In this research, a case study was undertaken in Edogawa-ward in order to identify the change in water management organizations and water activity projects as a result of urbanization in the Tokyo metropolitan area. While some irrigation canals have either been filled in or converted into drainage ditches, other canals have been reevaluated as an important natural resource to be utilized for the improvement of the urban environment. In previous studies on water management, the main focus has been on the irrigation association's ability to cope with urban growth. Although it is recommended that there exists a need for the utilization of irrigation canals after the land improvement districts are dissolved and the canals have lost their primary irrigation function, there has not yet been a full investigation into the actual needs and conditions of such use. For this reason, it is important to consider a new approach to utilize the canals in association with the provision of water resource management in an urban setting.
In this research, functional changes in water supply and the Edogawa-ward community's reactions to those changes are discussed as central issues. First, historical changes in water supply are examined in relation to agricultural activities. Second, the process of change in land improvement districts is examined from the viewpoint of financial characteristics, project changes and water rights. Changes in land improvement districts and the transfer conditions of water rights are also taken into account. Third, the transformation of irrigation canals, which at first were converted to urban sewage drainage after the dissolution of land improvement districts, is examined in "order to identify how the Edogawa-ward municipality re-converted the canals into a water activity facility, in relation to the city planning process.
The urbanization of Edogawa-ward has influenced the irrigation association in this area in many ways. The land improvement districts were reformed after the excavation of Edo River irrigation water, and an agricultural cooperative association took control of the land improvement districts. When the canals lost their irrigation function as a result of the agricultural restructuring, the Edo-ward municipality undertook the responsibility of managing the canals. The canals were once severely polluted due to the construction delay in sewage lines. However, the municipality made an effort to improve the canals to be utilized as water activity facilities, recommended by the municipality's master plan. There have been a great many activities going on in the canals since then, and several groups have been organized to protect the canals' environment. Overall, the improvement of the canals is much appreciated by the community at present, although some issues concerning the existence of different administrative procedures to improve the canals as city parks still remain to be resolved. Moreover, the regulations for the canals' water rights have not yet been established; the water rights related "water activities" are neither defined nor articulated in the present river law. Thus, it is critical to establish laws and regulations on water rights for "water activities" in order to plan and implement the multiple usage of water resources in urban communities. In addition, it is said that water resources in an urban setting, such as canals in Edogawa-ward, are very effective in preventing or mitigating natural disasters. Much attention was paid to the utilization of water resources in the city after the Grate Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, for example. Therefore, it is very important to make the best use of the irrigation canals which have lost their original function, backed up by appropriate laws and regulations, in order to improve the community's natural and living environment as well as to incorporate prevention measures against natural disasters.

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The circulation of knowledge is made through the complex interrelationship between invention and reception in various contexts. In the study of geographical knowledge in the Edo era in Japan, however, while there has been a great deal of research into its creation, we are unable to sufficiently understand the process of receiving and developing geographical knowledge.
The focus of this paper is on Norinaga Motoori (1730-1801), who was one of the most famous scholars of ancient Japanese thought and culture in the Edo era, and an analysis is given of how he received and developed his geographical knowledge in his youth.
First, it is necessary to understand the context of his reception of geographical information in his youth. Two important factors are indicated in the second section: the economic and cultural context of Matsusaka where he lived, and the environment of his primary education.
The geographical materials provided by Norinaga in his youth are surveyed in the third section. Norinaga left eight books about geography, and six of these are clearly dated. It has been already noticed that other published books of his time have been influenced by the style and content of these, except for "Dainihon-tenka-shikai-gazu", which will be explored later. We will also discover how books about Kyoto were important for Norinaga.
He wrote a great many documents besides geographical ones. According to all of them, he broadened his interests from the writings of Ekiken Kaibara (who was one of the most popular scholars at that time), Buddhism, pedigree of the Imperial Court, to Japanese poetry and tales. It is not difficult to imply that these interests shaped and were shaped by Norinaga's georaphical interests. We can confirm these relationships based on the dating of these materials.
In the fourth sedtion, I discuss the experiences from his trips. He traveled six times before he was 23 years old, and, among these, the trips to Kyoto and Edo were very important experiences for him when he was 16 years old. He began to write papers and draw maps about Kyoto just after the trip to Kyoto, which was the first full-scale trip for him. Although it was only one month between his return from Kyoto and the departure for Edo, he also sketched the topography of his hometown, "Matusaka-syoran", during that month. he was able to do this because of his experience of other places outside of Matsusaka. On the other hand, after he returned from Edo one year later, he wrote nothing about Edo. Instead, he started to create a map of japan, "Dainihon-tenka-shikai-gazu".
Upon closer scrutiny in the fifth section, it becomes clear that "Dainihon-tenka-shikai-gazu" was also made under the influence of various published maps about Japan, especially the most popular map, "Ryusenzu". We can understand that he knew, the 'shape' of Japan with a high degree of accuracy and that he wanted to draw the right map of Japan by combining various maps. This is in contrast to places outsede of Japan, such as Gando and Rasetshukoku, which were rendered inaccurately. We can understand that Norinaga was interested in Japan itself.
There are over 3000 place-names in the map, and much of this information was taken out of a road map published in 1744. We can also find that some place-names were cited from other maps or books, such as names around Kyoto, Ise, and Mt. Fuji. In addition, he had experiences of going to these places. Some information, suh as distances, is emphasized in it, while other information regarding places of scenic or cultural interest is absent. This shows clearly that his travel experiences also influenced his cartographic work. He seems to have made this map with the intention of providing practical and logistical information. These motives reveal the other name of the map, "Dainihon-ooezu-koteiki".

