Abstract
This research qualitatively evaluated the impact that bridge construction exerts on the social economy system of a detached island. Our research group and local collaborators interviewed the residents of Notojima in Ishikawa, Japan for over three years and collected memories of the situation and social exchanges of past life as text data. Then, we analyzed this data structurally and through text mining, evaluated the transitional history of the communal area of the island and its changing context.
In the text data about the period before the bridge construction, references to social exchange with each settlement on the island was the majority. In contrast, in the data about the period after the bridge construction, references to interactions with visitors coming from distant places to make use of resort facilities was the majority. This knowledge of empirical facts about what influences the improvement of traffic situations of geographical disadvantaged areas is important from a public policy point of view.
