Why the Rise in Urban Housing Vacancies Occurred and Matters in Japan

Abstract

This study aimed to examine how Japanese urban problems have arisen during the post-growth period and why administrative strategies have failed in dealing with them. A rise in housing vacancies was selected as an example of an urban problem that has surfaced over time. As the increase in housing vacancies in Japan was regarded as coinciding with urban shrinkage, housing vacancies in Japanese cities can generate permanent stagnation due to economic-base decline, population loss or aging, institutional reasons, or a combination of these factors. We first reviewed a discussion on gap expansion in residential condition, gentrification process, and housing vacancies in cities to clarify the nature of problems caused in Japanese aging cities. Second, case studies in the Tokyo suburbs and medium-sized cities clarified the generative processes in the matters related to an increase in housing vacancies in Japanese cities.