Abstract
Paying attention to the first designation of area division, this study aims to clarify the condition and process of the designation in the local cities. From the analysis of 89 local cities and the characteristic cities at the designation, we clarify quantitatively and spatially that the designation of first UPA tended to be designated rather widely and it had influenced the expansion of UPA afterwards and the trend of the urbanization and moreover we clarify the process of the designation. After examining the results, we describe the necessity for changing UPA into a proper scale as a summary of this study.
