Inner City Housing Problems in the Osaka Metropolitan Region

Abstract

Despite its high income standards, Japan's housing quality is generally inferior to international standards. This is especially true in the metropolitan regions of Tokyo and Osaka, where the structure of the inner city economic system has created very serious housing problems, especially in the form of superannuated houses, and extensive vacant housing stock.This paper examines the development of inner city housing problems in the Osaka metropolitan region. Section one presents a historical analysis of these problems. Section two outlines the intricacies of the contempory problems, related to both general aspects of urban society, and specific physical aspects of housing provision. Section three is a discussion of the housing problem in relation to specific problems of the inner city. Section four analyses some official housing statistics for the Osaka metropolitan region.The major issues of this article are as follows:1) In recent years, urban residential lots have been increasingly subdivided, with many small houses built in the conjested inner area. In comparison to houses built on wider residential lots, these small houses become superannuated rapidly. In addition, they have contributed to a generally uncomfortable residential environment.2) Most of these small houses are private rental units, containing poor and limited facilities. To escape these conditions, there has been a large outflow from the central city to the suburban areas, leaving behind a large number of vacant houses that cannot easily be re-rented.3) Most of the people remaining in these private rental units earn low incomes, yet they pay a high rent in proportion to their total incomes. The housing problem is especially acute for these people.