Transit oriented development in Tokyo The public sector shapes favourable conditions, the private sector makes it happen

Tokyo is a topical example of a railway-oriented city. During its period of strong economic growth after World War II it was largely the railways that facilitated its development direction. As a result vast stretches of land around the railway lines radiating outwards from the city centre have been developed. What greatly stimulated the integral development of railways and their surroundings was that private railway developers owned the railway infrastructure as well as large parts of the areas surrounding it. These areas they developed, subdivided, and eventually sold as residential lots. In addition the structure of the railway network of Tokyo proofed to be supportive for urban developments, especially for the formation of the sub centres. The railway network of Tokyo consists of several private radial lines that run from the suburbs to the centre of Tokyo. The centre of Tokyo is connected by a circular loop line, the Yamanote Line, on which all private railways, except the Chuo line, terminate (Figure 17.1). This structure created natural growth points at the intersection of the main radials with the loop (Sorensen. 2001). These natural growth points are the places where the sub centres have emerged.