Distribution of the Branch Offices in Cities in the Case of Hiroshima City

Abstract

The formation of CBDS in Japanese local cities is mainly accomplished by many agglomeration of the company branch offices, because of the weakness of head function. So the writer, by way of the case of Hiroshima city investigated the distribution, through the difference of the capital size and industries of the branch office, setting up the unit zones I-X in urban interior. The branch offices are concentrated in core from Hachobori to Kamiya-Cho, central business district, and are scattered to the outer zone (Fig, 1). Concentration rate of the branch offices in the central districts (I. II) is higher with finance and insurance, mining, services, and in intermediate zones (III-IV), outer zones (VII-X) is higher with construction, transport (Fig. 2). But such a situation of the distribution is affected by the difference of capital size (head office) of the branch office by the kinds of industries (Fig. 3). So the point of locational rate in the unit zones of the branch offices classified by capital size, the branch offices (a. b) of large enterprises, according to their scale, have higer concentration rate in central district (Fig. 4). Similarly, on chief industries (Fig.5a-d), this is the whole tendency, but is, In evidence, differed from situation on the distribution, on boundary between capital size b and c. As mentioned above, the branch offices are concentrated in the central district (CBD), while greater part of the branch offices which is in the central district are branches of large enterprises. After all, between the branch offices of large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, it must be admitted that them is a different situation on the distribution in urban area.