Tokyo Canal City: Reuniting Tokyo with the Kanda River

Abstract

Tokyo was once a city known for its extensive network of urban canals. In the 1960's, an elevated vehicular highway was hastily constructed above and along the canals in the heart of the city. As a result, the canals of Kanda, Nihonbashi, and Shibuya Rivers have become neglected and relegated under permanent shadow of the highway. The thesis proposes for Tokyo's urban waterways to be reclaimed as a transportation infrastructure and as a network connecting other forms of transportation to the canals. The revitalization of the waterways will reconnect the people of Tokyo to their waterfronts, as well and rekindle the lost memory of Tokyo as a city of canals.