Recent Evolution of the Central Business District in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between recent changes in the central business district of Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, and major socio-economic developments in Okinawa during the post war period. The study area comprises 15 street blocks (chome) in central Naha, and data for the years 1954, 1964, 1974, 1984, and 1991 are utilized.The main conclusions can be summarized as follows:1. The CBD is generally limited to the officially designated Land Adjustment Project Area in Naha City. This area offers well-ordered plots of land, with good access to the arterial road system via Route 58. These are two major factors explaining why offices are attracted to locate in this part of central Naha.2. Following the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972 the Naha central business district experienced substantial change with regard to the range and type of business function. This was largely due to the fact that many companies based on the Japanese mainland set up branch offices in Naha City, thus broadening and diversifying local business activity.3. Diversification of business activity was accompanied by increased local area specialization of business function. Such functional specialization is revealed by a comparison of the locations of 'branch offices' and 'business outlets'. The former tend to concentrate along Route 58, while the latter concentrate in the core, northern, and western areas of the business district.