Creating Urban Green Spaces

To protect greenery in urban areas and promote creation of green-rich towns, TMG restricts development and gives guidance on greening based on the "ordinances and enforcement regulations concerning protection and recovery of nature in Tokyo (commonly known as Nature Protection Ordinance)" when development and construction are planned in a site of 1,000 square meters or larger in Tokyo (or a site of 250 square meters or lager in the case of those sites that are possessed by the Central Government and local public entities).
If buildings and others are extended and renovated on land that includes natural open space of a certain scale, protection and recovery of nature must be fully considered, and the protection of existing trees must also be considered.
Even if natural open space is not included, it is made mandatory under the reporting system of greening plan to green sites, areas along the road, and roofs and walls of buildings. In the city center area of Tokyo where development of high-rise buildings is well underway, the total roof area of about 209 hectares has been greened by March 2017.