Urbanization and the emergence of compact communities have pushed cities to become smarter, more efficient in terms of land use. Tokyo the capital of Japan has the population of 13.35 million as on May 1, 2014 with a population density of 6,000 persons per square kilometer. There is a need for a city of this size to be efficient in their land use. The use of bicycles as means of transportation has been heavily encouraged by the government of japan in recent years. This has cropped up the problem of parking space for the increased number of bicycles on the street. When you have a city as big as Tokyo, Space is scarce and precious and with the growing cost of land due scarcity, the idea to develop appropriate capacity bicycle parking is just not feasible. That has resulted in nuisance parking on footpaths.
Eco Cycle is an automated underground anti-seismic bicycle parking lot developed by Giken Limited. Within just 7x11 meters this structure can hold up to 204 bicycles and this can help park 1000 bicycles in a space that would have parked just 100 bicycles. The system is quick with just twelve seconds needed to retrieve the bike and with a monthly pass for about 22 USD and fifty percent discount to students makes it an affordable option. As the structure is anti-seismic it provides safety in the occurrence of an earthquake and even against theft. The structure is based on the innovative Press-in method originally developed by Giken. The construction is fast and cost effective. The piles used for the construction can be easily removed as reused making it more sustainable. This innovative design resounds with Giken’s design concept of ‘Culture Aboveground, Function Underground’ as the land above the parking lot can be utilised as community gardens or parks and eliminates the visual pollution of unkempt parking of bikes. This innovation would potentially be beneficial in any densely populated city with the desire for a more sustainable urban design.
