Evaluation of the Degree of the Sufficiency of Public Green Spaces as an Indicator of Urban Density...

International Journal of Advanced Computer Science, Vol. 2, No. 4, Pp. 168-180, Apr. 2012.

International Journal Publishers Group (IJPG) ©

Manuscript Received: 4, Feb., 2012

Revised:

29,Feb.,2012

Accepted:

1,Apr.,2012

Published: 15,May,2012

Keywords Public Green

Space,

Urban

Density,

Metropolitan

Area,

Urbanization,

GIS

(Geographical

Information

Systems)

Abstract This study uses GIS

(Geographic Information Systems) to

conduct an evaluation of the degree of the

sufficiency of public green spaces such as

parks and urban green areas as an indicator

of the density of metropolitan areas, in

particular the Chubu metropolitan area, in

Japan. To that end, it first grasps and

compares the distribution situation of green

spaces in Japan’s three major metropolitan

areas in Japan, especially in the Chubu

metropolitan area, using GIS digital maps.

And based on this result, it conducts a GIS

evaluation of the degree of sufficiency of

public green spaces and arranges the result

for every distance belt from the central part

to compare and exam for every distance belt

away from the center in particular the

Chubu metropolitan area. Furthermore,

after pointing out the insufficient areas of

public green spaces based on the result, it

also proposes the improvement policy which

can be introduced in the Chubu metropolitan

area.

1. Introduction

Most large cities in Asia are extraordinarily

high-density compared with their counterparts in Europe,

North America and Oceania (Yamamoto, 2006, 2008a,

2008b, 2009a) [1]-[4]. An acute lack of green spaces in the

metropolitan areas in Japan, in particular, has given rise not

only to problems in land use but also to deterioration of the

quality of the urban environment. Quite apart from the

problem of environmental conservation, green spaces fulfill

a number of diverse functions for recreation, disaster

prevention and local topography, and are thus one of the

most important elements in urban areas. Furthermore, in

Japan, the potential danger of high-density cities was made

very real in people’s minds in the Great Hanshin

Earthquake in 1995, and several proposals have since been

made strongly arguing for the necessity of disaster

Kayoko Yamamoto is with the Graduate School of Information Systems,

National University of Electro-Communications Tokyo, Japan

1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu City, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan (Tel & Fax: +81-42-443-5728, e-mail: [email protected])

prevention city planning based on the provision of green

spaces (Yamamoto, 2000) [5]. This is because the weak

areas have increased in disaster since and the flexibility of

construction is large as compared with the advanced nations

of others in Japan.

The idea of city planning based on green space

development is not at all new, having its origins in 17th and

18th century Europe. The construction of modern urban

parks began as early as the 19th century (Yamamoto, 2006,

2008a) [1]-[2]. In recent years, securing green spaces has

become an indispensable element of urban development.

Among previous studies on green space development in the

academic field of city planning and regional planning, a

particularly large number have focused on examples in the

U.K. and the U.S. (e.g., Maruta, Jenks, Burton & Williams,

Ide, Roo & Miller, Beatley, Ishikawa, Persons & Schuyler,

and Kahn) [6]-[13], but there have been no case studies of

Asian and Oceanic countries nor studies on the evaluation

of the degree of sufficiency of green spaces throughout the

world.

Based on the viewpoints described above, this study

uses GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to conduct an

evaluation of the degree of the sufficiency of public green

spaces such as parks and urban green areas as an indicator

of the density of major metropolitan areas, in particular the

Chubu metropolitan area, in Japan. For the purpose of this

study, a “public green space” is defined as a “public space

such as parks and green areas that is secured as an open

space within a city and not used for any other purpose”

based on the result of Yamamoto (2007a, 2007b, 2010)

[14]-[16].

2. Framework and Method

In this study, first, Section 3 classifies the

characteristics of Japan’s three major metropolitan areas

especially in the Chubu metropolitan area, paying attention

to the city planning based on green space development in

Japan and the distribution situation of green spaces. Section

4 introduces the use data of this study and the process which

processed the form which can be used by this study is

shown.

Based on these, Section 5 grasps and compares the

distribution situation of public green spaces in Japan’s three

major metropolitan areas, especially in the Chubu

Evaluation of the Degree of the Sufficiency of Public

Green Spaces as an Indicator of Urban Density in

Metropolitan Areas in Japan: The Chubu

Metropolitan Area Kayoko Yamamoto

Yamamoto.: Evaluation of the Degree of the Sufficiency of Public Green Spaces as an Indicator of Urban Density in Metropolitan Areas in Japan: The Chubu Metropolitan Area.


169

metropolitan area, using GIS digital maps. Section 6

conducts a GIS evaluation of the degree of sufficiency of

public green spaces as an indicator of urban density, and

arranges the result for every distance belt from the central

parts to compare for every distance belt away from the

center in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas.

