May 29, June 1 and 3, 2014
Akahata Sunday edition
The construction of a huge Olympic venue after demolition of the existing national stadium is stirring up national controversy.
The stadium is located in Tokyo’s urban green spaces designated as a landscape preservation district where the height of buildings is restricted. A new stadium, however, will stand 70 meters high, twice the height of the existing one.
Head of a citizens’ environmental group Mori Mayumi, essayist, said, “The current plan runs against the IOC Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21.”
The Agenda 21 encourages “the best possible use of existing sports facilities”, requesting that the creation of new facilities “be confined to cases in which demand cannot be satisfied by using or renovating existing facilities” and that Olympic facilities “comply with local legislation and be designed to fit in with the surrounding natural or man-made scenery”.
Mori said she as a taxpayer is also worried about the construction cost estimated at 170 billion yen. “It is too costly compared to the 20 billion yen for the 1996 Atlanta Games and 90 billion yen for London in 2012. It will need more than 4.1 billion yen per year to maintain a new stadium and its movable seats, grass, and roof. Future generations will have to pay this cost.”
According to the plan for now, a new stadium will have a retractable roof that will be vulnerable to heavy snow. Relevant authorities say they will melt the snow with electric heating. Mori angrily said, “Do they still insist on using huge amounts of electricity even after the public had to put up with the massive rolling blackouts following the Fukushima crisis?”
Many architects are presenting alternative designs that are more cost effective than the present one. The final design for the new stadium is still being drafted, but the existing stadium is to be demolished in July.
* * *
The Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblymembers’ Group of the Japanese Communist Party on May 28 made representations to the sports ministry to request that demolition of the national stadium be postponed and the plan reviewed.
The group urged the ministry to sincerely listen to architectural experts and Tokyoites in reviewing the plan, make public all relevant information, and draft a revised plan with participation of sports associations, architects, and environmental specialists.
The group leader, Yoshida Nobuo said, “The area surrounding the national stadium is a historical area. The Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) also opposes the demolition. Please, take it seriously.”
* * *
Regarding the new Olympic stadium, IOC Director of Communications Mark Adams has given an opinion urging dialogue between authorities and a residents’ environmental group.
A co-leader of the group on May 31 reported on this during a panel discussion on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
She explained that in late March the group sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach to state the claim that the present scrap-and-build plan violates the spirit of the Agenda 21, and that in reply to that letter the IOC presented recommendations for dialogue.
The construction of a huge Olympic venue after demolition of the existing national stadium is stirring up national controversy.
The stadium is located in Tokyo’s urban green spaces designated as a landscape preservation district where the height of buildings is restricted. A new stadium, however, will stand 70 meters high, twice the height of the existing one.
Head of a citizens’ environmental group Mori Mayumi, essayist, said, “The current plan runs against the IOC Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21.”
The Agenda 21 encourages “the best possible use of existing sports facilities”, requesting that the creation of new facilities “be confined to cases in which demand cannot be satisfied by using or renovating existing facilities” and that Olympic facilities “comply with local legislation and be designed to fit in with the surrounding natural or man-made scenery”.
Mori said she as a taxpayer is also worried about the construction cost estimated at 170 billion yen. “It is too costly compared to the 20 billion yen for the 1996 Atlanta Games and 90 billion yen for London in 2012. It will need more than 4.1 billion yen per year to maintain a new stadium and its movable seats, grass, and roof. Future generations will have to pay this cost.”
According to the plan for now, a new stadium will have a retractable roof that will be vulnerable to heavy snow. Relevant authorities say they will melt the snow with electric heating. Mori angrily said, “Do they still insist on using huge amounts of electricity even after the public had to put up with the massive rolling blackouts following the Fukushima crisis?”
Many architects are presenting alternative designs that are more cost effective than the present one. The final design for the new stadium is still being drafted, but the existing stadium is to be demolished in July.
* * *
The Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblymembers’ Group of the Japanese Communist Party on May 28 made representations to the sports ministry to request that demolition of the national stadium be postponed and the plan reviewed.
The group urged the ministry to sincerely listen to architectural experts and Tokyoites in reviewing the plan, make public all relevant information, and draft a revised plan with participation of sports associations, architects, and environmental specialists.
The group leader, Yoshida Nobuo said, “The area surrounding the national stadium is a historical area. The Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) also opposes the demolition. Please, take it seriously.”
* * *
Regarding the new Olympic stadium, IOC Director of Communications Mark Adams has given an opinion urging dialogue between authorities and a residents’ environmental group.
A co-leader of the group on May 31 reported on this during a panel discussion on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
She explained that in late March the group sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach to state the claim that the present scrap-and-build plan violates the spirit of the Agenda 21, and that in reply to that letter the IOC presented recommendations for dialogue.
