The Next Issue After “Walkable”—Thinking About Operations and Funding Design While Working in Nagamachi, Sendai
Thinking about operations and funding design while working in Nagamachi
If we widen the sidewalks, will the city really change?
If we place benches, will people naturally linger?
If we create plazas, will vibrancy become a daily occurrence?
While working in Nagamachi, what I have been thinking about a lot lately is what comes “after” such development.
The term “walkable” has spread significantly over the past few years.
The number of Walkable Promotion Cities under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has increased from 207 organizations as of December 2019 to 401 organizations as of February 2026.
In terms of systems, support menus for walkable city center projects, tax systems, and public-private partnerships are now available, and movements aiming for “walkable city centers” are spreading across the country.
People-centered spaces, walkable cities, from car-centered to people-centered.
In an era of population decline, I believe this is a very important way of thinking, and I personally strongly empathize with it.
However, the more I get involved in the field, the more I feel thatthe real challenge of walkability begins after the development is completeis finished.
Widen the sidewalks.
Improve the pavement.
Create spaces for lingering.
Of course, all of these are important.
However, that alone will not change the city.
I believe the real question iswho uses that space, how they support it, and with what funding it will be maintained.
“Curb cuts” that caught my attention in Nagamachi
While thinking about the reconfiguration of roads in Nagamachi, there was something that strongly caught my attention.
That is the issue of curb cuts.
Places where the sidewalk is lowered for entry and exit to parking lots or properties.
When walking through the city, the number of these entrances and exits is more noticeable than I imagined.
Each one might seem like a small matter.
However, from the perspective of someone walking, this is by no means a small problem.
Because while walking, the feeling that
“a car might come out from here”
keeps intruding.
In other words, places where cars enter and exit are also
for people,places where they cannot stop with peace of mind.
In a place like Nagamachi, where there are stations, housing, commerce, and overlapping daily flows of people, this feeling is very important.
It is not just about being able to pass through;
can you stop for a moment?
Can you walk with peace of mind?
Does walking itself not become a source of stress?
When people talk about walkability, it is easy to focus on “wide sidewalks” or “beautiful plazas,” but what I feel in the field is that the accumulation of these fine details is what largely determines the comfort of a city.
Nagamachi originally possesses the “power of everyday life”
What I find interesting about Nagamachi is that this town already has the power of everyday life.
There are people using the station.
There are people shopping.
There are people heading from residential areas to the station.
There are people with children, and there are elderly people.
The local government, shopping districts, and residents have a close relationship.
In other words, Nagamachi is not a town where people only gather on event days.
It is a town where there is already movement of people.
I believe this is a very significant potential.
It is not about creating a town from scratch, but about how to accommodate the flow of daily life that already exists.
You can stop for a moment on your way to work.
You can sit for a moment on your way back from shopping.
You can stand and chat while waiting for your children.
By accumulating such small moments of lingering, the landscape of the town changes little by little.
That is why I believe what is needed in Nagamachi is not just bringing in something special from the outside.
Rather, I feel that making it possible to accommodate the existing daily life more within the town is more important.
However, changing the space alone is not enough
The difficult part here is that simply tidying up the space is not the end of it.
Even if the sidewalk were to be widened,
who would put chairs there?
Who would clean it?
Who would maintain the greenery?
Who would coordinate the daily usage while talking with the businesses along the street?
These things are hard to draw on a blueprint.
However, in reality, this is often the most important part.
In a place like Nagamachi, where roads, street-side businesses, commerce, housing, and station usage overlap, it is difficult for the government alone, and it is also difficult for the private sector alone.
It is hard to create a structure where things run just because one person works hard.
That is precisely why I believe that after deciding how to create the space,
designing how to operate it is necessary.
Who will support daily life?
Who will take on the small adjustments?
Who will take responsibility for continuity?
Unless we answer these questions, 'walkable' will stop at just being 'neat development'.
The town will not change just by the success of social experiments
I believe we can do various small experiments in Nagamachi from here on out, and I intend to continue doing so.
Try placing chairs.
Try changing how the road space is used.
Try observing how people walk and stop.
Such experiments are very important.
I personally believe that trying things out on a small scale and thinking as you go is better suited for a city than aiming for a finished product right away.
However, when you are on the ground, you realize that the questions that come “after” the social experiment are much heavier.
After the excitement of that one day, who will keep it going?
Can we maintain that scene next week, or next month?
Can we embed it into daily life without relying on the enthusiasm of a few?
What I really want to think about in Nagamachi is not the success of an event, but the renewal of daily life.
Not a one-time bustle, but
a slightly more comfortable atmosphere on an otherwise empty weekday afternoon.
People stopping there for a moment.
The space becoming a natural part of life for the people in the city.
If we cannot create that state, I believe the city's landscape will not truly change.
That is why we cannot avoid the topic of funding.
And when you try to seriously move this forward, it always comes down to the topic of funding.
Honestly, this cannot be solved with platitudes.
It costs money to place chairs.
It costs money for maintenance.
It costs money for the people who operate it.
Naturally, personnel costs are also required to have a coordinator.
However, these topics tend to be pushed to the back burner during discussions about development.
It is easy to talk about design.
But when it comes to operating and maintenance costs, it suddenly becomes difficult.
Some people even suggest leaving it entirely to the government.
But precisely because Nagamachi is an area with such potential, I believe we must not leave this ambiguous.
The value of the city increases.
The appeal of the roadside improves.
The flow of people changes.
As a result, there will be people and businesses that benefit.
On the other hand, there are values that should be widely supported as public goods, such as walkability and a sense of security.
Therefore, funding is not a simple binary choice of
“should the government pay or should the private sector pay?”
Public funds.
Beneficiary contributions.
Usage revenue.
Sponsorships.
Small business profits.
How do we layer these things?
What is truly needed in Nagamachi, I think, is this design of how to layer these wallets.
What is needed now is a design that goes beyond floor plans.
As I get involved with Nagamachi, I think this more and more lately.
Future urban planning cannot be done with floor plans and cross-sections alone.
Of course, those are necessary.
However, with the same level of passion,
Who will unlock the doors?
Who will do the cleaning?
Who will handle the complaints?
Who will talk to the people along the street?
To what extent should the public sector be responsible, and where should the private sector step in to support?
At what point can we say this place is “doing well”?
Unless we map that out as well, I don't think the city will truly change in the real sense.
That is exactly what I am thinking about in Nagamachi.
The issue that comes after “walkable” is much more mundane.
But it is certainly essential.
It is the design of operations and funding.
Comfort can be designed.
However, sustainability is not created by design alone.
Precisely because it is a city like Nagamachi that already possesses the power of daily life,
we must also design the mechanisms that support that daily life.
Right now, I am learning that lesson strongly from the field in Nagamachi.