Remnants of the city

Morphological examination of the redevelopment plans for 29 Japanese railyards

Abstract

Railyards are an important facility of railway freight. Around 1960s and 1970s when railway freight was at its peak in Japan, 29 railyards were operated. However, because of the decline of this business, the railyards are now out of service and ways of reusing these properties are under consideration. Generally, railyards have two prominent characteristics: great width and curving boundaries. The former characteristic aids urban redevelopment planning, but the latter can be an impediment. The present study examined how these two characteristics impact urban redevelopment by investigating the reuse plans for 29 Japanese railyards. The analysis showed that the site width is the dominant factor in determining new plans, regardless of the shape of the site. These results are considered in the context of urban history and compared with former findings.