5. For a Tokyo full of vitality that is the world’s city of choice

With all-out implementation of the national government’s travel support campaign and our own Motto Tokyo campaign, our city’s original vitality is returning. We will seek a balance between COVID response and the recovery of socioeconomic activities. By now unleashing the strength we have built up and seizing new opportunities for growth, we will become a city full of vitality that is the world’s city of choice.

Generating new growth

Becoming a city that people want to visit over and over again

The world’s eyes are on Japan, which topped the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Development Index announced this year. The weak yen confronting us also presents an excellent opportunity to attract inbound tourists. By, for example, touting Tokyo as a MICE venue, we will also promote Tokyo's diverse attractions to the world. A prime example is our rich food culture. At the "Taste of Tokyo” festival held this fall, many people had a delicious time tasting the many dishes that were prepared from seasonal ingredients harvested in Tokyo, such as fresh Tokyo vegetables and local fish from the islands. We have also launched initiatives to rediscover the deep attractions of Tokyo revolving around its history and culture, by delving into the wisdom of Edo, which can also apply in the present day and the future. We will continue to strategically implement measures to make Tokyo a tourist destination that visitors from abroad will want to visit again and again.

Accelerating a shift in industry structure by cultivating new growth areas

Leading the way to new growth are startups. With sights on leaping into overseas markets as well—what we call "Born Global”—we will fully back up challengers who will shape the future through a support system that is clearly different from conventional systems. We just recently announced a new strategy to demonstrate how serious Tokyo is about this. We will create an environment where startups can thrive; this includes studies into the establishment of the Tokyo Innovation Base as a place where domestic and overseas players can mingle—a concept informed by overseas precedents—and the utilization of public procurement as a field for demonstrating the products and services developed.

Tokyo, with its numerous universities, must become a world-ranking innovation center by cultivating and demonstrating its concentration of knowledge and robust creativity. Japan’s competitiveness will always remain behind the rest of the world if we suppress the operations of universities, which gain their strength from the spirit of independence and autonomy. Tokyo will promote the cultivation of talent who will boldly take on the unknown for the continuous birth of startups from universities.

The key to strengthening competitiveness lies in the growth of the green sector, which is attracting increasing attention amid the climate crisis. To that end, this month, using a 6 billion yen fund as encouragement, we will establish a scheme for funds to flow to innovative startups engaging in decarbonization. This will lead to the creation of a virtuous cycle in which the activities of companies contributing to solving urban issues are recognized by the market, which will, in turn, attract further investment. Moreover, in order to promote the shift of human resources to such growth industries, we will upgrade the Tokyo Metropolitan Vocational Skills Development Center and, through vocational training and employment assistance, provide integrated support that meets the needs of the times.

Great strides in urban development in central Tokyo and the waterfront areas

This month, Loop Road No. 2 will fully open to traffic. Loop Road 5-1, which connects the Shibuya and Shinjuku subcenters, will also open. Urban development for an attractive, world-class city is underway in the central Tokyo and waterfront areas. Clean energy, harmony with nature, and a digitally advanced city—the future that you had been envisioning in your mind is steadily taking shape in reality.

Urban development in central Tokyo

First, development of the former site of the Tsukiji Market. We will make the most of the various attractions surrounding the site, such as the traditional food culture, Hama-rikyu Gardens, and the Sumida River, to make this area a hub creating and disseminating new culture. Yesterday, we released the application guidelines for private developers. We will draw out outstanding proposals full of wisdom and ingenuity.

Nihombashi exemplifies a dignified cityscape resplendent in history and culture. We will steadily advance efforts to move the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway underground so that this area can be bathed in sunlight. Furthermore, the KK Line Project, which will renew the Tokyo Expressway running through Ginza into a people-centered space, will become an aerial corridor filled with greenery that is always exciting to visit, just like the High Line in New York City, which I visited this past summer. Next spring we will hold a walking event along the KK Line so that many can experience the charm of a walkable urban space.

Urban development of the waterfront area

In the Bay Area, the Tokyo Bay eSG Project, an urban development project integrating nature and convenience, is now underway. Businesses that will be conducting groundbreaking projects in the Central Breakwater Area, which will be opened as a field for the implementation of cutting-edge technology, have recently been determined. This is the beginning of a grand urban development project for the future. Furthermore, at the site of the former Olympic and Paralympic Village in Harumi, which welcomed athletes from around the world for the Tokyo 2020 Games, steady advancements are being made in the development of hydrogen stations and residential buildings in preparation for the opening of the city in spring 2024. With the concept of coexistence with nature, the beloved Tokyo Sea Life Park will also be reborn as a completely new bay area center. Work will be launched for its opening in FY2027.

Strengthening the traffic network linking the two areas

By uniting these two dynamic areas, we will boost the attraction of this part of the city. The details of the plan for the city center and waterfront area subway are being worked out. Recently, a project plan that shows the route, station locations, and other details was drafted by the study group, which also included representatives from the national government. We will speed up the refinement of this plan and studies on its operator in order to quickly launch the construction of this line, which will drive Tokyo’s sustainable growth.

Further growth of the Tama area and islands

Next, the Tama area and islands. The Tama area, which has both rich green nature and good access to the city center, is attracting renewed attention especially from households raising children. For its further growth, we will launch studies on a new Tama urban development plan that adds the Tama Intercity Monorail and the Minami Tama One arterial road to the center of a transportation network that supports the area's appeal and growth. Meanwhile, Tokyo's islands are not only implementing various initiatives to support the lives of the islanders, such as removing utility poles and promoting digital transformation, but are also working to enhance the added value of the islands by, among others, promoting the "Tokyo Treasure Islands" brand and attracting high-quality lodging facilities. The pandemic has brought a diversity of lifestyles and work styles into the limelight, and the Tama area and islands, replete with character, have the potential to become a "second home" for people who wish to work and live in such ways. In addition to one-stop consultations by dedicated staff and seminars held in cooperation with the municipalities, we will continue to study further measures to encourage relocation there so that more people can together raise the vitality of these areas.