Experience and Features of Japan's Old Residential District Regeneration: Two Cases in Tokyo

Old residential district regeneration has been an important issue in current urban development in China. Japan has accumulated great experience and features in this aspect, after decades of urban regeneration process focusing greatly on old residential district, which can be used as references for China. After reviewing the development process and main methods of old residential district regeneration in Japan, this paper selects two typical regeneration cases in Hanahata Danchi and Takashimadaira Danchi in Tokyo based on their representativeness, popularity and type, then analyzes two cases in terms of participant actors, regeneration methods and mechanisms for negotiation. It is concluded that in Japan the focus of old residential district regeneration has transferred from single building renewal on physical aspect to the all-around improvement of the whole district, including functional optimization, social vitality generation, as well as bottom-up multi stakeholders participation, etc., and much attention has been paid to regional distinctiveness. It is hoped to provide references to China for the exploration of sustainable old residential district regeneration.