FIXing The Neighbourhood: Investigations in Suburban Tokyo

Presentation For: Transforming Neighborhoods - Tokyo / Berlin @Institute for Information Design Japan by Chris Berthelsen (a-small-lab)
chris@a-small-lab.com
People play with things and find new uses for them
(Lynch, 1984:157);
Messy and spontaneous, individually created, everyday expressions of the creativity of everyday people in all of its facets.
A response to the environment, a reflection of society, culture, and traditions (Jonas, 2007).
Change reconciles with the idea

and
people feel joy, as opposed to mere pleasure

of improvement
(Illich, 1973:17). (Koolhaus, 2002)
Neighbourhood Creative Climate

Intrinsic motivation
Sketching for Usable Cities
FIXING the Neighbourhood:

Investigations in Suburban Tokyo Chris Berthelsen a-small-lab.com
FIXING the Neighbourhood:

Investigations in Suburban Tokyo Chris Berthelsen (chris@a-small-lab.com) a-small-lab.com 3 small projects a-small-lab.com/fixes/ ( tokyo-diy-gardening.org(
a-small-lab.com/projects/kokonohanashi/(
MAIN LINKS
Website: http://a-small-lab.com Fixes Project: http://a-small-lab.com/fixes/ (resource) and http://a-small-lab.com/projects/fixes/ (project overview) Flickr Sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-small-lab/collections/72157623668988392/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening: http://tokyo-diy-gardening.org Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop MAP: http://tokyo-diy-gardening.org/tokyo-diy-gardening-workshop-map/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening: Personal Impact of Urban Green Space MODEL: http://tokyo-diy-gardening.org/personal-impact-of-urban-green-space/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop WRITE UP: http://greenz.jp/en/2010/11/01/tokyo-diy-gardening-interactive-map-ready-for-exploring/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop WRITE UP: http://www.3331.jp/news/en/201008/000564.html Kokonohanashi Project: http://a-small-lab.com/projects/kokonohanashi/ Kokonohanashi WRITE UP: For references to literature, concepts etc in just ask!
http://tokyogreenspace.com/2010/11/04/%e3%81%93%e3%81%93%e3%81%ae%e8%a9%b1-koko-no-hanashi-talking-about-here/
Main Theme > Intrinsic Motivation can trump external forces (design, planning, good intentions, etc etc). > A plan/strategy for increasing + sustaining intrinsic motivation should be central to any proposed project or solution for cities and citizens (and in the context of this workshop, the elderly). > A modified creative climate framework (from social psychology research in business/research organizations) provides a promising starting point.
Structure of this presentation 001:

> Trigger/Context quotes & notes on control, the radical monopoly of space, and the hope that can be held for citizen power. > Examples of the fine grained ways that regular citizens solve problems and mold their environments (from FIXES and Tokyo-DIY-Gardening projects). > Sketching for Usable Cities overview (Agile, Robust, Fine Grained) > Personal benefits of sketching (or DIY, non-intentional design whatever you want to call it). > Notes on location: Scattered Use, Scattered Uchi how the one person's 'Uchi' can be dispersed throughout the city. Implications for the 'non-intentional landscape'. The (non-linear) development/growth of the city as an aggregate of fine grained, non-connected individual actions. > Round up of first half of presentation.
Structure of this presentation 002:

