The project site was previously used as a storage site for potted trees and bonsai. The ground was covered with black anti-weed sheet and there was little biodiversity observed on site, not to mention that it had no practical use of the green environment.
The Tokiwabashi area in the center of Tokyo extends in front of the Nihonbashi Gate of Tokyo Station and is located close to the site of the Tokiwabashi gate of Edo Castle. Crossing the Nihonbashi River leads to the Nihonbashi and the Kanda district. Four main buildings are to be constructed on the site: Tokiwabashi Tower, Torch Tower, an Underground Electricity Substation, and a Sewage Bureau Building. The project is a large-scale mixed-use development with a site area of approximately 3.1 hectares and a projected total floor space of approximately 740,000 m2.
How do we build a more resilient future?
The past few years have revealed just how vulnerable our spaces, communities and cities are to the ravages of extreme weather. Warming temperatures, air pollution, weather events and other climate-related hazards pose grave risks to our social, economic and environmental systems.
Once a flat barren road median, the Richard Moya Eastside Bus Plaza – named for the first Mexican-American elected to public office in Austin – has been transformed. Now a vibrant, ecologically robust refuge for wildlife, the landscape echoes the historic Central Texas ecoregion of the Blackland Prairie, and offers renewed beauty and comfort to more than 600 riders each day.
Feature image: EYP project in Hackensack, New Jersey. Photo credit: Halkin Mason Photography.
Feature image: Washington Canal Park in Washington, DC.
Do you want to better understand how your completed project is performing and demonstrate its success? Do you have an existing park, campus, government facility or other outdoor space that you would like to earn SITES certification? Are you interested in informing and influencing the next SITES certification tool?
Administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) promotes sustainable and resilient landscape development. SITES can be used for development projects located on sites with or without buildings to enhance their sustainability, implement green infrastructure strategies and improve resilience.
Feature image photo credit: Bai'etan.
The Bai’etan Exhibition Center in Guangdong is the first project to achieve SITES Platinum certification in China. This major urban regeneration project is nestled in the heart of China's thriving Great Bay area, one of the country's most densely populated regions, where modern industry and rapid urbanization have taken hold over the past few decades.
The site of what is now the Bai’etan Exhibition Center was a large-scale warehouse area with a long industrial history in Guangzhou, originally built in the 1970s. The once prosperous warehouse had moved away from its past uses, and the original functions of the warehouse could no longer meet the needs of modern urban development.