Global Tokyo

‘This is quite the extraordinary book when it comes to the making of urban places that are marked by a profound, often historic, authenticity. These were the places enabling the dense urbanities of vast cities, where disorder might be expected. Such dense urbanities contain extreme challenges and often fail, as we see in some large South American Cities and in major Asian cities. But every now and then we see major cities that contain orderings which function well no matter their vast size. And this is one of these cities!’
—Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, New York

This book examines heritage-led regeneration and decision-making processes in Tokyo’s urban centres of Nihonbashi and Marunouchi. Detailing some of the city’s most prominent and recent redevelopment projects, Jiewon Song recognizes key institutions and actors; their collective actions as placemakers; and how they project the authenticity of urban places in planning processes. Song argues that heritage-led regeneration tends to monopolize authenticity by weakening the visibility of other cultural and historic qualities in urban places. Authenticity consequently turns into a singular entity leading to the homogenization of urban places. As cities increasingly seek authenticity in the urban age, nation-states initiate top-down processes to achieve such ends, interweaving nationalism and national narratives into placemaking practices. In this fashion, Song challenges existing scholarship on urban conservation, global cities and the notion of authenticity.

Jiewon Song is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research interests revolve around urban transformation at the nexus of authenticity, globalization, heritage and placemaking. Her research is inspired by extensive fieldwork in global urban conservation projects. She holds a PhD in Urban Planning, The University of Tokyo; an MS in Historic Preservation, Columbia University; and an MA in Cultural Heritage Studies, University College London.