2018 Volume 64 Issue 4 Pages 273-290
The role that a city or area serves changes along with the times. This study aims to survey the roles of local central cities, particularly how postwar Sendai City changed.
The first of these characteristic is the economy of Sendai centered on branch offices of major companies, a so-called branch office economy, beginning during World War II. Population increased due to military installation location, and the area became a business base for major companies. This trend continued for a while after the war, but during the high economic growth period of Japan the local branch offices in local center cities expanded to be given the management capability to supervise business activities of each location. At the same time, sales competition between companies intensified, and the business activity enlarged in each location in the whole of Japan. Therefore a territory system was established. However, this role of local central city branch offices changed after the Bubble economy. In other words, company organization changed through the progressive innovations of computerization, globalization, the introduction of a post mass production system, and, finally, in the long-term recession which followed. Following on these changes, the role of the branch offices in the local center city also changed.
On the other hand, the pulling power of shoppers in local central cities increased because the transit system developed during this same period. Furthermore, the nationwide advance of large-scale retail stores increased the pull of customers in the retail trade within Sendai City. Lately, however, this trend is changing due to the penetration and expansion of internet shopping after 2000. The wider centrality of the retail trade did not disappear, but is seen with an expanding demand for services in Sendai City. These services include festivals, art events, professional sports, and conventions. Watching these events and games, and the participation in these are the consumption of services and can be regarded as consumer behavior basically not so unlike that of the sales of the retail trade. However, the expanded participation in planning and administration of such events is seen here, too
The local central core city nature has changed with the times. However, as for base characteristics, it is not just that former characteristics and functions have been replaced by new ones; rather it seems more proper to say that they have become multilayered.
