Tokyo: A Perfect Blend of Cutting Edge Technologies and Deep-Rooted Cultural Values

The most successful city in world history has a population of 39 million, 50% more than any other urban area. The largest and safest city in the world, and with a $2 billion GDP, its economy is the largest except for eight countries. This is Tokyo, the megacity of the global model.

The story of the city evolves more than 500 years ago when a great Samurai warrior erected a majestic palace along the beach of a village where in majority fishermen dwelt called Edits. The rich soil was ready for rice cultivation and attracted farmers from faraway places. In 1600, General Tokugawa won the Battle of Tsukahara, an important period in the history that defended the position of Edo as the most important place in Japan.

Unfortunately, the buildings of the growing city were made of wood and paper, a dangerous combination to cope with the hot summer winds. Legend has it that on one hot afternoon in 1657, a priest made a fatal mistake by burning a useless kimono. The fire burned his temple and swept away 70% of the city. 100,000 people lost their lives. Despite this tragedy, by the middle of the 19th century, the population of Edo had grown to millions. That is when the shogunate war system, which had ruled for almost 700 years, came to an end. The new dictatorial regime eventually made Edo the official capital of Japan, renamed it Tokyo, and made the palace the state capital.

To celebrate his arrival, everyone rubbed rounds for the house. About this time Japan opened up trade opportunities, with Tokyo driving the industrial revolution that made the country modern. But rapid development has been costly: a problematic natural environment. Deforestation, pollution was concentrated, and Tokyo's once clean waterways became increasingly toxic. It was time for a more observant approach. The Sasayama system was born, promoting continuous integration with nature, especially in the rice fields that cover the growing Japanese mountains.

Today, a century of conservation has led to the parks covering 20% of the land area of Tokyo's metropolitan area. But once the danger from pollution has been overcome, one natural phenomenon poses an inevitable threat: an earthquake. In 1923, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake rocked Tokyo, tearing down the city's sparsely populated suburbs. With hurricanes sweeping through the area, some have used the turmoil to identify political enemies and small groups, such as Koreans. When the smoke finally cleared, around 140,000 had people died.

Just 22 years later, in 1944, Tokyo was again attacked. This time from above by the combined air forces engaged in a never-ending nine-month campaign that lasted until Japan surrendered to WWII following the American destruction of two atomic weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the worst night of the attack, Boeing B-29 Superfortress planes dropped more than 1,600 tons of bombs in Eastern Tokyo. It is considered one of the most destructive attacks on human history, leaving more than 100,000 dead and more than a million homeless. It took generations for Tokyo to recover completely, but today - after more than 70 years of peace - Tokyo is thriving. Its dense metropolitan area has now stretched 20 miles [32 km] undisturbed to Japan's second largest city, Yokohama.

While the highways and highways are congested, the lines that separate Tokyo from other major cities are its wide railways. After WWII, Japan was unable to access the oil reserves of the required vehicle-based transport system, so the government wisely invested heavily in rail projects to connect in central Tokyo with surrounding cities and towns. In October 1964, just in time for Tokyo to host the summer Olympics, Japan began showing the first modern high-speed railway to Osaka, Hokkaido Shinkansen, with trains reaching 256 km / hr.

Today, Tokyo's railway network serves 40 million passengers worldwide. Compare that to the American automotive system where street and parking space can take up to 60% of the city's available land. After all, Tokyo has new ways to store its own cars, and bicycles. Overcrowding has also been reduced by an $11 billion megaproject. The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line is a bridge of one-third, three-way tunnel. It turned 90 minutes by car through the city and around the coast of the port, into a 15-minute run on it. The project finished in about 30 years because it had to endure the ever-existing danger of earthquakes. That is also why buildings in Tokyo are 50 percent more expensive to build and why they are often shorter than existing buildings in some economic capitals, two factors that increase housing prices and add to city growth. From the top, Tokyo looks like an unstoppable giant. But on the ground, the lives of many people live in the neighborhood. Stores and businesses that meet daily needs can often be reached on a short trip, including many of the world's largest sushi restaurants. Japan specializes in seafood.

