Multi-Scale Assessment of Floor Area Disparity Using Spatial Database: an Empirical Study in Japan

Abstract

Floor area (FA) is an important indicator of urban sustainability. Assessments of FA disparity involving a larger scale of building distributions can provide a more comprehensive guidance on how to better allocate the construction resources. In this paper, we examined the FA distribution pattern and the characteristics of FA disparity in Japan during 2003–2009 using 3D modeling techniques. The driving factors of FA disparity and its impacts were also analyzed. Our results indicated that per-capita FA varied according to the urbanization level and was higher in metropolitan areas compared to slightly urbanized sites. The spatial distribution of FA followed a cluster-led pattern in 2003 and 2009 that high FA values were mainly found in mega cities of Japan while low FA values concentrated in rural and mountainous areas. FA disparities measured by Gini coefficient were 0.498 and 0.495 in 2003 and 2009, respectively, indicating that there were big inequalities in the FA distribution among the population in Japan. During 2003–2009, the quantity and the spatial concentration of FA showed slight increases in Japan, and the FA disparity witnessed a slight decrease at multi-levels. At the prefecture level, FA disparity is significantly related to the urbanization rate, ratio of primary to secondary production, total number of dwellings, and urban heat island effect (R2=0.894)