The Toranomon-Roppongi District Urban Redevelopment Project is the first in Japan to obtain an AAA rating, the highest possible, in the Japan Habitat Evaluation and Certification Program (JHEP)*, a certification program that quantitatively evaluates initiatives to contribute to the preservation and recovery of biodiversity.
* The JHEP compares the natural value in the pre-project situation with that in the post-project situation in terms of habitability for vegetation and wildlife that are indicators (assessment species) of the area in question, assessing the difference and assigning a rank.

Advanced green-space plan incorporating biodiversity considerations: Initiatives based on environmental considerations taken from the initial stage of development

The Toranomon-Roppongi District Urban Redevelopment Project is moving ahead with the development of an urban community centered on a new multipurpose complex in the so-called Daigaiku (Superblock) area, which is rich in both international and cultural character. Under the concept of "life surrounded by nature in the heart of the city," the project aims to create a rich and warm urban space by taking the open areas created through intensive land use and turning them into plazas and green spaces. To that end, from the initial stage of the development, a variety of initiatives have been taken based on environmental considerations. The advanced green-space plan incorporating biodiversity considerations is one of the primary initiatives.

Japan's first try at incorporating a biodiversity perspective into an urban redevelopment project

When drawing up the green-space plan, we aimed to revitalize nature in the area by paying attention to native species and potential natural vegetation, which were determined from a survey of current conditions and documentary records.
The effort to evaluate a green-space plan in an urban redevelopment project using a method that incorporates a biodiversity perspective (i.e. JHEP certification) was the first such attempt in Japan. The plan was evaluated as greatly exceeding the value of green spaces during the past 30 years and was given an AAA rating, the highest possible.

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Conceptual drawing of the Toranomon-Roppongi
District Urban Redevelopment Project
(Construction started October 2009 with completion slated for June 2012)

In May 2008, Mori Building, which is participating in the project as a member of the redevelopment association, participated in the Business and Biodiversity Initiative at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9) and signed the Good Companies Leadership Declaration on Biodiversity.
Interest in biodiversity is growing increasingly as we approach the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10), which will be held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan next year. Mori Building is striving to make this project a leading project that can serve as an exemplar for the future greening of cities. At the same time, it is building an ecological network in an urban area and creating a model urban community that takes biodiversity into account.