And based on these results, Section 7 evaluates the

degree of sufficiency of public green spaces for every

distance belt away from the center in more detail in

particular the Chubu metropolitan area. Furthermore, after

pointing out the insufficient areas of public green spaces

based on the result, it also proposes the improvement policy

which can be introduced in the Chubu metropolitan area.

Finally, Section 8 shows the conclusion and future research

of this study.

In addition, the application soft wares of GIS used by

this study are ArcGIS and ArcView developed by ESRI

(Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.). In this

study, using these soft wares, the data is processed in

Section 4 and the analysis evaluation of public green spaces

is performed in Sections 5, 6 and 7.

3. The Characteristics of Study

Area

A. Study Area Description

The main region for this study is the Chubu

metropolitan area centering on Nagoya city which showed

the position in Fig. 1. This is Japan’s third largest

metropolitan area, which together with the Tokyo and

Keihanshin (or Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe) metropolitan areas

constitute the Big Three metropolitan areas of Japan. The

population flowed in centering on adjacent prefectures

around from the 1950s in these three metropolitan areas.

Table 1 shows the population of three major

metropolitan areas in Japan. From this table, the Chubu

metropolitan area, as compared to the other two of the Big

Three metropolitan areas, is larger in land area and smaller

in population. Because of the relatively low population

density, urban districts within the Chubu metropolitan area

are less crowded. The gaps are huge particularly when

compared to the Tokyo metropolitan area, the largest

metropolitan area of Japan, whose population and

population density are respectively three and five times

greater than those of the Chubu metropolitan area.

However, due to the increasing industrial activities in the

recent years especially in the manufacturing sector, the

Chubu metropolitan area is now being pointed to as an area

where the economic conditions are the most favorable in

Japan. The World Exposition 2005, Aichi, Japan, was held

in the northeast suburbs of Nagoya.

B. City Planning Based on Green Space Development in

Japan

According to Yamamoto (2009a) [4], Japan’s green

space development can be broadly classified into three

phases. The first phase is the period of some 35 years from

1932 to 1968, during which the Green Belt concept that E.

Howard proposed in the U.K. in 1898 was introduced in

Japan and efforts were made toward its realization. The

second phase is the subsequent period of about ten years

from 1968 to 1977. In this period, the New City Planning

Law was enacted whereby the Green Belt concept was

replaced by a new concept, the Urbanization Control Area.

The third phase covers the period from 1977 to the present.

In this phase, the urban green space planning system was

established and a Master Plan for Parks and Open Spaces

was formulated whereby greening on a small district level

became subject to planning.

Of these three phases, I examine the first and second

phases in more detail. With the launching of the green space

plan in Tokyo in 1939, the Green Belt concept was

introduced in Japan. In 1946, the Law for the Conservation

of Suburban Green Zones in the National Capital Region

was enacted. However, due to strong opposition from

landowners, the Green Belt plan was turned into a feeble

program that managed only very modest development of

green spaces. Within the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area

in particular, there was a plan to develop Green Belts in

areas some 20km away from the center of the city but it was

realized only partially. Miyashita Park (see Fig. 2), a very

small park near Shibuya subcenter of Tokyo, is said to be a

remnant of the Green Belt developed at that time.

The Green Belt concept changed with the enactment of

the New City Planning Law in 1968. The law introduced a

demarcation system dividing the urban planning area into

two types of areas, the Urbanization Promotion Area in

which urbanization is promoted and the Urbanization

Control Area in which urbanization is restricted. Of these,

the Urbanization Control Area inherited the idea of the

Green Belt concept in that the designation of such an area

was aimed at preventing the sprawling of urban areas.

However, because the Urbanization Control Area was also

defined as a candidate for future development, the original

purpose of the Green Belt concept was lost. Then, in the

third phase, the whole scope of a city was made subject to

city planning to promote the greening of urban spaces –

including those under private ownership – on a small

district level, rather than trying to develop green spaces of a

certain designated scale or greater.

C. The Distribution Situation of Green Spaces in the Study

Area

Table 2 shows the public green space per population of

the central cities of three major metropolitan areas in Japan,

New York, Los Angels, Montreal, London, Paris and Bon.

From this table, it is evident that the large cities in Japan

have remarkably few amounts of green spaces compared

with other large cities of advanced nations. This is because

the land use control are too weak in Japan that it is easy to

make green spaces applicable to development as compared

with many foreign countries. This table also shows the

public green space per population of Nagoya is remarkably

less than the ones of large cities in foreign countries, and it

is more than the ones of other Japanese large cities except

Kobe.



170

Moreover, the following figures show the central parts

of three major metropolitan areas in Japan. Fig. 3 shows

Yoyogi Park and Meiji-jingu shrine which are located near

the Shinjuku subcenter of Tokyo. In the central part of

Tokyo, except for these, there are no large-scale parks and

green spaces, and the high density urban areas continue to

the suburbs.