> Imagining/Constructing/Discussing/Debating the non-intentional landscape of Tokyo Interactive workshop at 3331 Arts Chiyoda example. > Brief implications/directions - Q&A > Introducing 'Neighbourhood Creative Climate' framework (Creativity, Components of Creativity, etc). > An experiment in 'trying to do something' in the neighbourhood the Kokonohanashi project overview. Aims: (1) investigate systems for citizen discussion about place. (2) investigate creative climate perceptions (researcher-as-subject.) > Roundup. > Comments, anger, etc work with participants to flesh out Neighbourhood Creative Climate framework from a Japanese perspective.
The abstract, faceless conquest of Space by Man the limitation of place for men Our city illness has a basic motive , a common denominator; A single mechanism by which it most disturbs urbanites. This is the loss of control.
(capitalized) (in small letters) (Ellul, 1964:328). (Lynch, 1984:364)
The message is clear: You cannot do as you please; your actions do not make any difference."
The Radical Monopoly of Space: a major tool rules out natural competence, imposing compulsory consumption and thereby restricting personal autonomy. It constitutes a special kind of social control because it is enforced by means of the
imposed consumption of a standard product that only large institutions can provide .
(Illich, 1973:35)
people give up their native ability to do what they can do for themselves and for each other, in exchange for something better that can be done for them only by a major tool
(Illich, 1973:36)
Verbs become nouns. We no longer garden or play or cycle the city of the fully industrialized man has (calls his own) gardens and playgrounds and cycling tracks which are made for him. Now, space is stated in terms of a commodity and claims are made in terms of competition for scarce resources (see e.g Illich, 1973:56). The actor has become the consumer, who gambles for perceived nouns.
The components for self-building of the city can be easily and cheaply made available. People
could build, adapt, create and modify, while at the same time learning about materials, systems and relationships. But instead,
government and commercialities deposit roads, apartment blocks, parks, green spaces, roof gardens, barbeque zones, and other built environmental components into the city - the
professionally built is defined as the functional unit, and the selfbuilt is stamped as a shanty
(Illich, 1973:41).
When consumers gain more confidence in a product (those lovely, safe and green) the victory only increases societys dependence at the cost and frustration of
Consumer protection, better spaces and planning are insufficient. those who cannot or would prefer not to partake (Illich, 1973:37). While the organized selfprotection of the addict-consumer immediately raises the quality of the dope and the power of the peddler, it may lead ultimately to limits (Illich, 1973:37).
Discerning consumers (citizens? modifiers/gardeners?city creators/curators?) may discover that they can do better by doing things for themselves.
The most powerful way of improving our environment then is to put the control of it into the hands of its immediate users who have the stake and knowledge to make it function well (Lynch, 1984:165).
The last great force in the city is the residents themselves their creative response to change is their ultimate guarantee of survival
(Orum and Chen:18); (Lynch, 1984:172).

> Examples of the fine grained ways that regular citizens solve problems and mold their environments (from FIXES and Tokyo-DIY-Gardening projects).
Public Seating
Safety.
Access.
When access becomes difficult
Fix it.
In a city with scarce space and dirt, make it yourself....
Even on a 10cm wide curb....
Or on the sidewalk.
Or in a highrise.
Or on a precarious brick wall.
Or along the railroad tracks.
Flower lovers share their passion...
Grape-obsessed Shibuya-ites.....
Basil
DEAD SPACE What appears to be dead space...
Is home to fresh red peppers.
Maintaing a dead spouse's neighbourhood park garden...
DEAD SPACE What appears to be run-down dead space
Becomes a lush living fence that beautifies the vacant lots
An plays host to lovely flora....
The work of neighbourhood misfits
Is actually a tomato garden.
People who often visit the neighbours
Create their own access-ways.
Placing rubbish bins where they are needed.
Animals KEEP OUT!
With intricate, flexible and affordable construction.
Even pedestrian smokers find a way to keep the street (if not the air) clean.
Dark apartment complexes call for home-made street lights.
And when you're sick of people asking you how to find the station, you stick up some signs.
Bricks are a key element in bicycle parking.
Foxface decorates an inner city garden
Even when it's out of season (fruit are tied on with plastic ties)
In the suburbs, where Jazz clubs are scarce, you need to make your own..
And golf lovers construct a 'fold away' 9-hole course in the local park.
ad infinitum
Quick, timely, inexpensive, disposable, plentiful, distinct, minimal, ambiguous, beta, open, hopeful, seeking

Agile
Sketching for Usable Robust Cities
Agile
Agile
Flexibility, adaptability to local & personal needs and opportunities

(Turner & Roberts, 1975)
Fine Grained
Agile
Flexibility, adaptability to local & personal needs and opportunities

(Turner & Roberts, 1975)
Granularity
Developers, Govt = Coarse grained cities
(e.g Turner & Roberts, 1975)
= tension, friction, mismatch, waste

= the first to suffer are the weak
Granularity
Developers, Govt = Coarse grained cities
(e.g Turner & Roberts, 1975)
= tension, friction, mismatch, waste

= the first to suffer are the weak Local action, entrepreneurship etc = fine grain

= better matched needs = security
= efficient and effective
=good for people
Personal Effects/
Long time
Social Norms Memory Community Functional Affordable Mutual dependence Pleasure Immediate Indpendence Emotional
Aesthetics
Practical
Based on informal chats, discussions, interviews, our own experience, and research into Tokyos informal landscapes (especially the great work of Mariluise Jonas)
Scattered use, Scattered Uchi

