A STUDY ON HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION OF STREET PATTERN IN TOKYO

Abstract

Street pattern in Tokyo has been transformed along with being affected by some important historical events. In this study, we take four events as important turning points, which are the Meiji Restoration, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, World War II, and rapid economic growth. As a methodology, we use Axial Analysis of Space Syntax theory. Axial Analysis enables to evaluate street patterns quantitatively from topological point of view. However, since Axial Analysis is street-based methodology, it is not suitable for fixed-point comparison where some streets are completely changed. In this research we introduce a method which enables fixed-point comparison. That is to use mesh system as an aggregating unit of the result of Axial Analysis. By utilizing this methodology, we try to demonstrate evolutional process of street pattern in Tokyo, and the contextual meaning of the historical events.