Fig. 4 and 5 show respectively Osaka which is

maximum city and Kobe of the Keihanshin metropolitan

areas in Japan. In the center of Osaka of Fig. 4, the urban

density is the highest and there are very few open spaces.

Furthermore, concretely speaking, except for Osaka Castle,

Osaka Castle Park and Tennoji Park, etc. in the central part,

there are very few parks and green spaces. Kobe of Fig. 5 is

the city which the great earthquake happened in January,

1995, and the revival enterprises have been promoted even

now. However, since there are very little flat grounds, the

high-density urban areas have been formed in the narrow

areas and housing developments have been progressing in

the mountains and marine reclaimed land.

Fig. 6 shows Nagoya and Fig. 7 shows its nearby areas.

Fig. 6 shows Nagoya’s city center and Central Park as seen

from the TV Tower in the central district of the city,

whereas Fig. 7 showing the city center and nearby areas,

have been taken from the Higashiyama Tower in the eastern

part of Nagoya. Although urban density in the central

district of Nagoya is high, there still remain several open

spaces even within the city center. The wide roadways

running through the city center and the relatively modest

presence of high-rise buildings – as compared with the other

two metropolitan areas – are the major characteristics of the

Chubu metropolitan area. Also, suburban areas in the Chubu

metropolitan area have more forests and farmlands than

those in the other two metropolitan areas.

4. Collection and Processing of

Data

In this study, the detailed digital maps (10m mesh) for

three major metropolitan areas created by the Geographical

Survey Institute of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and

Transport were used in the analysis evaluation stage of

Sections 5, 6 and 7. These detailed digital maps are 10m

mesh land use data mainly deciphered and created from the

aerial photos. They were created by 5 times in the five

whole years about three major metropolitan areas in Japan

such as the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Keihanshin

metropolitan area and the Chubu metropolitan area.

The land uses are classified into 15 items such as forest,

paddy field, dry field, open space, and developed areas,

industrial area, general low layer residential section, high

density low layer residential section, middle and high layer

residential section, commercial section, road, park and

green open space, other public spaces, river and lake and

others. In addition, the public green spaces of this study are

mainly pointed to parks and green open space among these

land use classifications of minute numerical value maps,

and this was set as the object of analysis evaluation.

On the other hand, since GIS have various functions for

database creation, information analysis, information

provision and sharing and decision making support, they are

often used especially in the academic field of city planning

and regional planning in a versatile manner (Yamamoto,

2009b) [17]. In this study, using the functions of ArcGIS

and ArcView for database creation and information

analysis, these digital maps are processed into the form

which can be used was and they are used for the analysis

evaluation subsequent to Sections 5, 6 and 7.

Honshu

Hokkaido

Kyushu

Shikoku Okinawa

Keihanshin metropolitan area

Chubu metropolitan area

Tokyo metropolitan area

Tokyo

Osaka

NagoyaHonshu

Hokkaido

Kyushu

Shikoku Okinawa




Tokyo

Osaka

NagoyaHonshu

Hokkaido

Kyushu

Shikoku Okinawa




Tokyo

Osaka

Nagoya

Fig. 1 Location of Chubu metropolitan area in Japan

TABLE 1

THE DENSITY OF JAPAN’S THREE MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS (2005)

Metropolitan

areaPrefecture

Population

(Person)Area （km

2）

Population

density

（person/km2）

Tokyo Tokyo 12,577,819 2,187.1 5,751.0

metropolitan Saitama 7,053,689 3,797.3 1,857.6

Area Chiba 6,062,202 5,156.6 1,175.6

Kanagawa 8,785,638 2,415.5 3,637.2

Sum 34,479,348 13,556.4 2,543.4

Keihanshin Osaka 8,817,010 1,893.9 4,655.4

metropolitan Kyoto 2,647,523 4,612.7 574.0

Area Hyogo 5,595,212 8,393.3 666.6

Sum 17,059,745 14,900.0 1,145.0

Chubu Aichi 7,262,164 5,158.0 1,407.9

metropolitan Gihu 2,107,000 10,598.2 198.8

Area Mie 1,867,166 5,776.4 323.2

Sum 11,236,330 21,532.6 521.8 Note) The data of population and area is quoted from the homepage of each

all prefectures. TABLE 2

THE PER CAPITA PUBLIC GREEN SPACE OF LARGE CITIES (1994)

City m2/person City m

2/person

Tokyo 4.5 New York 23.0

Yokohama 3.7 Los Angels 21.5

Osaka 2.9 Montreal 13.1

Koyto 2.8 London 30.4

Kobe 13.5 Paris 11.6

Nagoya 5.3 Bon 37.4 Note) The data is quoted from Tokyo city white paper (1994) [18].



