This study looks at Germany as a preparatory investigation for full-fledged international comparative research on urban planners and urban planning education. It analyzes current conditions using data from the Federal Chamber of German Architects and universities, and presents a literature survey. In Germany, urban planners and urban planning education differ from the traditional field of architects (architecture). They are still a minority developing independence, as in Japan. Understanding urban planners, urban planning education, and trends in individual cases in Germany—based on clarification of similarities such as the balance of interdisciplinarity and specialization, and differences such as the qualification system—will likely provide many hints for Japan, and it is expected there will be continuing investigations going forward.

In 2017, the Traffic Act was revised, but there is no clear relationship between dementia and driving skills. So in this study, we conducted a driving experiment for dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and normal drivers over 65 years old, and compared their driving skills. We observed driving characteristics on a training course, a car driving school. We analyzed the relationship among scores of screening tests, their driving customs and driving behavior. Driving behavior of intersections or parking were not different significantly, and the almost all older adult drivers couldn’t behave safely. On the other hand, the one of lane change and obstacle avoidance on midblocks was different between MCI and normal drivers significantly.

This study focuses on the characteristic of location and condition of condominium development accompanied by Downtown Revitalization in Nishi ward, Osaka city. Downtown Revitalization is considered as a common phenomenon that population returns from the suburban area to the downtown area which have occurred since 1990s. This study picks up Nishi ward, where population growth and condominium development are particularly remarkable among the 6 downtown wards of Osaka city. This study clarifies (1) condition of condominium development in Nishi ward by the analysis of 489 samples; (2) transition of the condominium development according to time series; (3) characteristics of location of condominium development by analysis focusing on the accessibility to subway station using GIS.

Many coastal tourist sites in Japan are prone to tsunami damage. However, little information is available on emergency tsunami evacuation measures for tourists. This study explores visitors’ perceptions of earthquake and tsunami risks and evacuation behaviors. The relationships between these perceptions and attributes are also analyzed. A questionnaire survey was carried out among tourists in Shirarahama area in Shirahama Town. This research area is a famous tourist site and high risk region for Nankai Trough earthquake. The result showed that the relationship among visitors’ perceptions of earthquake and tsunami risks and evacuation behaviors are limited. In addition, it was found that important factors of the selection of transportation for tsunami evacuation include the perception of evacuation site and attribute group of visitors by car, gender, and survey site.

This study compares the performance of “living environment index” calculated for each census grid and for each basic unit block of the National Population Census. We first point out the merit and demerit of both spatial units. Then we calculate living environment index from the result of the Censuses in 2000, 2005, and 2010, and other spatial data sets. Spatial pattern of living environment index and whether it can forecast the population change trend are quite similar for both spatial units. Since census gird is stable for time series of Censuses while basic unit block may change for each Census, we conclude that census grid is more useful to discuss the relationship between physical environment and the population change.

Under the railway project of JR Chuo Line is one of the pioneering examples, which private railway company set up and maintained community space with the involvement of local community through media operation with local residents and the base development in vacant space under the railway. The study aims to reveal the process of generated local community networking through the community involvement and the development, and to find a method of community networking and feedback by utilizing marketing theory. As a conclusion of this study, it is effective for local community networking to approach gradually and tactically depending on the target.

Condominiums have been a major tenure status in metropolises. Exploiting a detailed questionnaire survey for buyers of newly-built condominiums, we investigate (i) the recent preferences on residential environment across the Tokyo metropolitan area and (ii) the sustainability of environmental value of the place over time. First, we find that new residents from outside of the city tend to put an emphasis on factors like “living environment” of the neighborhood (such as commercial facilities), and that the trend is recently becoming more prominent in the suburbs. The criterion serves as a critical determinant to finally choose the specific property/location, among the factors initially taken into consideration. Second, the spatial distribution of the subjective residential environment shows that the recently preferred factors are concentrated in some parts of the suburbs. While the relative strength of the neighborhood remains stable for the long time for “natural environment” and “educational environment,” factors gained through development process like “living environment” and “access to the station” tend to lose their values quickly.

In striking contrast to the current laws, The Urban Building Law (UBL) of 1919 was responsible for the overall zoning system while the Old Urban Planning Law (OUPL) of 1919 only had a role of approving the zones designated by the UBL. An outline of the draft bill for the OUPL, however, suggests that OUPL was responsible for determining zoning and let the UBL control building regulations. This study establishes the reason for this turn of events by analyzing how the two laws were prepared. Hiroshi Ikeda, an officer involved in the preparation, explained that OUPL article 10 etc. was made for the zoning system, but the later theory was different from his idea.

Although security research on crime has been studied as a security game problem, there are many problems in relation to the spatial distribution of crime and application to real large scale problems. Geographical distribution of crime is considered to be influenced by the security strategy. In this study, in order to grasp fundamental relationship between them, we analyze the relation between the geographical distribution of crime and the priority guard range corresponding to the non-uniform distribution of targets which are potentially damaged, and examine spatial allocation strategies of virtual security resources against non-uniform spatial distribution of criminal incidents. We find out that controlling spatial distribution of targets can minimize damage: combining concentration strategy of targets with sufficient amount of guards brings about effectiveness in decreasing expected damage by crime.