The Generative Processes of Vacant Housing in the Shrinking Suburbs: The Case of Ushiku in Tokyo’s 50–60 km Commuter Belt

Abstract

This chapter examines the complex generative processes of vacant housing units in the outer suburbs of Tokyo. Since 2010, Tokyo has demonstrated a remarkable increase in vacant housing units, and municipalities have established countermeasures to address this issue. The increase in vacant housing units has emerged unequally in the region, and the spatial structure of urban decay in the case city can be visualized as a set of concentric circles. In the innermost circle, neighborhoods are centrally and conveniently located, vacant houses are primarily transitional, and have been purchased or rented by new residents. The second circle is an area of stagnation, where the increase of vacant houses is directly related to the aging of residents, and unevenly distributed urban decay exists. This prevented the in-flow of younger generations. In the third circle, which comprises uncompleted housing developments where semi-rural amenities are sufficient, vacant houses are either transitional or permanent, and there has been an in-flow of younger people.