The Center for Asian Urban Societies (Director: Bae-Gyoon Park) at SNUAC  will host the 2025 CAUS Brown Bag Seminar on Thursday, February 27, in Room 304 at SNUAC. The seminar will be held under the theme:

“Rescaling Tokyo in a Shrinking Country – The Unbalanced Urban Renaissance of Mature Tokyo, from Osaka to Japan’s Problem?”

The presentation will be delivered by Dr. Raphaël Languillon-Aussel, Senior Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Research Institute on Japan. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Valérie Gelézeau, Director of the Center for Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), France. Following the presentation, Professor Bae-Gyoon Park, Director of the CAUS at SNUAC, will lead the designated discussion.

This seminar aims to analyze urban regeneration and spatial restructuring trends in Tokyo and critically examine their broader impacts on Japan. Since the enactment of the Special Measures Act on Urban Regeneration in 2002, Tokyo’s central districts have undergone significant redevelopment, including high-rise construction, mixed-use development, and urban infrastructure improvements. These transformations stand in stark contrast to Japan’s broader challenges, such as population decline and the decline of regional cities, leading to a concentration of capital, population, jobs, and real estate development in Tokyo.

The presentation will explore the key aspects and background of Tokyo’s urban regeneration policies, as well as their structural impacts on both Tokyo and the rest of Japan. The discussion will raise critical questions about whether Tokyo contributes to Japan’s economic and regional balance or poses a potential risk to the country’s urban landscape.