Author(s)

J. Sanada

Abstract

Walking is regarded as important for a healthy society. But in Japan, the situation is not good. People living in cities walk under skyscrapers in automobile exhaust, and even in suburban areas it is hard to find safe roads which are relatively free from traffic. Thus, this paper looks at \“Hoken Doro Promenade” as a new type of walkway which was proposed for tranquillity and peace of mind. \“Hoken Doro” means a promenade for health which was planned before WWII. This paper aims to clarify the concept of design of Hoken Doro Promenade and its spatial meaning. For this purpose, the procedure of this study consists of the following three steps. First, the formation process of Hoken Doro Promenade is given. Next, the founder of this (Tokutaro Kitamura) is introduced. Third, by means of rearranging his descriptions, the concept of design of Hoken Doro Promenade is defined. The knowledge of Hoken Doro Promenade that was obtained from this study is as follows: 1) Kitamura proposed promenades running along a river, but they differed from the other promenades of that time in 3 ways; (a) located in suburbs, (b) designed for pedestrians, (c) tried to construct with a minimum of artificial work. 2) They aimed to make the riverside open and maintain the natural environment by setting the promenade along the river. 3) They were planned in scenic zones, so the design was considered taking into account the scenery of fields, 4) It was enjoyed that promenades would play a role not only as the introducer of famous scenes but also to promote non famous ones. In conclusion, it can be said that, Hoken Doro Promenade was an institution that is considered to the surrounding area’s features and the pedestrian. From the results of this study, the author proposes the value of walking trail networks in modern cities. Keywords: park system, walking trail, health.

Keywords

park system, walking trail, health.