Housing challenges in shrinking and aging Japanese cities

Tomoko Kubo

doi:10.5194/ica-abs-1-195-2019

Abstract

Housing challenges in shrinking and aging Japanese cities

Highlights

Hollander (2018) and other studies identified the relationship between the neighborhood life cycle (Hoover and Vernon 1959, or studies by the Chicago schools) and urban shrinkage, with regards to old industrial cities such as those in the Rust Belt of the United States and erstwhile mining towns in North England
The first factor is that of shortterm vacancies for which there is no demand in the local housing market; this issue can be resolved through public intervention in terms of reinvestment in inner-city social housing, such as in the United Kingdom in the 1980s
The second factor is that of oversupply of housing as compared to the housing demand in a region; this is caused by lower satisfaction among residents in their residential environment or inequality in public investment and access to private financial resources by local residents

Summary

Introduction

Hollander (2018) and other studies identified the relationship between the neighborhood life cycle (Hoover and Vernon 1959, or studies by the Chicago schools) and urban shrinkage, with regards to old industrial cities such as those in the Rust Belt of the United States and erstwhile mining towns in North England. In addition to these neighborhood cycles, other factors such as economic decline, outmigration and population loss, demographic changes (Nordvik and Gulbrabdsen 2009, Couch and Cocks 2013), social transition, globalization and neo-liberalization have transformed housing, welfare, and family relations in many countries (Yui et al 2017, Ronald and Lennarts 2018).

Results

Conclusion