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Many scholars in European and American economic geography stress the role of spatial proximity in knowledge creation. This opinion is typically represented by Maskell and Malmberg. The purpose of this paper is to review the logic of their papers in European Urban and Regional Studies, 6, 1999, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23, 1999, and Environment and Planning, Series A, 34, 2002. The paper puts forward a hypothesis on the important factors for knowledge creation in a region of industrial clustering.
According to Maskell and Malmberg, spatial proximity is necessary for knowledge creation, since tacit knowledge is more important for competitive advantage in the globalizing market than coded knowledge. Enterprises can obtain competitive advantage only on the basis of local resources such as tacit knowledge. Ubiquitous factors such as coded knowledge cannot help enterprises become more globally competitive. Tacit knowledge is transferable only among economic actors who share norms and values in a local milieu.
There are some weak points in the logic of the importance of spatial proximity. For example, Maskell and Malmberg do not distinguish knowledge from information. The present author introduces the ideas of Hodgson (1988), Meusburger (2000) and Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) in order to clarify the definition and meaning of knowledge as well as of information. As a result, the present author concludes that knowledge is power to do something. Knowledge first takes a tacit form. This tacit form is to be socialized among actors who undertake something cooperatively. It becomes externalized and coded as the actors discuss their actions. Coded knowledge is to be combined with the other one, and then new coded knowledge is created. One must practice this new coded knowledge. If it is successful, the new coded knowledge is internalized in the bodies of some actors, and becomes new tacit knowledge. Then this process repeats itself. Knowledge creation is a complete spiral transformation process between tacit knowledge and the coded one.
On the other hand, information does not mean power to do something. Tacit knowledge as well as coded knowledge can be information for its passive receiver. If this receiver cannot transform this information to the power of practice, it remains only information. Certainly information and coded knowledge can circulate all over the world. However, every actor cannot always transform information into the power of practice. It depends upon the level of knowledge or power of practice which the concerned actor already possesses. Therefore, even coded knowledge is not ubiquitous. Tacit knowledge is transferable from one place to another because an actor with it can move over space. It is possible to spill it over from one local region to another, even if it takes a longer time than its circulation in the local milieu.
Spatial proximity can give actors not the inevitability but the possibility of knowledge creation. In order to create knowledge, it is important to be open not only to actors within a local milieu, but also to the outside world. In order to be innovative and competitive, one should not depend solely on tacit knowledge circulated only within a local milieu. On the contrary, one should always create knowledge spirally from tacit through coded to a new tacit one by means of gathering information from all over the world. Whether a region of industrial clustering can possess a competitive advantage or not, depends not upon the individual local milieu, but upon the openness to actors in the regions outside that local milieu.

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Dhaka, the capital and primate city of Bangladesh, has been growing very rapidly, especially since independence in 1971. Most of the increasing population comprises rural landless destitute migrants who arrive in the city in search of basic subsistence. Due to the low affordability and shortage of lower class housing facilities they are forced to take shelter in slums where they live inhumanely. Moreover, repeated eviction creates very severe conditions for them. The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has signed various international covenants related to housing rights that have also been reaffirmed in the national constitution and in housing policies. Despite many laws and obligations, slum evictions (often forced) take place almost every year in Dhaka City and very few people are rehabilitated. Many slum evictions occurred in 1975, 1990, 1999 and 2001. The authorities are implementing new strategies to bypass the anti-eviction laws. A city like Dhaka, with these repeated inhumane acts, reflects a sad part of the urbanization process. This paper undertakes a chronological location analysis of slum eviction and clarifies the process and problems of slum evictions focusing on housing rights.

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