Minami Ikebukuro Park, A Successful Redeveloped Park

Minami Ikebukuro Park Sign

Years ago, the mayor of Toshima City had a dream to create a safe, walkable city for everyone. He started to build 4 parks around Ikebukuro and connect that place with Ikebus, the Toshima tourism bus. Minami Ikebukuro Park is used to be an ordinary yet dangerous, dirty park. It was unsafe for the citizens because it became a place for homeless people, prostitute, even drug dealers. As a result, local residents didn't want to come to this park. City government began to redevelop this place and open for public in 2016, after Toshima City Hall. 

Mr. Tatsuya Hiraga, founder of Landscape Plus CO., as well as landscape architects who helped design the Toshima City Hall, is one of the men behind this successful redevelopment project. He said that the park is not just a place with trees or flowers. Park is ‘living room’ for local people, a park is a place for nature and social interaction. Thus, the park should provide a place where we can do both of those things. To apply that concept, they provided a building that can be used for café, playground, wooden decks.

Wooden Deck

Café in Minami-Ikebukuro park is not just an ordinary café. It is also a market for promoting and selling local products. The management proposed to some local café if they interested to use that place for their business. But they should agree to give a percentage of their income to the management, that will be used for the maintenance fee of the park. So that they will not depend on the government budget, they have their own income, it is called a sustainability concept. 

Racines Café and Market

Unlike other parks, the management only wants to collaborate with local businesses, not the famous café which has a head office as well as many branches. It is too complicated if they should contact the headquarter first, and there is a possibility that the conditions they offer will not be approved. With local café, the business owner also can discuss together with the management, what kind of service they want to provide. The relationship created is not just a place owner and business owner, but a collaborative partner for a better park.

Hiraga-san as a landscape architect, creates a unique design that not about aesthetic things, but also has philosophical meaning. Like the wall beside the wooden deck, it’s not just a blank wall. We can see there are some texture and patterns that form images of trees and grasses. He said that the inspiration came from the condition of this place in World War II.

The unique wall behind wooden deck

Back in that era, this place is a forest where local people hide from the bullet and bomb attacks. He designed this place not only for beauty but also for a commemoration of local history. So that the newer generation knows the historical aspect of this place. The wall used hard material like concrete, so irresponsible people could not break it. It also has a tiny space that can be used for drainage. The patterns also from concrete, but they used chemical process to make the pattern visible.

Playground

Minami-Ikebukuro park also provides a safe place for children. There is various type of playgrounds so children can choose which activity they want to do, and create anything coming from their simple idea. The white space beside the playground, which is like a skateboarding arena, comes from the resident’s opinion. That place used to be a small hill. One old man used to slide that hill with a piece of paper to go downhill. One simple habit from that old man then becomes an interesting idea to complete the playground.

'Do not step on the grass'

When I visit this park, there is a sign in the grass. Hiraga-san explained that it is actually 'don't step the grass' sign. Instead of having a symbol with a red sign that we usually see, the park management chooses a friendly method. This sign explains why you can’t step the grass because the grass is in the stage of growing and developing. So if we step on it, the grass will not grow healthy and well. It’s such a cute action but makes visitors understand and won't break the rule.

Mr. Tatsuya Hiraga, landscape architect, and a member of park management

One interesting fact is that this park is managed entirely by local residents in the form of an association, later changed into the park management. City government organized an association, inviting local people to sort of some park problems. This management consists of residential leaders and commercial parties to manage this area. Later, this association also organizes some events that are held in Minami-Ikebukuro Park. 

Toshima city government once again proves the success of the bottom-up approach in urban planning, which is participatory planning. Where the community is fully involved in the process of urban park redevelopment, creating productive space for humans. 

An event held by the park management

Local business booth

The results of this renovation affect the surrounding environment and community habits. The community also helps to maintain the cleanliness of the park and maintain the function of the park so that it continues to be a place of positive activities by organizing various events managed by the association. The community also helps to keep the park from becoming a dangerous place, as it once was. This is because Minami Ikebukuro Park is not just an ordinary park but has become a pride for the surrounding community.

This park really shows the harmony between nature and urban environment. It sits in the middle of Toshima, a dense city in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It surrounds by tall buildings, apartments, offices, but this park successfully changes the overall ambiance of this area. This park is a place where you can ‘breath’ from hustle and bustle of the city.  A place where we can spoil our eyes with green scenery after tons of works that we did on a tiring day.