Policy Research Institute for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

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Research on the solution to the problem caused by the vacant lots increases and study on how to use them to enhance the resilience of the city.iReport No.124j

Summary

With the continuous declination of the population and the progress of an aging society, it is necessary to solve and prevent various issues that originate from the expected increase of vacant land. In addition, in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the development of a natural disaster-resilient nation and community has become an urgent requirement. Furthermore, the transition to a compact urban structure is a pressing issue in pursuance of a low carbon society and related matters.

When considering the measures for utilizing vacant land, there can be no breakthrough in the problem solving or policy agenda setting, without a precise understanding of the phenomena from the timing, spatial and topographical aspects. Based on this problem awareness, this research aims to accumulate factual expertise through various data acquisition and analyses.

Chapter 1: Background and aim of this research
In chapter 1, the aim of this research is described with an organized background and outlined research flow.

Chapter 2: A macro-level analysis of the present situation and factors underlying the vacant land generation
In chapter 2, the country-level generation of vacant land and vacant houses within each prefecture is studied based on land statistics such as Basic Survey on Land. In addition, the municipal-level generation of vacant land is examined through a municipal questionnaire survey. Furthermore, in order to analyze the country-level factors underlying the generation of vacant land, correlation analyses were conducted with various statistical data.

Chapter 3: Examination of district-level vacant land generation and the underlying factors and mechanisms
In chapter 4, with a focus on depopulating and aging municipalities, the smaller district (micro)-level vacant land generation and extinction are examined. Candidate districts are selected according to the characteristics of the municipalities and district areas. Furthermore, the underlying factors and mechanisms of the district-level vacant land generation and extinction are examined through land-registry information, a questionnaire survey of vacant land owners, as well as surveys of municipalities, local community associations and local real estate firms.

Chapter 4: Future outlook of district-level vacant land generation
In chapter 5, the future outlook of vacant land generation and extinction of several specific districts is derived from a trend prediction based on their present situation.

Chapter 5: Domestic and overseas case studies of enhanced use of vacant land
In chapter 6, domestic and overseas cases are studied, in which urban policies are implemented for enhancing the resilience against social change such as population decline and the change in economic conditions, and for enhancing the resilience against natural disaster such as earthquakes and tsunamis. Some case studies are based on existing sources and researches. In several other cases, on-site research and surveys of concerned parties are conducted. Furthermore, an intensive study is conducted on the interim use and variable use of the vacant land, which are considered to be effective in both city expansion and city contraction. For such cases, existing source research and on-site research as well as surveys of concerned parties are conducted likewise.

Chapter 6: Future issues and policy agendas
In chapter 7, not only the future issues that are expected to arise but also the policy agendas are summarized based on the findings of this research.




Keywords

Population Decline and Aging, Vacant Land, Generation and Extinction, Factor and Mechanism Analysis, Interim Use

Publication

March 2015

Report

report(Japanese)(PDF:62.7MB)