Impact of the Urban Exodus Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Shrinking Cities of the Osaka Metropolitan Area

Haruka Kato,Atsushi Takizawa

doi:10.3390/su14031601

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the impact of the urban exodus triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic on shrinking cities in the Osaka metropolitan area, where a declining population is caused by population aging. Analyzing the Osaka metropolitan area enables us to clarify how cities are shrinking due to the urban exodus. This study analyzed the monthly population data of three types of municipalities: ordinance-designed/regional hub cities, ordinary cities, and towns/villages. In conclusion, the study clarified that population change due to the urban exodus occurred in the ordinance-designed/regional hub and ordinary cities from summer to autumn 2020. The most significant population increases occurred in the municipalities in the Osaka metropolitan fringe area, which are located more than 30 km away from the center of the Osaka metropolitan area. The conclusion is important because the population increased not only in the ordinance-designed cities but also in the ordinance-designed/regional hub cities, unlike the rest of the metropolitan area. The result is the new insights unique to the Osaka metropolitan area that this study clarified. The urban exodus contributes to the need for the local governments of shrinking cities to maintain the urban services necessary for people’s daily lives.

Highlights

Shrinking cities, which are cities with declining populations, are a significant issue in urban planning
Well-known examples include the urban planning of the Rust Belt in the United States, where the shrinking of cities increased due to economic decline, and Germany, where the shrinking of cities increased due to political changes caused by the integration of East and West Germany [1]
It was found that municipalities in the Osaka metropolitan area had a significant decrease in population before the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020

Summary

Introduction

Shrinking cities, which are cities with declining populations, are a significant issue in urban planning. Well-known examples include the urban planning of the Rust Belt in the United States, where the shrinking of cities increased due to economic decline, and Germany, where the shrinking of cities increased due to political changes caused by the integration of East and West Germany [1]. In Japan, population decline due to aging has become a significant issue for urban planning [2]. In 2020, the Japanese population aged over 65 years old was 36.19 million, constituting 28.8 percent of the total population [3]. As in China, research on shrinking cities has progressed in East Asia [4]. Many factors of shrinking cities have been studied, such as economic decline, political change, and the aging population

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