171

Fig. 2 Miyashita Park near Shibuya subcenter of Tokyo (October 2007)

Fig. 3 Shinjuku subcenter in the Tokyo metropolitan area (December,

2006)

Fig. 4 Umeda district in the central part of Osaka in the Keihanshin metropolitan area (April, 2007)

Fig. 5 Kobe in the Keihanshin metropolitan area (April, 2006)

Fig. 6 Central Park in the central part of Nagoya in the Chubu metropolitan

area (March, 2007)

Fig. 7 Eastern part of Nagoya in the Chubu metropolitan area (March,

2004)



172

5. Comparison of the Distribution

Situation of Public Green

Spaces in Three Major

Metropolitan Areas

Section 5 compares the distribution situations of public

green spaces of three major metropolitan areas in Japan

using the detailed digital maps. In these maps shown in

Fig.8, 9 and 10, the areas shown in red are urban districts

and those blue are industrial zones, whereas the areas shown

in dark green, light green, and yellow respectively represent

forests, parks and green spaces, and farmlands. “Public

green spaces,” which are the main focus of this study, refer

to parks and green spaces, i.e. the areas shown in light green

on the digital maps.

A. Tokyo metropolitan area

The digital maps of Fig. 8 show the land uses in the

Tokyo metropolitan area in 1974, 1984 and 1994. There are

five ordinance-designated cities such as Yokohama,

Kawasaki, Chiba, Saitama and Sagamihara in addition to

Tokyo and the urban areas are connected in the Tokyo

metropolitan area. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the

high-density areas continue to the area about 40km away

from the city center and the shortage of green spaces poses

a serious problem. When I compare land uses among the

three different points of time, it can be seen that the

distribution of urban districts has expanded further into the

suburbs and public green spaces diminished over the

20-year period. Particularly in areas surrounding Yokohama

on the southwestern side, forests decreased significantly

with substantial portions of the hilly areas converted into

residential areas over the years.

B. Keihanshin metropolitan area


Keihanshin metropolitan area in 1976, 1986 and 1996. Four

ordinance-designated cities such as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto

and Sakai are located in the Keihanshin metropolitan area,

and Osaka is the central city. Moreover, many middle-scale

cities of bedroom suburb locate around these four

ordinance-designated cities. From these digital maps

showing the land uses at the three different points of time, it

is clearly evident that the distribution of urban districts has

expanded further into the suburban areas over the 20-year

period. A particularly acute depletion of forests can be

observed in areas surrounding Kobe in the northwest, with

the hilly terrain rapidly turned into residential areas.

However, what is noticeable about the Keihanshin

metropolitan area is that there remain substantial public

green spaces and forests in the suburban areas, even though

public green spaces are extremely scarce in the city center

of Osaka.

Yokohama

Central City, Tokyo

Saitama

Chiba

Fig. 8 The land use transformation in the Tokyo metropolitan area (1974-1994)



173

Central City, Osaka

Kobe

Kyoto

Fig. 9 The land use transformation in the Keihanshin metropolitan area (1976-1996)

Central City, Nagoya

Fig. 10 The land use transformation in the Chubu metropolitan area (1977-1997)



174

C. Chubu metropolitan area


Chubu metropolitan area in 1977, 1987 and 1997.Nagoya is

the only ordinance-designated cities in the Chubu

metropolitan area and no other major cities are located

within the region. Instead, there are a number of mid- and

small-size cities located in areas surrounding Nagoya. The

formation of conurbations is less observable here as

compared to the other two major metropolitan areas. Thus,

areas characterized with high urban density are relatively

scarce in the Chubu metropolitan area, which is also

relatively rich in public green spaces. Comparison of land

uses among the three different points of time reveals that,

despite the progress of suburbanization over the 20-year

period, the depletion of public green spaces and forests has

been less acute than in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Farmlands in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the

Chubu metropolitan area have been converted into urban

districts and so have been forests in the northeastern part.

D. Comparison of three major metropolitan areas

From these observations of Japan’s three major

metropolitan areas, it is fair to say that the lack of green

spaces is posing a grave problem particularly in the Tokyo

metropolitan area in which highly dense areas extend as far

as 40 kilometers from the city center. This is also causing a

serious land use problem in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In

the Chubu metropolitan area, which is the prime focus of

this study, urban density is not as high as in the Tokyo and

Keihanshin metropolitan areas. However, the economic

growth and reinvigorated industrial activities, as witnessed

in the recent years, may result in greater urbanization of the

Chubu metropolitan area.

6. Evaluation in Three Major

Metropolitan Areas

A. Areas subject to evaluation and evaluation method

For the purpose of this study, in Section 6, city areas in

Tokyo, Osaka and Aichi – each of which is the main

prefecture respectively of the Tokyo, Keihanshin and Chubu

metropolitan areas – are designated as subject to evaluation.

This is because detailed digital maps are available for

almost all city areas in these prefectures and various

statistical data, collected under the conditions identical to

those used in this study, are obtainable.

I evaluate the degree of sufficiency of public green

spaces, focusing on the relationships between population

density and per capita public green space, whereby I sort

out the findings for each distance zone as designated based

distance from the city center to conduct a comparison and

further examination. Population density figures are based on

statistical data provided by the respective local government

concerned – i.e. the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and

the prefectural governments of Osaka and Aichi – whereas

public green spaces are calculated from data derived from

the latest detailed digital map available for each of these

city areas and statistical data.

