context
Madrid and Tokyo are undergoing great transformations. Like other great metropolis, the forces of postindustrial capitalist markets, the revolution of information technology and the processes of social diversification are effecting change on modes of urban space production and ways of life in both cities.
Among the great changes affecting the contemporary cities, the disappearance of public space has become a fundamental issue. The dichotomy between public and private spaces has been led to a review by the appearance of private property for public use: “collective space”. These include such places as massive commercial centers and multipurpose buildings.
In response to this phenomenon, Tokyo and Madrid seem to have developed methods of resistance or readjustment that allow to maintain or even increase urban vitality.
Tokyo offers an urban landscape in constant change, where a categorically new innovation, halfway between collective and private spaces, is coming to form: "shared space". The shared spaces are collective spaces of private use, bound to Tokyo’s characteristic ways of life. In constant adaptation to different fashions and styles, these highly specialized spaces have become to satisfy specific necessities and desires, turning the city into a literal extension of home. From kombini (convinience stores or 24-hours stores), love hotel, karaoke box, to the latest manga kissa, all these establishments, though considered urban by-products for a long time, are in fact reshaping modes of living of the Japanese capital and equipping it with a new meaning.
On the other hand, Madrid maintains a high degree of urban vitality, preeminent among the rest of European cities. Their streets and squares are places for celebration, encounter, sales, protest, and claiming. The physical structure of the city and the ways of life of its inhabitants have found a formula to regenerate and strengthen the vitality of public spaces and the concept of city as place of encounter and interrelation.
While the "shared spaces" of Tokyo are highly individualized and offer useful services for the city, they do not cause any social exchange nor interrelation. Compared to this, the network of public spaces of Madrid certainly does generate social interaction of basic level, but it does not respond to the increasing individualized demands that arise from the diversification of the society. It is against this background of contrasts and affinities, where not only the urban configuration and its architecture but also the modes of living of each city come into play, where Link Tokyo Madrid Project is to stimulate open discussion.
