Spatial Distribution of the Households of Different Income Classes in the Metropolitan Area:A Case Study of the Tokyo Region

Abstract

This study analizes the households' density distribution by income class in the Tokyo metropolitan region, based on the Orr's theoretical model of land use. Orr's model determines the gross density of different types of activities in a sub-divided zone of a metropolitan region as the product of the net density and the share of the land devoted to the activity. A linear regression model, which determines the gross density of an activity with the density of other activities, land characteristics, and land rent as its determinants, is derived from the theory.
Applying the linear regression model to the Tokyo region, it is found that: (1) there is significant spatial segmentation of the households of different income classes in the region; (2) the density of the households of different income classes either increase or decrease according to the density of different types of industrial, commercial, and service activities, and social capital stock; and (3) the density of the households increases with land rent.
The necessity of including the historical aspect of the metropolitan development and the structure of housing supply in the theoretical model for more articulate analysis is suggested.