Fig. 11, 12 and 13 show the relationships between

population density and per capita public green space

respectively in the 23 wards and 26 cities in Tokyo, 33

cities in Osaka Prefecture and 32 cities in Aichi Prefecture.

In assessing the relativity, distance from the central district

of each prefecture is also taken into account. The Cabinet

Ordinance for Enforcement of the City Park Law of Japan

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000

Musashimurayama

Tama

Chiyoda Ward

Per capita public green space (m2/person)

Population density (person/km2)

Average 4.5m2/person

Average 10,533person/km2

◆0-10km

◆10-20km

◆20-30km

◆30-40km

◆40-50km

◆50-60km

◆60-70km

MinatoWard

Chuo Ward

Fig. 11 Population density and per capita public green space in 23 wards and 26 cities in Tokyo



175

provides that the standard area of a city park shall be 10

square meters per capita.

B. Tokyo

As shown in Fig. 11, the impact of distance from the

central district is visibly reflected in both the population

density and per capita public green space of the 23 wards

and 26 cities in Tokyo. Meanwhile, on average for the entire

city areas of Tokyo, population density stands at 10,533

persons per square kilometer and per capita public green

space at 4.5 square meters. That is, per capita public green

space in the city areas of Tokyo is substantially below the

standard level of 10 square meters. Per capita park area and

green area in Tokyo as a whole is 5.6 square meters but this

is because of the presence of vast parks and green spaces in

non-city areas that are not subject to evaluation in this

study, which pushes up the Tokyo-wide per capita average.

The average population density and per capita public

green space for Tokyo’s 23 wards respectively stand at

10,090 persons per square kilometer and 3.0 square meters.

Population density is higher in the wards closer to the

central district but no significant differences are observable

in per capita public green space. Of Tokyo’s three central

wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato), only Chiyoda Ward –

the central core of Tokyo – has a relatively low urban

density, having a population density of 3,398 persons per

square kilometer and per capita public green space of 6.4

square meters. It is presumed that such an increase in per

capita public green space is a result of the decrease in the

ward’s population in the recent years.


green space for Tama areas of Tokyo (26 cities) are 7,387

persons per square kilometer and 5.9 square meters

respectively. Areas within 30-kilometer radius from the

central district of Tokyo are not much different from the 23

wards; population density is at or above 10,000 persons per

square kilometer and per capita public green space below 10

square meters in most cities located in these areas. As an

exception to this, the city of Tama, despite being located

within 30-kilometer radius from the central district of

Tokyo, has population density of 6,942 persons per square

kilometer and per capita public green space of 14.6 square

meters. Meanwhile, in areas at and beyond 40-kilometer

radius from the central district, the majority of cities have a

population density of less than 10,000 persons per square

kilometer and per capita public green space of 5 square

meters or more. The city of Musashimurayama, being

located within 40-kilometer radius from the central district

of Tokyo and having population density of 4,317 persons

per square kilometer, has per capita public green space of

17.7 square meters, the highest for a city area in Tokyo.

Judging from the above, it is evident that urban density,

as measured by public green spaces, is very high in the

entire city areas of Tokyo and particularly so in the 23

wards. It is also found that adequate plans for public green

space placement – those designed in accordance with the

relevant population distribution – have not been necessarily

implemented in the city areas of Tokyo although there are

vast parks and green spaces in non-city areas. It is thus

necessary to redefine the existing land and space use plans

for the entire city areas of Tokyo and to take a new look at

public green space placement plans for extensive

reexamination.

C. Osaka Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture is small in land area and cities are

densely located in areas surrounding Osaka City, with two

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000





◆0-10km

◆10-20km

◆20-30km

◆30-40km

◆40-50km

◆50-60km

◆60-70km

Kawachinagano

Osaka

Fig 12 Population density and per capita public green space in 33 cities in Osaka Prefecture



176

thirds of the cities in the prefecture located in areas within

20-kilometer radius from the central district of Osaka City.

The average population density for the city areas of the

prefecture is 5,418 persons per square kilometer, roughly

half that of Tokyo’s city areas, while the average per capita

public green space is 5.2 square meters, roughly same as

that of the city areas of Aichi Prefecture. However, as

shown in Fig. 12, per capita public green space exceeds the

standard 10 square meters only in two cities, of which

Kawachinagano – located within 30-kilometer radius from

the central district of Osaka City and alone to have a low

population density of 1,070 persons per square kilometer –

has per capita public green space of 16.6 square meters,

conspicuously larger than the figures for other cities.

