Abstract
One of the effective means for the conservation of the so-called amenable residential area against the alteration of living environment including scenic harmony is the agreement on building and rebuilding standards. Because the living environment refers a certain spatial extension of land consisting of several plots of land, for the effectiveness of such voluntary agreement the extent of agreement signers' lands is very crucial and this depends on historical circumstances of the formation of the concerned residential area. This case study has been conducted in Hikawa building agreement district in Nakano-ward, Tokyo. The main findings of the study are: 1) Landscape elements of housings belonging to agreement signers are characterized by those of detached houses predominantly located on the slanting surface or at the head of slope; 2) The rebuilding and the architectural remodeling have been accompanied by both the plot fragmentation and the consolidation of plots. Collective housings have been constructed in the non-signers land, which are causing a remarkable change to the pre-existing landscape characteristics.
