for Cities, Saruya Hostel, SHIGOTABI, and Fujiyoshida city

The "Animal Scale City" was held as part of SHIGOTABI, an experiential program linking the city and the region, in Fujiyoshida City in Yamanashi, based on their concept of "A journey for thinkers”.

Program

At the Urbanist School, students learn practical skills on various topics that surround contemporary cities through the combination of lectures and studio classes. This year's program, titled "Animal Scale City," was created and implemented to reconsider the city from the perspective of "horses”.

The term "human-scale city" is often referred to in the field of urban design and architecture. The term "human scale" refers to the idea of using the size of a human body or body part as a scale for considering the size of objects themselves and the relationship between people and space, such as the ease of holding objects, using tools, and living in housing. But are cities only for humans? We believe that we need to break away from a human-centered approach and take an "animal-scale city" approach that includes a wide variety of living creatures.

In Fujiyoshida, where this program was held, horses have been an integral part of people's lives since ancient times, as they plowed the fields and carried climbers and their luggage. In the first half of the program, participants learned about "Cities and Biodiversity & Animal Scale Cities" and "The History of Fujiyoshida and Horses and the current situation" through classroom lectures.

After the classroom lecture, participants met the horses of Fujiyoshida. After a lecture on how to handle the horses, a pull-horse ride, and horse care, the participants and their horses went on a 50-minute field research trip.

After the classroom lecture and practical training, the final stage was the output: for Cities acted as a facilitator and discussed with the participants what they could see through walking with horses, and their perspectives on the visualization of the city's value that they have noticed. For the map production, participants were divided into teams and presented their ideas on how to design the streets and the city from a non-human point of view.