Abstract
In this study, which focuses on the migration of young people into the central area of Onomichi City, which symbolizes the energy of the city, we investigated (1) the whole scheme and mechanism of such migration, (2) the significance of building a human-scale city as successor of a commercial city with 850 years of prosperous history, tradition, and culture, and (3) modeling the migration mechanism in terms of laws concerning inheritance, promotion, and urban planning and the possibility of spreading this model to other regions.
The findings of this study showed that young people had settled into the hilly area of Onomichi City, verifying the significance of building a human-scale city, that is, building a practical tourist-friendly destination that values migration and the everyday life of residents. Our findings also showed that the laws of inheritance, promotion, and urban planning are implemented in Kamiyama in Tokushima Prefecture, which has successfully attracted many satellite office projects, and in Sasayama City in Hyogo Prefecture, which is famous for the renovation of old houses, verifying the adaptability of the model. This suggests that the model can be introduced to other regions.
