Abstract
A survey of Japan's cities has been conducted based on educational and occupational census data. Japan's knowledge-workers are found to be inhabitants of suburban, high-quality-life cities such as Musashino, Bunkyo, Kokubunji, Asao (Kawasaki), Koganei, Aoba (Yokohama), Kamakura, Kunitachi, Shibuya, Suginami, Tama (Kawasaki), as well as certain regional hub cities. They have access to many conveniences and life amenities. They tend to be wealthy and tolerant of diversity. However, many of these knowledge-workers have long daily commutes, because of the importance of face-to-face communication, which often occurs at headquarters in urban centers. Possibilities for productively utilizing knowledge-workers include the following : (a) promote innovation through the fusion of work, life and culture in suburban cities ; (b) provide knowledge-workers with work-home proximity through inner-city renovation ; (c) utilize young/foreign knowledge-workers in regional hub cities. If diverse cities retain diverse knowledge-workers, their interaction will contribute to the cities' and nation's competitiveness.
