Abstract
The purposes of this study are to improve the food deserts map based on food accessibility and social capital. The study area is the city center of City A, Kanto district, Japan. An estimated 49 percent of elderly residents in a local city are in poor nutritional condition. Our analyses indicate that a decrease in social capital is the main factor that leads to a higher population of nutritionally depleted elderly in the inner city area, and inadequate access to food has the greatest effect on the outer edges of the city center. Previously, food desert issues were thought to be a social problem in rural areas and in local cities where small neighborhood shopping strips had closed, and shopping had thus become physically difficult for people without private cars. However, this study shows that reduced intimacy in people's relationships also increases the risk of food desert issues.