The impact of distance from the central district of Osaka

City is not observable both in population density and per

capita public green space. The population density ranges

from 10,000 to 12,000 persons per square kilometer for

cities located in areas within 10-kilometer radius from the

central district of Osaka City and from 3,000 to 8,000

persons per square kilometer for those in areas between 10-

to 20-kilometer radius, with their per capita public green

space ranging from 1 to 8 square meters. The majority of

cities located in areas at and beyond 20-kilometer radius

have a population density of less than 3,000 persons per

square kilometer but their per capita public green space

ranges from 2 to 10 square meters. Osaka City has a

population density of 11,843 persons per square kilometer

and per capita public green space of 3.3 square meters.

However, in approximately half of the cities located in areas

within 20-kilometer radius from the central district of Osaka

City, per capita public green space falls below the level of

Osaka City despite having a lower population density.

From these observations, it is evident that in areas

within 20-kilometer radius from the central district of Osaka

City there exist cities with greater urban density than Osaka

City as measured in public green spaces. Therefore, while it

is necessary to further examine public green space

placement plans for the entire city areas of Osaka

Prefecture, the need is particularly acute for Osaka City and

nearby areas.

D. Aichi Prefecture


green space for the city areas of Aichi Prefecture stand at

2,330 persons per square kilometer and 6.4 square meters

respectively. From this, it is fair to say that the Chubu

metropolitan area has a very low population density and

large per capita public green space as compared to the other

two metropolitan areas. However, as shown in Fig. 13, per

capita public green space exceeds the standard 10 square

meters only in four cities, of which three are located in areas

at and beyond 30-kilometer radius from the central district

of Nagoya. In particular, the city of Shinshiro, located in an

area at and beyond 60-kilometer radius from the central

district of Nagoya, has an extremely low urban density as

compared to those of other cities, with its population density

at 306 persons per square kilometer and per capita public

green space at 19.8 square meters.

The impact of distance from the central district of

Nagoya is visibly reflected in population density but not so

much in per capita public green space. More specifically,

cities closer to Nagoya tend to have a high population

density but per capita public green space in these cities are

not necessarily small. For instance, many cities at and

beyond 30-kilometer radius from the central district of

Nagoya – particularly those located in the northern part of

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000



Shinshiro

Nagoya

Okazaki

Seto

Inuyama

Kariya

Ichinomiya

Toyota



◆0-10km

◆10-20km

◆20-30km

◆30-40km

◆40-50km

◆50-60km

◆60-70km

Fig 13 Population density and per capita public green space in 32 cities in Aichi Prefecture



177

Aichi Prefecture – have less public green space per capita

than Nagoya that has 6.8 square meter public green space

per person.

What is observable from the above is a sort of reverse

phenomenon, i.e., urban density, as measured in public

green spaces, is higher in suburban cities than in Nagoya.

This is presumably attributable to the failure to give

sufficient consideration to public green space placement

within these suburban cities because of the vast presence of

land kept in natural use such as mountains and forests. It is

thus necessary to work out plans for placement of public

green spaces, such as parks and green areas, in due

consideration of the distribution of natural green spaces

such as mountains and forests.

E. Summary of evaluation results

From the above observations, it has become evident that

Tokyo, as the center of the Tokyo metropolitan area, stands

out with the extremely high urban density of the city areas –

and particularly of the 23 wards – as compared to Osaka

and Aichi prefectures respectively as the center of the

Keihanshin and Chubu metropolitan areas. It is thus

necessary for Tokyo to rigorously reexamine its plans for

public green space placement along with other relevant

plans such as those concerning the use of land and spaces.

The urban density of the city areas in Osaka Prefecture is

not as high as those in Tokyo. But there is an acute need to

further examine public green space placement plans

particularly for Osaka City and its nearby areas.

Although the urban density of city areas is substantially

lower in Aichi Prefecture than in Tokyo and Osaka

Prefecture, it is necessary for Aichi Prefecture to work out

plans for placement of inner-city public green spaces, such

as parks and green areas, in due consideration of the

distribution of natural green areas such as mountains and

forests. The economic growth and increasing industrial

activities witnessed in the Chubu metropolitan area, with

Aichi Prefecture in its center, must be taken into account as

these factors point to the possibility of greater urbanization

of the region in the coming years.

7. Detailed Evaluation in the

Chubu Metropolitan Area

A. Extraction of areas under evaluation

In Section 7, city areas in Aichi Prefecture are

designated as areas subject to detailed evaluation in the

Chubu metropolitan area. This is because detailed digital

maps are available for almost all city areas in the prefecture

and various statistical data, collected under the conditions

identical to those used in this study, are obtainable. The

areas for which detailed digital map data are available have

been divided into Nagoya as the central city and two outer

areas based on the direct distance from Nagoya’s city

center, namely, suburban areas within 20-kilometer radius

and outskirt areas within 40-kilometer radius from the city

center.

Two cities from each of these areas have been picked as

representative cities subject to evaluation. Table 3 shows

the regional characteristics of the cities under evaluation,

and Fig. 14 provides summaries of locational conditions of

these representative cities focusing on the direct distance

from Nagoya’s city center. When a per capita area is seen

especially among public green spaces based on Table 3, it

turns out that this areas of the suburban areas and outskirt

areas are not necessarily larger than that of Nagoya.