Near the Tokyo port is Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market. Every day, more than 50,000 people come to buy and sell some 400 different species of seafood. Among the buyers are chefs of at least 227 restaurants with Michelin stars, making Tokyo a city with the highest marks of excellence. In fact, when President Obama visited Tokyo, he ate handmade sushi prepared by the great Jiro himself. He also played football with a humanoid-like robot, just one example of how Japan is leading the way in global transformation into automation. As a major technological power, Tokyo is home to the world's largest private company Fortune 500 of any city in the world and - along with New York and London - is considered one of the three world economic control centers.

All of these factors make Tokyo a highly developed city, and it is preparing to host an international exhibition. To host the Olympics Games held successfully in the summer of 2020 encouraged the Tokyo metropolitan government to use its annual budget, which was larger than Saudi Arabia, to accelerate its progress. Among the completed achievements there was a program to install active robots throughout the city to help people regardless of age, nationality, or disability. The 920,000 visitors expected every day during the Olympics can ask nearby robots to help translate language, gestures, or travel. Robots are just one example of how hosting these games can benefit Tokyo residents long after the closing ceremony. With the number of older people expected to reach 2020, and then decline, Tokyo is facing the gray age of its population at an unprecedented rate in the city. And because there will be fewer tax-paying employees, and more seniors living on a pension that requires care, the government strongly encourages volunteering. This should not be too difficult for the people of Tokyo, some of the most thoughtful people on Earth. They are usually ranked first in aid, local public transportation, and road cleaning. In the wake of the March 2011 earthquake, visitors praised Tokyo for its orderliness. This is part of Gamin, the Japanese spirit of self-control - the best commitment to self-discipline. After all, well-planned and well-maintained infrastructure is the main reason why Tokyo is so efficient. Recent and pending projects include a $350 million program to implement a hydrogen-powered transportation system by increasing the number of hydrogen stations from eight to 35, while installing 6,000 fuel cell vehicles and 100 cellular Buses on the road in 2020, which could double as mobile power generators - could be an emergency cleaner. Just two of these buses can make the whole hospital stronger in a day.

Other improvements in transportation include the three-wheeled railway, which cuts much of the travel in the region by half; Repairing and strengthening bridges, tunnels, and roads using state-of-the-art laser and carbon fiber scanning technology to detect troubled infrastructure before it fails, while extending its life span to 100 years; Installing a solar thermal insulation up to 8 ° C cooler than asphalt to help solve the Tokyo island problem — a challenge facing many other cities around the world; Possibility of many underground power lines is possible, widening sidewalks, doubling the number of dedicated bicycle lanes, and opening outdoor cafes in a project called the Tokyo Champs Elysees project. The city is aggressively reducing CO2 emissions by using the city's first cap and a trading system that includes factories and commercial areas, such as office buildings. To reduce the risk of heavy flooding from rainfall, large underground chambers and tunnels have been installed to control and divert water from rivers, stations, and sewers that have traditionally overflowed; These measures are accompanied by an integrated series of flood wall gates, rainfall levels, and river level monitoring cameras monitored 24/7 by an engineer at two control centers that can operate each system remotely in the event of one failure. With so many historical damage to the fire, officials want to install old wooden houses with fireproofs, build crowded areas where residents do not have to evacuate during a nearby fire, and ensure highways are full of fire and earthquake evidence so that emergency vehicles can move freely.

Adding to the appeal of hosting the Olympics is the opportunity to share these developments with their guests, who are encouraged to apply these best practices in their cities. Tokyo is already doing this by hosting and training first-time foreign respondents in advanced search and rescue techniques, sharing excellent infrastructure with visiting officials abroad, and assisting engineers from Kuala Lampyridae with their wastewater management system. Tokyo is also a pioneer in reclaiming the land. As mountains slow down its growth, adding land to the harbor is a more attractive option, especially if the land is made up of trash. The Sea Forest is an old garbage dump transformed into a park and will host Olympic events. In the years to come, population growth and rising sea will force the world to do more with less. And while Tokyo is imperfect, using its resources wisely, planning for the future, and sharing what it learns with the rest of the world, it should be an example of cities of all sizes, everywhere.