21st Century (2000–present)

Toyama Compact City Strategy

2005– · Japan · East Asia – Japan · Transit-oriented urbanism and corridor planning · Planned by City of Toyama
Toyama LRT vehicle at street level, representing the compact-city LRT network.
Toyama LRT vehicle at street level, representing the compact-city LRT network. · CC BY-SA 4.0

Core idea

Tram-led compact growth with seniors focus

Why it matters

Global compact-city exemplar

Description

A municipal strategy adopted by the City of Toyama from 2005 to counter population decline and ageing by concentrating growth along public transport corridors. Its signature move was the conversion of an underused railway line into the Toyama Light Rail (Portram) and the promotion of housing, services and subsidies within walking distance of tram and rail stops, described by the city as a 'compact city on public transport axes'. Particular attention was given to the mobility and daily life of elderly residents.

Significance

Toyama became one of the world's most cited exemplars of compact-city policy in a shrinking-population context, promoted by the OECD and the Japanese government as a model for regional cities. It demonstrated that transit-led consolidation could be pursued incrementally in a car-oriented provincial city, and it strongly influenced subsequent Japanese location-optimisation planning frameworks.

What shaped it

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.