DEVELOPING PROCESS AND DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE OF MUNICIPAL PARKS IN THE TOKYO METROPOLIS

Abstract

One of the most important thing to be sought in urban environmental problems is to investigate open space and parks within the city. The problem of provision and servicing plans for municipal parks is also included in this today's urban environmental problems. But still, many cities in Japan are far behind in this aspect as compared with cities in Western countries, and the number and area of municipal parks are probably half of or than what would be adequate for today's needs. The purpose of this paper is to make clear the developing process, and the distribution structure of municipal parks in the Tokyo Metropolis (Fig. 1). Also, we have tried to discuss these topics as well as socio-economic background of the recent park construction development. In this paper, in order to analyze the distribution structure of municipal parks, factor analytic-regression method was employed. The results obtained from these studies are summarized as follows: 1. The construction progress of parks reflected the processes of urban planning. The period of increase in parks corresponded to the three events; (1) the Tokyo reconstruction plans after the earthquake disaster in 1923, (2) the war damage in 1945, and (3) the recent urbanization from the early 1960's (Fig. 2). 2. Initial parks in the earlier period of Meiji era were situated only in the inner urban area (the oldest parts of Tokyo), and then developed to the surrounding areas with the expansion of the built-up areas. A series of maps showed the distribution of parks, in which “the park construction fronts” were identified (Figs. 3-A_??_D and 4). 3. In 1975, the distribution of the parks was concentrated in the outer wards of Tokyo. In a general way, the number of parks decreases with increasing distance from the city center (Table 2). 4. The six dimensions as main urban factors, i.e., (1) the total urban character, (2) the population scale, (3) the urban center, (4) the urbanization and non-urbanization, (5) the industrial area and (6) the progress of urban development planning, have been defined by factor analysis of socio-economic characteristics (32 variables) based on 55 unit areas within the Tokyo Metropolis. The relationship between the number of parks in 1975 (P) and the six dimensions (factors one to six) can be expressed by the linear equation as follows:P=0.414F1+0.338F2+0.035F3+0.271F4+0.077F5+0.226F6+1.818(R2=0.816). As a result of this factor analytic-regression model, the factor of the number of parks was mainly defined, and it was indicated in the population scale, the second factor (Fig. 5-A_??_D and Tables 3 and 4). 5. It shows that the number of parks has increased with urbanization, but the area per park has decreased from 1925 to 1975. The relationship between the number of parks (Pa) and the population (Po) can be expressed by a time-series linear equation (from 1925 to 1975). The equation is logPa=3.018logPO-18.088(r=0.825)(Fig. 6). The relationship between the avarage area per park (PA) and the number of parks constructed (PCN) can be expressed by the same method. The equation is logPA=-0.603logPCN+5.497(r=-0.902)(Fig. 7). The main socio-economic element behind the increasing number of parks can be seen in the growth of public investments and the main element behind the reduction of park area can and will always be found in the rising land values. Almost all these changing phenomena relate to urban growth. It is time for the urban administration authorities to consider urban parks as open spaces and areas of recreation.