Outline of the Institute for Future City Studies

The aim of establishing the Institute for Future City Studies is to promote the university-wide interdisciplinary research project, Tokyo City University of City Studies, which investigates issues related to the aging city, that is, the various challenges stemming from the aging of people as well as of urban infrastructure and social institutions, focusing on the Tokyo metropolitan area. The project regards the aging city issues not as a crisis but as an opportunity to develop a sustainable, attractive, and mature city. Consequently, the project aims to contribute not only to maintaining and developing international competitiveness of cities but also to improving the quality of life of their residents by pursuing a series of research into the comprehensive development of technology and social institutions to achieve the said aim. At the start, five research units are in place in the Institute, and the number of units will be expanded gradually. In this project, City Studies is understood to be wide-ranging research that contributes to the improvement of urban attractiveness, and synergy effects are expected from the interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers in technology and social institutions.

The Director’s Message

On July 1, 2016, Tokyo City University set up the Institute for Future City Studies in the Advanced Research Institute. The aim is to promote the university-wide interdisciplinary research project, Tokyo City University of City Studies, which investigates issues related to the aging city, that is, the various challenges stemming from the aging of people as well as of urban infrastructure and systems, focusing on the Tokyo metropolitan area. The aim of Tokyo City University of City Studies is to understand the aging city issues not as a crisis but as an opportunity to develop a sustainable, attractive, and mature city and to contribute not only to maintaining and developing the Tokyo metropolitan areas’ international competitiveness but also to improving the quality of life of the residents. A further aim of the project is to improve the brand awareness of TCU with the Tokyo City University of City Studies brand. We have started with five research units, and each unit is engaged with building a framework for interdisciplinary research to comprehensively develop technology and social institutions. The plan is to increase the number of research units by matching internal seeds with external needs. City Studies are generally associated with research related to urban planning. As reflected in the name of each research unit, the major feature of the project, however, lies in its understanding of City Studies as wide-ranging research to improve urban attractiveness and its aim to produce synergistic effects through interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers of technology and social institutions. As mentioned above, the plan is to increase the number of research units from the original five by matching internal seeds and external needs. I would welcome any proposal for a new research unit as well as comments on the five research units and proposals for collaborative research. The Institute for Future City Studies will report on its activities through seminars to be held about four times a year and through publication on its website. Comments and proposals are welcome and appreciated.

Director, Institute for Future City Studies
Masaki Hamura