Tokyo 2020 and neighborhood transformation: Reworking the entrepreneurial city

Olympic Games are commonly used to promote urban renewal projects. Often, such renewal activities are criticized for inducing the displacement of poorer populations. This chapter examines the extent of residential displacement related to the 2020 Olympics, arguing that the decision to host the Olympics has accelerated the pace of ongoing urban transformation but has not initiated any major residential redevelopment project apart from the Olympic Village complex. Tokyo is a far cry from being a socially just city, but the peculiar features of the real estate market mitigate the forces of residential displacement inherent in entrepreneurial city politics. Olympic Games are commonly used to promote urban renewal projects. This chapter examines the extent of residential displacement related to the 2020 Olympics, arguing that the decision to host the Olympics has accelerated the pace of ongoing urban transformation but has not initiated any major residential redevelopment project apart from the Olympic Village complex. Tokyo is a far cry from being a socially just city, but the peculiar features of the real estate market mitigate the forces of residential displacement inherent in entrepreneurial city politics. Entrepreneurial city politics is a technical term for a shift away from the long-standing managerial role of local governments to provide services, facilities, and benefits to urban citizens. The chapter shows that neighborhood transformation in Tokyo is characterized less by direct and conflict-ridden evictions than by indirect, gradual, and spatially isolated forms of residential displacement.