Kyoto enforces ad ban, building height changes

KYOTO (Kyodo) The Kyoto city government on Saturday began enforcing a set of ordinances that lower building height limits and ban all rooftop and blinking advertisements to preserve the historic scenery of the ancient capital.

Colorful advertisements adorn buildings in Kyoto's popular Shijodori street in Shimogyo Ward. KYODO PHOTO

The effort has won praise for Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto, who described it as a "major project looking a century ahead." But land prices are falling in areas affected by the height restrictions, and local advertising companies are complaining about business being hampered.

Local ordinances for the new measures were approved unanimously by the Kyoto Municipal Assembly in March. Land prices have since fallen, particularly in business areas in central Kyoto along Shijodori and Kawaramachidori streets, said local real estate consultant Hiroshi Amano.

In an area where the building height limit was cut to 15 meters from 31, prices of land — which used to cost up to ¥4 million per 3.3 sq. meters — have fallen up to 40 percent, he said.

The price falls may be spreading to upscale residential areas as well, like the Shimogamo district, Amano said.

In the center of town, heights limits have dropped from 45 meters to 31 meters, which corresponds to an apartment block about 10 stories high. As a result, prices of condominium units on higher floors in existing buildings are going up, he said.

Rooftop and blinking advertisements, meanwhile, have been totally banned in Kyoto.

Contracts received by Kyoto advertising agencies have fallen some 40 percent since April, said Motoshige Nishimura, vice director of an association of about 80 advertising board manufacturers in Kyoto.

Nishimura said the new ordinance has cut orders for large advertisement boards — the mainstay business of his industry, adding that they will have to survive by selling better-designed ads.

The ordinances require outdoor advertisements that do not meet the tightened standards to be removed within a grace period of up to seven years. The city also has created a loan program to support the rebuilding of roughly 650 existing structures that are taller than the new rules.

Hiroshi Mimura, professor emeritus on urban planning at Kyoto University, gives high marks to the measures, saying, "Kyoto's scenery is a cultural asset. The administration, residents and businesses need to be determined to preserve it together."