=involvement, care, peace of mind over scale
Dwelling
City
> Notes on location: Scattered Use, Scattered Uchi how the one person's 'Uchi' can be dispersed throughout the city. Implications for the 'non-intentional landscape'. The (non-linear) development/growth of the city as an aggregate of fine grained, nonconnected individual actions.
Scattered Uchi
Home
Dwelling
Scattered Uchi
Surrounds
Home
Dwelling
Scattered Uchi
Surrounds Opposite Footpath
Frontage
Footpath Dwelling
Home
Scattered Uchi
Neighbourhood
Surrounds Surrounds Opposite Footpath Footpath
Frontage Frontage
Footpath Footpath Dwelling Dwelling
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Neighbourhood Neighbourhood Nearby Larger Roads Parking Space
Close Small Parks Surrounds Surrounds
Uncle's House
Opposite Footpath Footpath
Own Shop & Surrounds
Frontage Frontage
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Suburb
Neighbourhood Neighbourhood Nearby Larger Roads Parking Space
Close Small Parks Parks Surrounds Surrounds
Uncle's House
Frontage Frontage
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Suburb Suburb Nearby Large Park Nearby Larger Roads Parking Space
Workplace Neighbourhood Neighbourhood
Uncle's House
Frontage Frontage
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Nearby Large Park Nearby Larger Roads Parking Space
City
Suburb Suburb
Workplace Workplace Neighbourhood Neighbourhood
Uncle's House
Frontage Frontage
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Workplace Nearby Large Park Nearby Larger Roads Parking Space
City City
Suburb Suburb
Workplace Workplace Neighbourhood Neighbourhood
Deceased Grandparents' House & Shop
Uncle's House
Frontage Frontage
Home Home
Scattered Uchi
Scattered Uchi
Scattered Uchi
Themes > TRANSFORMING the big-size city into the small-scale city where people feel
encouraged and able, and intrinsically rewarded for assuming control over their environment (Krupat, 1985:207; discussed in relation to Tokyo in Jonas, 2007).
> Neither the passive observer of determined systems (consumer) nor a
determined manipulator of passive material (planner, developer, businessman), but rather, the manager (cultivator) of an unfolding process occurring in (scattered) personal locations (uchi) (based on Reiser and Umemoto, 2006:104)
> Could many minor changes across the city add up to major transformations in our environment? (This is Tokyo....non-intentional design, non-intentional landscaping, Tokyo's non-intentional landscape).
(Sub Plan, 2009)
> Imagining/Constructing/Discussing/Debating the non-intentional landscape of Tokyo Interactive workshop at 3331 Arts Chiyoda example.
Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop MAP: http://tokyo-diy-gardening.org/tokyo-diy-gardening-workshop-map/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop WRITE UP: http://greenz.jp/en/2010/11/01/tokyo-diy-gardening-interactive-map-ready-for-exploring/ Tokyo-DIY-Gardening City Mapping Workshop WRITE UP: http://www.3331.jp/news/en/201008/000564.html
(3331 Arts Chiyoda)
(3331 Arts Chiyoda)
Implications for the Eldery/Aging Societies....for those that will be 'old' in 10,20,30 years....... > A resource, a sourcebook > Preserving spirit > A history > Patterns? > Implications for how cities/neighbourhoods are run..or not run. Etc etc etc
Neighbourhood Creative Climate
creative product
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Process
creative product
Person Process
creative product
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
creative product
Components of Creativity
creative product
Components of Creativity Knowledge & Skills
creative product
Components of Creativity Creativity Specific Skills
Knowledge & Skills
creative product
Components of Creativity Intrinsic Motivation
Creativity Specific Skills
Knowledge & Skills
creative product
Knowledge & Skills
creative product
Knowledge & Skills
Creative Climate(see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance Freedom

