URBAN CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC TRAMWAY IN THE MEIJI AND TAISHO PERIOD —THROUGH THE CASE OF 16 LOCAL CITIES IN 1900-1920—

Abstract

 This study aims to show the characteristic of urban construction and development of electric tramway analyzing by each management strategy, business content, and urban structure. In particular, this study has focused on the case of 16 local cities in 1900-1920. The results are as follows. At first, selection of route has turned out that there are three certain tendencies, the types of completed line in the city, connecting to suburban tourist resort and connecting to the suburban-rural area. At second, the scale of conveyance is strongly related to the population of each city. Specifically, the population of the city more than 90,000 has only city line. On the other hand, thepopulation of the city less than 80,000 has city line and suburbs line. At third, in the background of the business strategy by private capital, the first planned route of each city was selected to efficiently connect to transportation bases such as railways and ports, government facilities, central urban area, and entertainment facilities with one or more. Thus, this study shows that the development of electric tramway formed the urban frame of the local city in 1900-1920.