The intra-metropolitan distribution of airport accessibility, employment density, and labor productivity: Spatial strategy for economic development in Tokyo

Abstract

This research describes the intra-metropolitan distribution patterns of airport accessibility, employment density, and labor productivity using municipality-level datasets from the Tokyo metropolitan region. The geographic data analyses present that inner-city bayfront airport accessibility and cross-industrial employment density are high in municipalities with the designation of urban regeneration districts for economic efficiency and competitiveness, but outer-suburb airport accessibility is not. The intra-metropolitan descriptions further reveal that labor productivity tends to be high in municipalities with high accessibility to the inner-city bayfront airport and a high degree of cross-industrial firm colocation for urbanization economies. From these findings, this article concludes that the significance of spatial strategy in guiding airport-linked firm colocation and intensifying the catalytic impacts of multiple airports through ground transportation investments needs to be more cautiously assessed in Asia's emerging megacities.