The concept of sustainability has become a new paradigm in worldwide urban planning and development. The compact city concept has recently been the most popular alternative among sustainable urban development strategies. Although it has become a global strategy, it should also consider the local characteristics of cities. This study, using attributes developed from the main aspects of sustainability, first of all aims at measuring city compactness and some of its tendencies in two different regions within Japan. These are the Greater Tokyo Area, comprised of 110 cities within 4 prefectures, and the Tohoku Region, with 63 cities in 6 prefectures. Secondly, the results of the measurements and appearance of the tendencies will be appropriately discussed to implement future compactness strategy. Of course, clear differences between both regions would carry different policy measures for compactness development in their respective regions. With the cities′ data, which provide appropriate indicators, this study is able to present the conditions of cities based on attributes of city compactness and their tendencies in various types of cities within the two different regions. The results will be useful in preparing an appropriate strategy to deliver more compactness in these cities.

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