66
The amount of farmland parcels is limited: only around 3.5% of all Tokyo and 1%
of the 23 Wards core area. However, although the amount is limited and the size is
very small – sometimes as small as 500 m
2
, smaller than a 50 m swimming pool –
these farmland parcels are mostly active farmland still owned and maintained by
professional farmers, not farming area for urban hobby farmers or retirees (Fig. 4.12).
4.2.4 Layer Model
What land use models are behind these realities? The Western land use model starts
with drawing a clear boundary between urban and rural zones, and then cuts the
land into units with homogeneous land uses. The model can therefore be characterized as a system which provides ordered and well-controlled land uses. Japanese
planners once applied this rationale to Japanese cities including Tokyo. In 1939
Comprehensive Parks and Open Space Plan of Tokyo was proposed, and one key
feature of the plan was a greenbelt surrounding Tokyo to stop urban sprawl – the
rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns – and thus realize a
distinct separation of urban and rural land uses (Fig. 4.13).
Fig. 4.11 Land use of Edo, formerly Tokyo, in early nineteenth century (Source: Fujii et al. 2002)
M. Yokohari et al.