Abstract
In this paper, the development of central shopping streets are studied from the historical point of view. To examine the development, the change in retail shops by kinds of businesses are compared for several periods. The object areas of this paper are the central shopping streets of Tôkyô (Ginza), Sendai (Higashiichiban-chô), Yamagata (Nanoka-machi) and Shiroishi (Naka-machi).
Tôkyô Sendai Yamagata Shiroishi (Miyagi Prefecture)
Population of Densely Inhabited District (1960) 8, 108 336 99 14 (thousand)
Number of Retail Shops on Central Shopping Streets 138 180 60 35 (1962) (1962) (1963) (1963)
Retail shops were classified into two types, according to the character of the commodities or services sold:
“S”——A retail shop which deals mainly in luxury goods or services.
“C”——A retail shop which deals mainly in essential goods or services.
The shop ratio (proportion of “S” shops to “C” shops, in terms of street frontage) on a central shopping street has changed with the passage of time. In general, the shop ratio, “S”/“C”, has become higher as the shopping area has developed. This may be shown for the four object areas in the following chart
Tôkyô Sendai Yamagata Shiroishi
%
94 (1962) 80 (1962) 75 (1963) 48 (1963)
89 (1953) 74 (1953) 63 (1952) 47 (1953)
86 (1942) 55 (1941) 56 (1941) 42 (1942)
85 (1929) - - -
74 (1921) - - -
The change from “C” to “S” is the most predominant pattern in the development of central shopping streets, but distributional changes are also obseved. The concentration of “S” shops is located at the central shopping street where land values are the highest. Thus, as the city grows, the “C” shops have been pushed towards the fringe areas at the ends of the streets.
