On January 24, 2025, seven M.Sc. students from the Geographical Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum under the direction of Prof. Dr. Uta Hohn presented the results of the Metropolitan Research Summer School Tokyo 2024 to an interested audience in an event organized jointly with the Bochum Office of the University of Tsukuba. The week-long summer school took place in September 2024 in cooperation with students from the Degree Programs in Policy and Planning Sciences at the University of Tsukuba under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sayaka Fujii. This was preceded by the joint Summer School Ruhr in July 2024.
The students’ presentations impressively illuminated the challenges and approaches to designing urban transformation processes in very different urban spaces in the Tokyo metropolitan region. The spectrum ranged from transformation areas on the waterfront (Tokyo Waterfront City, Toyosu, Haneda Innovation City) and in the center of the Global City (OMY), which are designated as Urban Renaissance zones, to concepts for the further development of the local city between area redevelopment and careful urban renewal (Kyojima) to the contrasting consideration of the transformation processes in growth (Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City) and shrinking/aging areas (Kashiwa Village) of the post-suburban area. Finally, special attention was paid to the analysis of the innovation ecosystem and the approaches to inner-city revitalization in the “Super Science City” Tsukuba that combines science and education, economic development, digitization and cooperative city-building.
After the presentations, the audience had the opportunity to exchange ideas with the students as part of a poster exhibition. Interested parties now have the opportunity to view the posters in the corridor of the International Urban and Metropolitan Development Working Group in the IA South building of Ruhr University Bochum, 6th floor.
