Japan Press Weekly

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2013 November 6 - 12 [ENVIRONMENT]

Construction of arenas for 2020 Tokyo Olympics will destroy green spaces

An environmental impact assessment report indicates that construction of arenas for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will destroy the city’s green spaces. This conflicts with the metropolitan government’s promise in its plan for the Games to carefully consider environmental impacts.

The assessment was conducted by a private research company under a contract with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The report predicts changes in the ratio of green space of sites where the Tokyo government plans to construct facilities for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

The report shows that the ratio of green space at two planned construction sites will drastically decrease if the construction is carried out: the ratio at Yumenoshima Park will drop to 5.9% from the current 56.6% and the ratio at Ariake Tennis Forest Park will fall to 17.2% from 42.1%. In addition to these two sites, the ratio at the other 13 sites will also drop dramatically according to the report.

Even if tree planting takes place at these sites after the Summer Games, it would be difficult to recover the ratio of green space to the current level at six sites, such as Ariake Park, the report points out.

Many of the Olympic-related facilities are planned to be built in pubilc parks and in parks operated by a private company under the Tokyo government’s designated administrator system.

Former Tokyo government worker Yano Masaaki who was engaged in a job maintaining Tokyo public parks said, “The construction of facilities for the Olympic Games will destroy green areas in parks. The metropolitan government should take all possible measures, including reconsideration of the existing construction plan, to protect the remaining green spaces provided in public parks.”