Japan gained momentum to change from the feudal
age to a modern state with the advent of Meiji restoration of more than
a century ago. Urbanization had progressed as a concentrating of industries
and population to urban areas due to modern industrial development mainly
of commence and manufacturing. On the other hand, the urban areas in Japan
then were castle towns, temple towns or large-scale agricultural communities
without provision of adequate infrastructure to support activities and
the living needs of the population. For example, roads were not constructed
for vehicular traffic but for movement on foot, facilities for water and
sewerage were hardly developed, and so on.
Urban developments have been undertaken
through development of housing and of industrial estates in new urban areas
and through redevelopment of urbanized areas, particularly after World
War II when war-damage reconstruction land readjustment projects were implemented
in the centers of about 100 cities. Individual development of urban infrastructure,
such as roads, parks, sewerage, etc. has also been carried out actively.
Further improvement was required in many urban areas nationwide, during
intensive concentration of population into the three major urban areas
(Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) in the high economic growth period.
Due to a drastic change in the recent
economic environment and industrial structure, new issues have been evolving
such as lands used for factories and railways in the bay area where have
become idle, un-utilization of central areas of large cities, decline of
city center's commercial areas, and so on. At present, cities in Japan
need development and renewal to correspond to the above issues which are
more specifically defined as follows: |
