China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Beijing won’t be dwarfed
city, which now covers 284 square kilometers, was supposed to be home to 350,000 residents.
In the 1970s, people who moved to Tsukuba were said to need three things — high boots for the mud, a flashlight (as there were few streetlights) and a stick to keep stray dogs at bay.
In 1973, the University of Tsukuba was established, the forerunner of which was the Tokyo University of Education that was founded in 1949. And in 1980, all 31 national institutes selected to move from Tokyo were relocated to the new city.
Tsukuba has since grown tremendously, becoming home to 147 research institutes and 227,000 people, according to Zhou.
Today, Tsukuba is Japan’s cutting-edge science city. Its research covers a wide range of areas, such as electronics, biotechnology, mechatronics, new materials, information engineering, space development, environmental science, natural resources, energy, earth sciences, civil engineering, construction and agriculture.
There are four Japanese Nobel laureates associated with Tsukuba. Shin-Itiro Zhou Muzhi, Tomonaga, professor emeritus of the Tokyo University of Education, received theNobel Prize in physics in 1965; Leo Esaki, former president of the University of Tsukuba, was awarded the 1973 Nobel physics prize; Hideki Shirakawa, professor emeritus of theUniversity of Tsukuba, was the winner of the chemistry prize in 2000; andMakoto Kobayashi, professor emeritus at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in the city, was the recipient of the 2008 physics prize.
“The Japanese government has had a very clear idea of what kind of city Tsukuba should be. That is, it should be an international science city,” Zhou said. “Japan has made it (like that).”
A large community of international scholarsandresearchers also give the city a unique cosmopolitan quality. Tsukuba has achieved worldwide recognition as a major scientific and technology center.
The new city hosted the International Exposition on Science and Technology in 1985. The event’s theme was apt: “Dwellings and Surroundings — Science and Technology forMan atHome”.
The fair put Tsukuba on the global map. The science-driven city hosted the G7 Science
The Japanese government has had a very clear idea of what kind of city Tsukuba should be. That is it should be an international science city.”
professor of economics at Tokyo Keizai University
and Technology Meeting last year.
The city was also designated as the Tsukuba International StrategicZone by the Japanese government. Through deregulation and tax incentives, the designation aims to promote “life innovation” for achieving a healthy aging society and “green innovation” for realizing a low-carbon society.
Tsukuba’s success story shows that it is important to Ministers’ develop a clear vision for such anewcity’s role, have clarityon policies and be patient, Zhou said. “It took the Japanese government 20 years to move those institutes to Tsukuba.”
He highlighted, however, that Tsukuba does not help relieve Tokyo’s population density.
The Tokyo metropolitan area, which includes Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama andTokyo prefectures, has seen its population increase from 11.28 million in 1950 to 38 million.
The rise of Tsukuba has not dwarfed Tokyo’s towering position as a research center. The Japanese capital has 44.6 percent of the country’s research professionals.
The Xiongan New Area, if developed well, would become a bright spot in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. But Beijing will continue to be the engine driving the growth of the region, Zhou said.
He said Beijing should sharpen its capability to manage its dense population, as people will continue to move in.
A major transportation network and basic infrastructure should be in place in Xiongan by 2020. The area will be well connected to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei by 2022 when the Winter Olympic Games are held, according to Xinhua.