TABLE 3

REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITIES FOR EVALUATION

Evaluation

AreaCity

Direct

distance from

Nagoya's city

center （km）

Population

(Person)

Public open

space per

population

(m2)

Central part Nagoya - 2,202,111 6.8

Seto 16.7 131,380 7.9

Ichinomiya 16.7 378,503 4.9

Inuyama 21.2 74,670 4.9

Kariya 21.3 139,178 8.2

Okazaki 35.2 367,792 10.1

Toyota 35.7 422,993 11.5

Outskirt

areas

Suburban

area

Note) The data of population is quoted from the homepage of Aichi

Prefecture.

Nagoya

Inuyama

Kariya

Okazaki

Ichinomiya

Seto

20km

40km

Shinsiro

60km

Fig. 14 Evaluation cities (Aichi Prefecture)

B. Evaluation results

The maps in Fig. 15 and Fig. 16 show how land is used

in Nagoya as well as in two suburban cities located within

the 20-kilometer radius from Nagoya, namely, Seto in the

northeast and Ichinomiya in the northwest. Zones shown in

light green represent public green spaces. In the city of

Nagoya, there exist few public green spaces apart from

Nagoya Castle Park and Central Park. The city of Seto



178

abounds in forest-covered hills with the extensive

distribution of public green spaces observable in areas along

urban districts in the central to southwestern part of the city.

In Ichinomiya, urban districts are densely located in the city

center but areas surrounding these districts abound in public

green spaces.

I present the evaluation results for outskirt areas, again

based on land use maps. The maps in Fig. 17 illustrate how

land is used in two cities located within the 30-kilometer

radius from Nagoya, i.e. Inuyama in the north and Kariya in

the southeast. In Inuyama, forest-covered hilly terrain is

observed in the eastern and northern parts of the city, while

the central part of the city is characterized with modest

urban density and the extensive distribution of public green

spaces. In the city of Kariya, urbanization has taken place

along major roads, resulting in the widely dispersed location

of the urban districts and extensive public green space

distribution in the surrounding areas.

The maps in Fig. 18 illustrate how land is used in two

cities located within the 40-kilometer radius from Nagoya,

i.e. Okazaki in the southeast and Toyota in the east. In

Okazaki, with forest-covered hills lying in the eastern part

of the city, urban density in the central urban area is greater

than in other cities located in the same distant zone, but

extensive public green space distribution is observed in the

southwestern part of the city. In Toyota, urbanization has

advanced along main roads and railways, and urban density

is as high as that in Okazaki. However, large-scale public

green spaces distribute around urban areas and mountainous

areas locate in the eastern part of the city.

0 5 km

Fig. 15 Land use in Nagoya in central area (1997)

0 5 km

Fig. 16 Land uses in Seto in the direction of northeast (left map) and Ichinomiya in the direction of northwest (right map) within 20km (1997)



179

From these observations, we can say that cities in the

outskirt areas, as compared with those in the central and

suburban areas, feature more extensive forest coverage in

the hilly terrain. Cities in the outskirt areas also have

extensive public green space distribution observable even in

the city centers. As for cities in the central and suburban

areas, it is necessary to consider ways to secure adequate

public green spaces particularly in the city centers.

8. Conclusion and Subject for

Future Research

The purpose of this study is to evaluate, as an indicator

of urban density, the degree of the sufficiency of public

green spaces such as parks and green areas in particular the

Chubu metropolitan area in Japan. The findings of this

study can be summarized into the following four points:

(1) Lack of green spaces is more acute in Japan’s

metropolitan areas than in those in other developed

countries. In the Chubu metropolitan area, urban density

is not as high as those in the Tokyo and Keihanshin

metropolitan areas but urbanization may accelerate in

the future due to the economic growth and further

concentration of industrial activities in the region. Yet,

the Chubu metropolitan area features the city center that

still accommodates several major open spaces and wide

roadways, while the suburban areas in the region enjoy

greater presence of forests and farmlands than in the

other two metropolitan areas.

(2) It is observed that among the three major metropolitan

areas of Japan, the Tokyo metropolitan area has a

particularly high urban density, as measured in public

green spaces, with its city areas characterized by an

extremely high population density and extremely low

per capita public green space. It is thus necessary for

Tokyo to rigorously reexamine its plans for placement

of public green spaces along with other relevant plans

such as those concerning the use of land and spaces.

