Since entering the 21st century, Tokyo has experienced a rapid verticalization and a concentration of high-rise buildings in the urban core area, caused by the deregulation of city planning. With reference to the current “neoliberalizing city” research, this study aims to examine (1) the role played by urban governments in the process of introducing the deregulation of city planning and (2) the problems caused in urban spaces by deregulation, focusing on the case of Chuo Ward, Tokyo.
    During the 30 years from 1980s to 2000s, the state's tendency to intervene selectively in the urban space development was entrenched due to neoliberal policies, such as the Nakasone “Minkatsu” (private sector initiative) and the Koizumi “Toshi-Saisei” (urban regeneration). Although preceding studies have emphasized the role of the state in this process, local governments were never only subordinate to the central state. Chuo Ward has strategically negotiated with the Japanese central government and the Tokyo metropolitan government and has been complicit in the deregulation policy. However, the jurisdiction of local governments in city planning was limited under the centralized system of Japan; therefore, the deregulation policy was a “structured option” (Funabashi, 1995) placed in front of the cornered local government which was without any effective countermeasures. The urban space that develops due to deregulation generates two problems: social injustice and the compromised sustainability of urban development.

    A global economy is regarded as one with the capacity to work as a unit in real time on a world-wide scale. On the other hand, a world economy is thought of as an economy in which capital accumulation in the form of trade proceedings between firms based in different nation-states throughout the world.
    With the coming of new information and communications technologies (ICT) at the turn of the century, the world economy has become global largely in the context of the international financial function.
    Since John Friedman published the World City Hypothesis in 1986, there has been a longstanding tradition of research addressing the empirical results in ranking the position of global and world cites. Much of the literature in English and Japanese, such as Globalization and World Cities (GaWC), concluded that the position of Tokyo has clearly fallen in the global and world urban system.
    This paper analyzes the position of Tokyo as a global city in the hierarchical structure of global and national urban systems through a financial perspective lens. The domestic financial data on the loan-deposit ratio and receipts and payments of banknotes and coins are extracted from a data set provided by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The international financial data on the size of the foreign exchange and stock exchange markets are extracted from the data set provided by the World Federation of Exchange (WFE), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Z/Yen Group.
    Based on a domestic perspective, the results confirm that the position of Tokyo has experienced a drastic rise in terms of its size and location coefficient of financial transactions since the 1980s. However, the position of Tokyo in relation to the global and international context has experienced a drastic downturn when compared to that of London and other new emerging global cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore. This paper focused on the comparison of GNP to the size of financial functions, when GNP grew, the size of the foreign and stock exchange market transactions also increased in most countries.

    The purpose of this paper is to investigate the structural changes in manufacturing industries in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area from the viewpoint of industrial location, and also to focus on the relationship between industrial locational changes and urban redevelopment.
    The following points were made clear by this study. First, the Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the most economically developed world cities, and manufacturing industries play a central part in Tokyo's industrial structure. However, an inter-regional income transfer analysis among the Tokyo metropolitan area and other regions reveals that the centrality of Tokyo in manufacturing industries has weakened since the late 1990s.
    Second, during the last two decades, the hollowing out of Japanese processing and assembly-type manufacturing industries has brought about structural transformations in the corporate inter-regional divisions of labor and its locational hierarchy in Japan. Related to this transformation, locational adjustment in these industries has accelerated in the Tokyo metropolitan area in conjunction with urban redevelopment. Land use conversion due to plant closures has allowed the implementation of large-scale and high-rise urban areal renewal.

    World cities are undergoing large changes due to globalization and the process of gentrification. The paper aims to clarify three points. The first is a comparison of industrial restructuring among three world cities: London, New York City and Tokyo. The share of finance and insurance and real estates is 9％ in London, 12％ in New York City, and 8％ in Tokyo. The share of professional and technical services is 13％ in London and New York City, but only 5％ in Tokyo.
    The second is an examination of social polarization among white-collar workers, service workers, and factory workers. White-collar workers live in central and west Tokyo. Service workers live in northeast and south Tokyo. Factory workers live in the peripheral wards of Adachi, Ota, and Edogawa. The social polarization among foreign workers is revealed.
    The third is a study of the relationship between globalization and gentrification, using an index showing the change in foreign residents, professional, and technical workers. The study districts are Minato 3-chome in Chuo ward, and Shirokane 1-chome and 3-chome in Minato ward.
    In Minato 3-chome, high-rise condominium construction has resulted in gentrification. Super high rise condominiums could be constructed because the developers bought all sites available. The rents in some housing units are very high, and mostly foreign workers live in these condominiums with their families.
    In Shirokane 1-chome and 3-chome, many small and medium-sized factories had been in operation there until the early 1990s. However, most factories and factory workers were displaced, and private condominiums were constructed in these areas. Large-scale redevelopment happened in Shirokane 1-chome, which resulted in the construction of high-rise office buildings and condominiums. Foreign companies occupy the office buildings. As a result, the number of foreigner residents has increased in this area.