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Portland’s development into an attractive, livable city wasn’t a happy accident, according to city officials, but rather the result of decades of careful planning and decisions made with people 鈥� not motor vehicles 鈥� in mind.

Officials conveyed that message Tuesday to a visiting delegation of mayors and other government leaders from Japan as part of its FutureCity Initiative, which seeks smart urban planning. This is the first time a FutureCity event has taken place outside of Asia.

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales noted that the city has close ties to Japan, including its oldest sister city relationship (dating to 1959) with Sapporo and its Portland Japanese Garden.

Portland officials were eager to show off the city. They led a tour of the Pearl District on Monday, and a visit of East Portland on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the group met at the Portland Art Museum to share their lessons learned.

The session gave Portlanders an opportunity to bask in their own reputation for smart planning. Zeljka Carol Kekez, a principal at PLACE Studio, pointed to the Pearl District, where Jamison Square provides public space. Smart design in the Pearl led to the city’s biggest housing boom in decades, she said.

Also, nature was brought back into the city, Kekez said, and the local economy was decoupled from carbon emissions. Portland leaders, she said, 鈥渢ransformed freeways into parks, parking lots into neighborhoods and rails into trails.鈥�

Kekez described several successful mixed-use projects, including the Lloyd District’s Hassalo on Eighth (1,600 housing units) and Oregon Square (2,000 housing units), and the South Waterfront District’s Zidell Yards.

Bob Hastings, TriMet‘s agency architect, gave a thorough history of Portland’s development, from automobile-centric postwar plans such as the rejected Mount Hood Freeway to construction of the MAX orange line and Tilikum Crossing.

Hastings said smog and water pollution became major problems in Portland by the 1970s.

鈥淲hat it had become was an environment that couldn’t sustain life for very long,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was a recognition that we needed to change.鈥�

Urban growth boundaries and public transportation were embraced.

鈥淏ack we went to mass transit and electric mobility, particularly,鈥� Hastings said.

When some residents expressed displeasure that Portland was becoming a city crisscrossed by freeways, a transit mall was created. Then the city pursued creation of parks, water fountains and other public spaces.

鈥淭his is not something that happened out of whole cloth,鈥� Hastings said.

Hales summed up the case for Portland-style planning: If officials can work toward creating livable, prosperous cities, the benefits can be immense.

鈥淭he world will come to you, as it has come to Portland,鈥� he said.

The Japanese mayors said they share Portland’s goal of creating easily walkable cities with access to mass transit. Mobility is a particularly acute concern in Japan, where approximately one-third of the population is expected to be older than 64 by 2030.

The Japanese mayors said they’re seeking how to serve a rapidly shrinking and aging population. Masashi Mori, mayor of Toyama, described efforts to encourage density. The city provides purchase subsidies in Residence Encouragement Zones to bring residents closer to the city core and mass transit.

As a result, population is expected to grow in Toyama’s center, even as it shrinks elsewhere.

Major developments are also boosting Toyama’s image, Mori said. Perhaps the most prominent is a Kengo Kuma-designed building that houses a glass art museum, a municipal library and a bank.

The mayors are particularly concerned with revitalizing smaller cities in Japan. Many are losing population to Tokyo, they said.