(3) The Chubu metropolitan area has suffered green space

depletion in the suburban areas in the east of Nagoya

over the 20-year period from 1977 to 1997. The impact

of distance from the central district of Nagoya can be

vividly observed in population density but not so much

in per capita public green space. However, the greater

the distance from Nagoya, the greater the forest

distribution in the hilly areas and so is the presence of

public green spaces within city centers. Meanwhile,

green spaces are scarce in the city centers of Nagoya

and its suburban areas because urban districts are

densely clustered there. It is therefore necessary to

0 5 km

Fig. 17 Land uses in Inuyama in the direction of north (left map) and Kariya in the direction of southeast (right map) within 30km (1997)

0 5 km

Fig. 18 Land uses in Okazaki in the direction of southeast (left map) and Toyota in the direction of east (right map) within 30 km (1997)



180

secure adequate public green spaces in such city centers.

(4) Urban density is particularly high in the central parts of

Japan’s three major metropolitan areas and it is

extremely difficult to create new green spaces within

the existing urban districts there. It is thus

necessary-and important as a way to alleviate the heat

island phenomenon and to conserve urban

environment-to promote the greening of urban areas,

not only public land but also land under private

ownership, by means of rooftop and wall gardening of

buildings.

As a subject for future study, a more detailed analysis of

the areas evaluated in this study is needed to identify-on a

district-by-district or grid-by-grid basis-the areas where

public green space are scarce, and then to propose a set of

viable reform measures.

References

[1] K. Yamamoto, "Genealogy of City Planning based on Green

Spaces," (2006) 45th Annual Meeting of the Western Regional

Science Association, 45.

[2] K. Yamamoto, "Genealogy of Urban Planning for Green Space

Development," (2008) Proceedings of Ecocity World Summit.

[3] K. Yamamoto, "City Planning based on Green Space

Development in Major Asian Cities," (2008) Proceedings of the

3rd International Conference on Sustainability Engineering &

Science: Blueprints for Sustainable Infrastructure, 3.

[4] K. Yamamoto, "Comparison of Garden city Concept and Green

Belt Concept in Major Asian and Oceanic Cities," (2009) World

Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, vol. 54,

pp.955-964.

[5] K. Yamamoto, "A Study on the Method for the Evaluation of

the Locations of Public Open Spaces from the Viewpoint of

Disaster Prevention in Areas," (2000) Environmental Science,

vol.13, no.4, pp.1-16.

[6] Y. Maruta, Planning Theory for Urban Greening. Maruzen,

1994, pp. 212.

[7] M. Jenks, E. Burton & K. Williams, The Compact City: A

Sustainable Urban Form, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford,

1996, pp. 350.

[8] H. Ide, Green Spaces and Environmental Science.

Asakurasyoten, Tokyo, 1997, pp. 248.

[9] G. Roo & D. Miller, Compact Cities and Sustainable Urban

Development -A Critical Assessment of Policies and Plans from an

International Perspective-. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2000, pp. 258.

[10] T. Beatley, Green Urbanizm -Learning from European Cities-.

Island Press, Washington, 2000, pp. 491.

[11] M. Ishikawa, City and Green Spaces, Iwanamisyoten, Tokyo,

2001, pp. 358.

[12] K.C. Parsons & D. Schuyler, From the Garden City to Green

Cities: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard. The Johns Hopkins

University Press, Baltimore and London, 2002, pp. 288.

[13] M.E. Kahn, Green Cities: Urban Growth and the

Environment, Brookings Institute Press, Washington, 2006, pp.

160.

[14] K. Yamamoto, "EVALUATION OF PUBLIC GREEN SPACE

PLACEMENT PLANS AS INDICATOR OF URBAN DENSITY OF JAPAN’S

THREE MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA," (2007) 20TH CONFERENCE

FOR THE PACIFIC REGIONAL SCIENCE CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION

(PRSCO).

[15] K. Yamamoto, "Evaluation of Public Green Space Placement

Plans as Indicator of Urban Density of Japan’s Three Major

Metropolitan Areas Using GIS," (2007) Proceedings of Joint

International Symposium and Exhibition on Geoinformation &

International Symposium on ISG/GNSS.

[16] K. Yamamoto, "Evaluation of the Degree of the Sufficiency

of Public Green Spaces as Indicator of Urban Density in the Chubu

Metropolitan Areas in Japan," (2010) World Academy of Science,

Engineering and Technology, no. 67, pp. 153-161.

[17] K. Yamamoto, "Present State and Future Prospects for GIS as

an Environmental Information System -A Case Study of Land-Use

Analysis in the Lake Biwa Drainage Basin," (2009) Journal of the

Society of Environmental Science, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 143-154.

[18] Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo City White Paper.

1994, pp.190.

Kayoko YAMAMOTO received

the B.H. Degree and M.H. Degree

in Geography from Ochanomizu

University in 1992 and 1994

respectively, and Ph.D. Degree in

Social Engineering from Tokyo

Institute of Technology in 1999.

She is currently an associate

professor in the Graduate School of

Information Systems, National University of

Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan. Her research

interests include city planning and regional planning,

environmental science and GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

http://www.nzsses.auckland.ac.nz/conference/index.htm

http://www.nzsses.auckland.ac.nz/conference/index.htm

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