Land Use Change of the Surrounding Areas of the CBD in Fukuoka City

Abstract

In 1975 and 1976, the problem concerning the surrounding areas of the CBD was taken up as a theme by the Association of Japanese Geographers. These symposiums gave us substantial results but left certain problems.In order to solve these problems, this paper aims to clarify urban land use changes of the surrounding areas of the CBD in a large Japanese city. Furthermore, inner city problems which are noticeable in European and American cities should be investigated in Japanese cities.Fukuoka City is selected as the study area, because functional differentiation is developed as a result of rapid urban growth and the urban core area and its surrounding area are easily identified.In this paper, the author analyzes spatial patterns of land use using the grid square data of land uses (published by the Fukuoka Municipal Office) and examines the relation between these patterns and the movement of enterprises and population. He also investigated land use changes in the surrounding areas of the CBD by an intensive field survey. After examining factors which caused these land use changes, he considered the expansion process of the urban core. The results are summarized as follows:1) Spatial patterns of urban land uses in Fukuoka City reveal an obvious areal differentiation. In general, land uses are arranged from the core to the periphery as follows: Around the central business district, mixed land-use districts of residences and industries are located in the northern and eastern parts, while those of residences and commercial facilities are located in the southern and western parts. In the periphery of the study area, residences are dominant in western and southern parts, and the industrial district lies in the eastern part and along the coast.2) In the mixed district of residences and industries around the CBD, population density reaches a high degree but there can been seen a fall in population itself. The number of enterprises has neither increased nor decreased, apparently. On the other hand, in the mixed district of residences and commercial facilities, the population is not decreasing seriously and this district is experiencing a decline of manufacturing activities, but a growth of service and retail trade industries.3) Land use changes in the areas surrounding the CBD are classified into three types: 1. the districts where land use is more intensified and urban core functions are concentrated. 2. the districts where transitional land uses such as parking lots or vacant land are dominant. 3. the districts which have mixed land uses of residential and commercial functions or of residential and industrial functions.4) These land use changes are caused by several factors such as functions of the hinterland, areal movement of the urban core, the direction of urban growth (development of transportation, infrastructure, etc.) and city planning.5) The urban core area in Fukuoka City is expanding to the southwest. However, this horizontal growth has its limit, because accessibility to the urban core is declining. Vertical growth is becoming distinctive.