STROLLOLOGICAL INTERVENTION INTO EVERYDAY URBAN ENVIRONMENT OF SHITAMACHI NEIGHBORHOOD, TOKYO

– A report on “PARK-PLATZ” as part of “URBAN WALKS”, a regional project by the Goethe-Instituts East Asia –

Abstract

The “PARK-PLATZ” project was part of the “URBAN WALKS” regional project initiated by the Goethe Institutes East Asia. The project applied “Strollology - the Science of Walking,” a German walking-based methodology that utilizes site-specific interventions. A one-day walking event temporarily transformed public parking lots with a particularly designed device, the PARK-PLATZ Vehicle. It involved a larger public group walk in a shitamachi neighborhood of Tokyo. The report clarifies Strollology and how it enables participants to re-imagine urban configurations and norms through unconventional behaviors and its effect on self-transformation.