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Cities are regarded as an entity that never creates but merely absorbs natural
resources, especially food. The threat of natural disasters in Western European and
North American cities is extremely low in comparison to Asian cities, and thus systems to transport food can be expected to operate with virtually little or no disruption.
Cities in Asia, including those in Japan, are not afforded this luxury. They frequently
suffer from sudden disruptions in transportation infrastructure caused by earthquakes,
tropical hurricanes, and other natural disasters that are part of everyday life. Such a
situation should therefore motivate Asian cities to maintain a redundant food supply
system that can supply food even in emergencies, when logistics are disrupted for an
inordinate period of time, by planning for both internal and external food supplies.
Agricultural land in the city – the land likely perceived as an ambiguous “grey” mixture from the non-Asian perspective – should therefore be regarded as a reasonable
and prudent land use rooted in the Asian environment. Agricultural lands also provide
ecological services and are thus a crucial element for creating a sustainable city.
One conventional framing of modern civilization is its “digital approach”, which
tries to deductively identify fundamental elements in a “black or white” manner and
then inductively synthesize such elements to re-build the entity. From such a twovalue approach, the multi-value approach of “grey” has been regarded as an incomplete stage that should further be analytically identified as an entity composed of
black or white elements. However, the land use mixture identified in Asian cities
conveys the need for a new framing that restores and nurtures the value of grey,
especially when planning for the sustainable future of the city and its surrounding
region by respecting their vernacular landscapes.
Keywords Urban and rural land uses · Redundancy · Natural disaster · Urban
agriculture · Food system · Resilience
4.1 Introduction
Basic theories of modern urban planning were initiated at the dawn of the twentieth
century in Western Europe, where almost no threat of natural disasters as earthquakes, tsunami and tropical hurricanes was identified. Cities in the world, including those in Asia, have been taking such theories as the standard and developing
themselves according the theories. However, are the theories initiated in disasterfree Western Europe cities applicable for Asian cities frequently suffering from
natural disasters? Shouldn’t there be alternative planning theories suitable for Asian
cities? As natural disasters in European and North American cities are also increasing due to the global climate change, are planning theories initiated in Asia not
suitable for their sustainable future as well? This chapter discusses an alternative
framing for sustainable urban planning from one Asian perspective.
M. Yokohari et al.
Cities are regarded as an entity that never creates but merely absorbs natural
resources, especially food. The threat of natural disasters in Western European and
North American cities is extremely low in comparison to Asian cities, and thus systems to transport food can be expected to operate with virtually little or no disruption.
Cities in Asia, including those in Japan, are not afforded this luxury. They frequently
suffer from sudden disruptions in transportation infrastructure caused by earthquakes,
tropical hurricanes, and other natural disasters that are part of everyday life. Such a
situation should therefore motivate Asian cities to maintain a redundant food supply
system that can supply food even in emergencies, when logistics are disrupted for an
inordinate period of time, by planning for both internal and external food supplies.
Agricultural land in the city – the land likely perceived as an ambiguous “grey” mixture from the non-Asian perspective – should therefore be regarded as a reasonable
and prudent land use rooted in the Asian environment. Agricultural lands also provide
ecological services and are thus a crucial element for creating a sustainable city.
One conventional framing of modern civilization is its “digital approach”, which
tries to deductively identify fundamental elements in a “black or white” manner and
then inductively synthesize such elements to re-build the entity. From such a twovalue approach, the multi-value approach of “grey” has been regarded as an incomplete stage that should further be analytically identified as an entity composed of
black or white elements. However, the land use mixture identified in Asian cities
conveys the need for a new framing that restores and nurtures the value of grey,
especially when planning for the sustainable future of the city and its surrounding
region by respecting their vernacular landscapes.
Keywords Urban and rural land uses · Redundancy · Natural disaster · Urban
agriculture · Food system · Resilience
4.1 Introduction
Basic theories of modern urban planning were initiated at the dawn of the twentieth
century in Western Europe, where almost no threat of natural disasters as earthquakes, tsunami and tropical hurricanes was identified. Cities in the world, including those in Asia, have been taking such theories as the standard and developing
themselves according the theories. However, are the theories initiated in disasterfree Western Europe cities applicable for Asian cities frequently suffering from
natural disasters? Shouldn’t there be alternative planning theories suitable for Asian
cities? As natural disasters in European and North American cities are also increasing due to the global climate change, are planning theories initiated in Asia not
suitable for their sustainable future as well? This chapter discusses an alternative
framing for sustainable urban planning from one Asian perspective.
M. Yokohari et al.