This paper aims to identify the changes in the structure of surviving lower order centers in rural-mountain regions where the population continues to decrease as a process of increasing control by cities over lower order centers; and to clarify the mechanisms of the control. A case study was made of site development of retail businesses, manufacturing industries, and branch establishments of the service industry in Maniwa district of Okayama Prefecture. What follows is a brief overview of this paper and its conclusions.
Local shopping areas, composed of independent retail stores whose operations depended on local demand, have lost their economic role to large-scale retail stores with local capital. In addition, large-scale retail stores with outside capital, whose head offices are located in Okayama or cities in other prefectures, have recently entered Maniwa district. The development pattern of these stores is in accord with the level of the centers. It can, therefore, be assumed that, in the same way as chain stores have spread, capital from higher-ranked cities has been gradually spreading to lower-ranked centers; and, this phenomenon started affecting lower order centers in the 1990s.
With manufacturing industries, the establishment of factories by major firms or their subcontractors has significant meaning for lower order centers in that it produces great employment opportunities. These factories, however, are controlled and managed by outside regions.
This pattern can also be seen in the site development of branch establishments which have the function of office work for the service industry. That is, there is a hierarchical control structure in which business establishments in nearby cities or prefectural capital areas locate branch offices in lower-ranked centers. At the same time, a pattern in which business establishments that have their main offices in a metropolitan region locate branch offices directly in lower order centers in depopulated rural-mountain regions was also observed.
Thus, it can be concluded that lower order centers function not just as relatively decentralized lower-ranked centers. Rather, they also function as a medium of direct control over rural-mountain regions by metropolitan regions, through the connections between main offices located in national centers and the branch offices.
In conclusion, the power of higher-ranked cities to control lower order centers through various channels is growing. These channels include large-scale retail stores and chain stores, the factories of manufacturing industries and subcontractors, and branch establishments which have the function of office work. Consequently, the autonomous nature of these centers, which is based on serving local needs, is being lost; and in its stead, a heteronomous control by higher-ranked cities can increasingly be observed.
