Big City

Sep

Tokyo Tanuki: Learning from Mythical and Real Urban Animals

Categories: Arts and Culture, Asia and the Pacific, People

by Chris Berthelsen

Investigating urban animals offers unexpected insights for remaking city life. Animal architecture helps us look past materials and structures, turning our focus to creating cities that are adaptable and responsive to interaction and sharing. Read more

Apr

Seven Ideas from Tokyo for Child-Friendly Spaces

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Placemaking, Planning

Tags: cc, children, Tokyo

Comments: No

by Chris Berthelsen

If we want to begin to understand how children live in their environment, we must stop giving them things and instead give them the opportunity to show us the spaces in which they move around. Here's 7 ideas from Tokyo on how to do just that. Read more

Feb

Framework for Neighbourhood Creative Climate

Categories: Community, People

Tags: cc, creativity, neighbourhoods

Comments: No

by Chris Berthelsen

The kind of creativity we need to value is the desire of ordinary people to improve their everyday lives and environments. This is not anything to do with ideas of the creative industries, creative class, or creative cities and nothing to do with economic growth. Read more

Oct

The Non-Intentional Landscape of Tokyo

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Community, People

Tags: cc, Tokyo, urban asia

Comments: 1

by Chris Berthelsen

Like all organic systems, cities fare better without central planning. Additive, centrifugal, Tokyo starts with individual parts and expands. Proliferates. Undefined. Unclear centers. Looser and ambiguous, freedom is valued over regularity of form and clarity of outline. Read more

Sep

Small Places of Anarchy in the City: Three Investigations in Tokyo

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Community, People

Tags: cc

Comments: 2

by Chris Berthelsen

Tokyo, a city of parts where the individual defines the large scale shows the elimination of the hierarchical city, quietly dismissing accumulated forms of power in favour of a situation in which everyone is free to realise their possibilities. Read more