Debate

Trust/ Openness
Time

?
Playfulness /Humor

Idea Support

Conflict

> An experiment in 'trying to do something' in the neighbourhood the Kokonohanashi project overview. Aims: (1) investigate systems for citizen discussion about place. (2) investigate creative climate perceptions (researcher-as-subject.)
Image: Tokyo (Google Maps)
The kokonohanashi ( lit. 'talking about here') project works locally with a combinat -ion of analogue (notebooks, pens, laminated A4 posters, wire, legwork) and open low-tech digital tools (QR codes, stripped down Wordpress, email, smart-and-not-so-smart-phones) to
investigate the development of a platform for discussion about, and positive action in, city space by the people who most matter those who experience and use the place in their everyday lives.
Image: France Bed Factory, Akishima (Google Maps)
Rough Schematic
External Interaction External interaction with log through commenting
Front End
Unregistered participants access + join in location specific discussion through posters at locations around the city
Web Publishing Platform
QR codes, URL direct link, 'real' writing in notebooks attached to posters
Open discussion Log (stripped down wordpress)
Collati on, Categ orizati on etc...
Analysis, discussio n etc...
Output (presentations , reports, workshops, games, etc)
Deeper discussion, Interviews, Communication, Workshops
Interaction with city and relevant stakeholders
How can we construct low-cost, agile, fine-grained (and also scalable) ways (1) for people to begin to discuss and interact with the spaces they use, and the other people that use them? (2) to record, share, the living histories of places (memories, experiences, feelings)? First Stage: Five locations in suburban Tokyo What are: > Official reactions (positive/negative/non-existent, direct/indirect etc) > User reactions/participation (content, patterns, time, feeling etc) > Channels of participation (hierarchy, patterns, content etc) > Materials/Tools (how robust, appropriate, necessary etc) > Places (official, private, semi-public, residential, abandoned etc) > Collaboration, participation avenues ? Review/Revise/Collaborate/Interact (Further Stages)
More Practical Details
The kokonohanashi ( lit. 'talking about here') project works locally - in the community where we live. With places that we know. At the first stage of testing: > A run-down park in front of a factory (run-down, official) > A friendly neighbourhood park which has been declared a 'night no-go zone' (well-ke pt, official) > A park under a motorway (run-down, secluded, official) > An abondoned car in an apartment complex car park (illegal use) > A deserted house on a school route (run-down, private property)
Image: Western Tokyo (Google Maps)
analogue (notebooks, pens, laminated A4 posters, wire, legwork) - materials on location. > Laminated A4 posters fastened with wire and tape (key components of the Japanese DIY public signage kit) installed in selected locations. > A notebook and pen attached for non-net-enabled users.
Image: Examples of street signage in Japan (from FIXES project)
Example Poster
Trigger Question or Statement Example poster (Top Half, Trigger Statement)
Heading: What do you think about this place? Logo About the kokonohanashi project
Use instructions (access, email, comment etc)
Example poster (Bottom Half)
QR Code Invitation to add own place to the project
Place name Place specific URL
Installation period (until the end of November)
General contact details
digital (QR codes, stripped down Wordpress, email, smart/not-so-smart-phones) - real(ish) time commenting/contribution/access to other opinions. > Access to location-specific post via QR code, direct URL PC/Mobile. > Commenting/discussion enabled. > Easy monitoring via comment rss feed.
e.g
Online component running stripped down Wordpress
Access site via QR code (or direct URL)
Retrieve message
Connect
Comment
5
Thank You!
First stage test locations
A run-down park in front of a factory This park is known around here as 'one-p ark' because it only has one slide
A friendly neighbourhood park which has been declared a 'night no-go zone'. Why can't we use this park at night anymore?
A park under a motorway. From the outside, parks und er motorways look like pretty sad places but what's the reality?
An abandoned car in an apartment complex car park This car has been here for three years....what do you think?
A deserted house on a school route This house has been deserted for the la st three years. Want to make it somethi ng a bit more fun?
Main Theme
> Intrinsic Motivation can trump external forces (design, planning, good intentions, etc etc). > A plan/strategy for increasing + sustaining intrinsic motivation should be central to any proposed project or solution for cities and citizens (and in the context of this workshop, the elderly). > A modified creative climate framework (from social psychology research in business/research organizations) provides a promising starting point. > The FIXES and Tokyo-DIY-Gardening projects uncover examples of creative output. They are the starting point for deriving patterns/principles/frameworks of neighbourhood creativity that can inform the discussion on citizen created cities/urban planning/etc.... > kokonohanashi seeks to (1) understand practical directions for neighbourhood communication, (2) investigate the neighbourhood creative climate.
> Comments, anger, etc work with participants to flesh out Neighbourhood Creative Climate framework from a Japanese perspective.
Contact:
Chris Berthelsen (chris@a-small-lab.com) > twitter.com/a_small_lab > a-small-lab.com With questions, comments, ideas... anything!

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Presentation For: Transforming Neighborhoods - Tokyo / Berlin @Institute for Information Design Japan by Chris Berthelsen (a-small-lab)

Change reconciles with the idea

people feel joy, as opposed to mere pleasure

Neighbourhood Creative Climate

Sketching for Usable Cities