Change of the Industrial Location in Tokyo Metropolis Caused by Technological Innovations

Abstract

In this paper we explore the actual state of the decrease of the number of factories, in the inner area of Tokyo Metropolis and analyze the influence of the technological innovations of machineries as the cause of this phenomenon. It can be seen that the structure of the variety of industry in Tokyo is not showing significant change, even though the number of factories is rapidly decreasing. However, due to the quick decrease of the number of larger factories, the percentage of small factories is increasing.
The analysis shows that difficulties for the continuation of operations are more serious for larger factories in the inner urban area and most of them are related to the acquisition of better production facilities, especially buildings. It is observed that factories which cannot solve the problems at the present locations are forced to move out of the inner urban area.
The analysis is then extended to clarify the factors that cause the demands for the renovation of factories. It is found that the advance of the application of microelectronic techniques to machineries is causing the necessities for the replacement of factory equipments. Further it is observed that the new type of machineries require more factory spaces.
These observations show that the existence of various regulations that restrict the expansion of factory spaces in the inner urban area of Tokyo Metropolis is causing the relocation of factories from the inside to the outside of Tokyo.