2023 Volume 79 Issue 20 Article ID: 23-20072
As Japan has entered a phase of long-term population decline, facilities that must serve a certain trade area population are retreating. Consequently, future access to higher-order urban functions might become increasingly difficult. This study targeted facility locations in core cities and surrounding municipalities with declining populations. Moreover, we identified trends in facility location based on typology. Findings revealed an increase in core areas which currently have facilities, but which will find it difficult to secure facilities on their own in the future. The data indicate the importance of wide-area collaboration among core areas, such as the fact that there are core areas which can secure facilities by collaborating with other centers to supplement their facilities. These findings suggest that, when considering the maintenance of core areas, one must consider not only trends in the locations of facilities within core areas, but also from a wider perspective, including the network between core areas.
