Inhabitants' Attitudes toward Agricultural Activities and Urban Development in an Urbanizing Konjuka Area in the Rural-Urban Fringe of Tokyo

Abstract

As cities grow and urbanites invade adjacent rural settlements, community values and attitudes become much more heterogeneous. As this invasion takes place, the landscape is also transformed and agricultural activities are threatened. In Japan, these rural-urban communities are known as konjuka settlements. Previous research has examined the friction between newcomers and farmers (old-timers) over agricultural activities; however, there has been almost no examination of how attitudes vary toward urban development in these konjuka settlements. The objective of this study therefore is to examine conflicting attitudes toward both agricultural activities and urban development. A questionnaire returned by 211 households was distributed within the boundaries of Ushiku City-a satellite city of Tokyo. There were conflicting attitudes toward both agricultural activities and urban development. Specifically, there were major attitude differences toward burning garbage and toward new single detached housing. Responses differed according to the newcomer and old-timer dichotomy. However, responses also varied according to whether one was a farmer, was raised locally and whether one was from the more urbanized or less urbanized hamlet. This study re-affirms that conflicts occur between newcomers and old-timers over agriculture. But the resulted also indicate that conflicts can occur over urban development. Moreover, the findings confirm the results of other community studies which demonstrate that newcomer values conflict with those of rural old-timers. What is more important, however, is to point out that these conflicts occur between groups other than newcomers and old-timers.