What are some problems that need to be fixed in Tokyo? There are numerous things both small and large. From a historical lens, there have been earthquakes such as the Great Kanto Earthquake. There have also been fires like the Great Fire of Edo. However there have also been some non-environmental problems. One example is the bubble economy. Other examples would be the "conflict" between Japan and another country such as the Doolittle Raid. One solution could be signing a peace treaty with another country to lessen the chances of engaging in war. Another example would be making a direct escape route or evacuation plan in case of a future earthquake or wildfire. The peace treaty benefits both countries because less money is spent on preparing for the war and there are less civilian casualties. The escape route would also equally benefit Japan because it has been know to have frequent earthquakes and an occasional eruption.
Air pollution is one of the most major issues Tokyo faces. For years Tokyo has lived with smog in the skies and with polluted air. Automobiles, factories, and population keep making the day that Tokyo will have clean air a dream. There are three main solutions that could end air pollution. The first is tent pole density. Most of Tokyo's air pollution comes from automobiles. When all the necessities are about 2 shops away, there will be no need for automobiles. Walking and biking will cover that problem. People could just rent bikes and walk to stores instead of driving. As someone who studied the environmental issues, I realized that one of the major problems was that there weren’t enough trees to filter the air. Another solution would be green infrastructure. This includes planting more trees and plants. This solution will filter the air making it more clean contributing to the decrease of air pollution. The last solution is to decrease factories and industry. Tokyo should also discontinue the idea of burning waste. If Tokyo implies these solutions, I am quite sure that its environmental issues should be decreased if not solved.
Tokyo does have some physical features that create barriers for its success. One example is that there isn’t much space in Tokyo. Space has always been a problem in Tokyo. One way we could fix this is by increasing tentpole density and instead of building structures that are wide, build structures that are tall. We want to maximize space and building tall slender buildings is a better than short wide buildings. Another problem is the mountains. Mountains have kept cities in Japan isolated and they do pose a problem for Tokyo’s way of shipping materials. Tokyo is surrounded by mountains everywhere except maybe for the east coast. The solution to this problem is just to building tunnels through the mountain by using dynamite. You could imply this idea or just take a ship and go around the island to the other side. Some of the most valuable water sources from upstream of rivers are starting to dry up. Tokyo needs create a dam or storage to hold that water before it all dries up. Lastly, Tokyo experiences typhoon season every summer. Tokyo needs to increase the amount of sea walls and barriers to stop these waves from coming ashore. In fact, Tokyo should install extra drainage pipes to help lessen the effects. Tokyo is going through some tough decisions that will determine the future of the city and how good or bad it will be. Tokyo is overall a city that is very clean. They were in fact one of the first cities to introduce anti-pollution laws at the Kyoto world climate summit in 1997. Thanks to these pollution laws air, and water quality is better than it was 20 yeas ago. One area of Tokyo- Tokyo Bay- is a special area that was targeted because of its dirty water it has improved thanks to Tokyo's green infrastructure. However the light and noise pollution has seen no improvement and the efforts that the government are trying to put a hold on it have been fruitless. Tokyo was the gateway through which Japan opened up to the world. On July 1853 4 american warships command by Mathew C.Perry demanded that Tokyo should become an American base for China trade and diplomatic relations. It was also in Tokyo dropped leaflets over Tokyo that gave the Japan information that the Japanese had surrendered to America at the end of world war II. This relates to the solution for dirty air pollution because after this all happened Japan opened up and became the diplomatic leader to help solve the crisis of pollution. Today Japan is a trend setter in recycling. Tokyo and Japan have had many problems in the past and have solved them. They have the strictest environmental regulations compared to all other similar industrial nations. In conclusion, Tokyo has many problems that we have all recognized. There are natural disasters, national conflicts, etc. However, despite all of the problems Tokyo is/has facing/faced, Project H.A.T. have come up with numerous situations to fit each situation. |