Factors in the decrease in commuters to the city center in metropolitan suburbs: Case study of Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, after the second half of the 1990s

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine why commuters to the city center have decreased in contemporary suburbs. The study area was Ikoma, Nara prefecture, a typical residential suburb of the Osaka metropolitan area The analysis was based on census data and a questionnaire survey. According tc the census, there were many new employees who commuted out of Nara prefecture until the 1990s; however, in the 2000s, the number diminished. Among men in the housing acquisition age-group, the increase in those who commuted beyond the prefecture contracted after the 1990s. Furthermore, among men around 60 years of age, the number of those who commuted outside the prefecture decreased sharply. On the other hand, among women in their 20s and 30s, the number of those who commuted outside the prefecture increased. Furthermore, the author conducted a questionnaire survey to examine detailed changes in commuting patterns in Ikoma It was aimed at older detached housing areas to which people began moving in the 1970s, at newly developed detached housing areas after the second half of the 1990s, and at condominiums in the vicinity of railway stations. There were many men from nonmetropolitan areas or the city center in the housing acquisition age-group in the 1970s. They moved to the suburbs because they needed housing space and fina ly purchased detached homes. On the other hand, there were many people from the suburbs among men at the equivaient age after the second half of the 1990s and they had a tendency to purchase housing in the suburbs. In the 1970s, many men moved to the suburbs, leaving their workplaces in the city center. At present, men who began by commuting to the city center from the suburbs when they gained new employment move into the suburbs, leaving their workplaces in the city center. Although most women in the 1970s had no employment immediately after moving into homes, many women at present continue in their jobs. Women living in condominiums have an especially strong tendency to commute to the city center as full-time employees immediately after moving in. The reduction in the number of commuters to the city center due to the retirement of the first suburban generaton is greater than the increase in commuters to the city center due to newly hired employees, men belonging to the housing acquisition age-group, and married women. Thus, the retirement of the first suburban generation contributed greatly to the reduction in the number of commuters to the city center from the contemporary suburbs.