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From the Yokohama City website

Yokohama City is an area with a population of 3.77 million. Its area is about three quarters of  Seoul, and it is divided into 18 wards. It started with a population of 500 150 years ago, and after the port was established, the population increased. However, the rapid population increase between 1960 and 1970 caused problems in urban development. Yokohama is currently a city with a significant aging population. Although this is a problem for Japan as a whole, based on the analyzed data, the population growth trend of Yokohama City is expected to peak in 2019. After that, the proportion of the elderly population is expected to continue to increase, and it is expected that one-third of the total population will be elderly by 2030. Looking at the map showing the aging population, it is like looking at the history of how Yokohama's housing development has taken place.

The beginning of universal design in Japan was triggered by the Tokyo Olympics 50 years ago. The Tokyo Olympics, held in 1964, introduced the use of pictograms to solve the problem of communicating with foreigners. In 1965, Braille blocks were introduced, and actual installation began in 1967. In 1969, awareness of the need to make the city accessible to wheelchairs increased. Braille blocks were first introduced in the provincial cities to the western part of japan, which is also the case with barrier-free access in Japan, which started in provincial cities rather than the capital.

 

For a warning block, four lines are placed in a square with sides of 30 or 40 cm, and for a guide block, 36 dots (arranged 6x6) are placed in a square with sides of 30 or 40cm. It has been suggested that this is difficult to recognize due to the large number of dots. In addition, in Japan, the Urban Planning Act was revised in 1992 with the participation of many people, and in 1994, “Law Concerning Promotion of Construction of Specific Buildings That Can Be Smoothly Used by the Elderly and the Physically Handicapped (the Heart Building Law)” was enacted to design buildings as barrier-free. In 2000, the Traffic Barrier-Free Act was enacted to apply barrier-free design to transportation facilities such as stations, buses, and airports. In 2006, “Heart Building Law” was amended, and in 2016, the Anti-Discrimination Act was enacted.

Yokohama City has worked hard to create a town where people with physical disabilities as well as mental disabilities such as intellectual disabilities can live together. The ' Welfare Climate Creation Movement', which started in 1974, led citizens' cooperation in everyday life based on understanding the needs of the disabled and the elderly. It was promoted so that disabled and non-disabled people could live in an equal environment.

-Facilities example: Yokohama Rapport

There is a sports cultural center for the disabled called ‘Yokohama Rapport’, which introduced Ronald Mace’s universal design concept in 1992. People with disabilities, the elderly, children, and everyone can enjoy sports or do rehabilitation exercises. There are pools, basketball courts, table tennis facilities, and bowling alleys in the facility, and the bowling alley is designed so that people with disabilities can enjoy it without a gutter in the lane.

This facility is located in the Shin-Yokohama area. The distance from the facility to the station is about 300m, and at Shin-Yokohama Station, signs and maps are installed along with pictograms indicating the direction and distance of the facility. In addition, most information is written in four languages: Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese, making it easy for anyone to find their destination.

 

-Basic conception of barrier-free

Many stations in Yokohama are designed with reference to the Welfare Town Development Ordinance. The items of the Welfare Town Development Ordinance include an item that says ‘Elevators should be made available at railway stations’ and that ‘barrier-free design should be applied’. There are a total of 157 stations in Yokohama City, and barrier-free design has been applied to 150 of them, excluding 7 stations that are not available due to their particular circumstances. The city of Yokohama has plans to gradually apply barrier-free to the rest of the stations, aiming for rail facilities that anyone can use easily.

- Welfare Town Development Ordinance

Yokohama City's welfare town development policy is not only carried out by the city hall, but is being discussed with all members of society including intellectuals, university professors, businesses, and people with disabilities. In 1997, a barrier-free, universal design promotion system was introduced, and from 2002, facilities located within 500m of the station were clearly expressed to accurately convey information to the passengers using the subway. In addition, transportation methods were improved to minimize inconvenience in transit and road use, and the Heart Building Law, designated as an ordinance, applied barrier-free regulations more strictly than national regulations. In 2014, the Welfare Town Development Ordinance was amended to grant building permits only if they met the universal design standards, and in addition to regulations, an environmental design system was introduced to ease the floor area ratio only for buildings to which universal design was applied.

In addition, Yokohama City installed communication boards at 157 stations to guide communication by pointing with a finger if language communication is difficult, and a tactile map was created to navigate the road in addition to the Braille guide signs. In addition, the Universal Design Guidebook provided in Yokohama's 18 wards provides voice assistance services with QR codes for the visually impaired, and a map that encourages walking for health provides information on routes that elderly and physically handicapped people can walk without too much difficulty. 

-Facilities example; In Minatomirai, Yokohama

The private facilities in Minatomirai area are attracting attention for their space design suitable for families with small children. There is a rest facility in front of the toilet, a space for children to play, and tables and chairs suitable for children in the dining room. There is also a nursing area for women and a space for the rest of the children to play while breastfeeding. In addition, there are facilities for changing diapers, a wall design that children can touch and play, and a toilet optimized for children. For this space, nature-friendly design was also considered, such as using wood and creating a roof garden.

 

 

Yokohama City is holding an event for disabled writers and creators called the Paratriennale. This year's second event is helping artists from creation to exhibition.

The city of Yokohama is implementing a project called “Creating a Next-Generation Suburban Town” to create a town where the young people who need to raise children and children can live comfortably, as well as preparing for an aging population. It is a project that selects four suburbs of Yokohama City and improves complex rail traffic. Railway companies, the Yokohama City administration, and residents gather to discuss the direction of maintenance and hold workshops. Speakers are invited to share their wisdom about new housing types, devices necessary for the region, and what is needed to bring together different generations, and there is the active participation of citizens, the administration, and businesses. This gathering, where young generations form a network to exchange information, and operate like a sarangbang, continues to promote ideas for the region.

Yokohama is a city that continues to age. However, the members of the residents and the younger generation gathered together and have just begun to act, with thoughts about the future to manage our town. This forward-looking movement of companies, administration and public officials will continue in the future.