ON THE RELATION BETWEEN OVERPOPULATION OF A CITY AND RUBBER INDUSTRY

Abstract

Industrialization promotes urbanization and regional development, but it is not always compatible with the sound development of urban function. So it i s that industrialization often causes environmental problems in a city and thus various social problems arise. In the rubber industrial area of Kobe developed during these six decades, the higher the industrial development of the region has been promoted, the heavier the degree of overpopu-lation has become. This has been caused by the peculiar production system of the rubber industry. The authors have tried here to analyze the structure of the rubber industry to enunciate the relation between the overpopulation and the industrial system. This may help promoting measures to meet such problems in our cities. Nagata-ku, Kobe, with an overall population density of 19, 780/km2 (1963) has over 800 rubber factories in its central district, and the population density of this district crowded with these rubber factories, related commercial enterprises and dormitories, is over 35, 000/km2. The result is that urban environment is quite poor. Eighty-three percent of these facto-ries produce . rubber and/or chemically made shoes, and employees of rubber industries amount to 43% of the industrial population of Nagata-ku. Match factories which were established in this area early in the Mei ji era, declined from about 1921. At the same time, rubber industries, absorbing the surplus workers, were making their appearance in Kobe with its vital port. Rubber factories followed the manufacturing pattern of the match makers and formed groups of small plants. We thus find that at present factories with more than .200 workers number only 10, while 80% have less than 30 workers. The manufacturing processes are complicated and subdivided. There is a rental factory system peculiar to this area. An owner of a factory, building divides it into small rooms and rents them to minor enterprisers. “Master” factories rent the larger machines, such as are used for rolling and vulcanizing, to small works and these subsidiary plants often make simpler manufacturing processes independently. In 1969, the number of such “Master” plants was 95 and the subsidiary plants 650, while independent plants were 79. The number of subsidiary plants doubled during that decade. The birth and death of such subsidiary enterprises are quite frequent depending on economic conditions. Small products of many kinds and varieties are essential to the manufacture of chemically made shoes. Therefore, as few enterprises can afford equipment for such production, small inefficient borrowing plants have increased and this is one of the causes of overpopulation and environmental problems in this area. The principal danger in this region is fire. In rubber factories there are various inflammable chemicals such as methyl-and ethyl-ketone, toluene, and benzine, all in close pro-ximity to boilers generating large amounts of heat. Moreover, many rented factory buildings are made of wood. The number of fires in rubber factories in the 1958-67 period was 164 and the average floor space lost per fire was 205.4m2, four times the usual fire loss in Kobe. Among organic solvents there are many poisonous chemicals such as toluene and xylene and many factories have no or inadequate safety facilities. Dust raised during the mixing process of rubber materials is the cause of silicosis. In order to solve such urban problems, Kobe City is planning the redevelopment of western Kobe. This plan includes, by gathering several factories in one place, the changing of the central region west of Shin-Nagata Station to a purely residental area with public facilities such as parks.