Abstract
The purpose of this study is to view the process of the regional growth of urbanized area in Japan. As Japan experienced the rapid urbanization after the Second World War like other industrialized nations did, the rapid and continuous city-ward movement of population and industry has been promoted swiftly. In the past 25 years, the urban populations has increased rapidly from 37.5 to 75.9 percent of the total population in Japan. This can be considered as one of the clear indicators which show the transformed condtions from the significantly rural to the urban society. Although this phenomenon has served as the driving force for the rapid and enormous growth of Japanese economy on the one hand, it also caused some serious social problems such as inequal areal distribution of the population on the other. Specifically, the Japanese population is distributed densely in cities and sparsely in provincial areas.
Admitedly, a city has a pivotal function for its outlying areas in terms of politics, economy, culture, and other aspects. In other words, a city has become to act as the nucleus in a certain integrated area (a rural-urban community) where the closest and most intensive associations with suburban areas are maintained. Consequently, the traffic demand around the city has increased heavily, and many important problems concerning traffic planning has come into existence.
It goes without saying that there are many points to be discussed on the matter above mentioned, but it is very important from the view point of traffic planning to clarify definitely the process of the spatial changes of the regional structure of urbanized area in which the city and outlying areas connect and exist together. For this purpose, we have to make researches in a large number of urbanzed area.
Therefore, we need to take into considerations the following three points;
(1) The intercouse between a central chty and its outlying area.
(2) The movement of population and employment within urbanized area.
(3) The difference of growth rate between each urbanized area.
