Gentrification is said to be the return of the middle class to the city. Neil Smith suggests, however, that gentrification is not to be seen simply as a “return” but also as a form of “class struggle.” This paper examines the process of gentrification and the antigentrification movement in the Lower East Side of New York City. It maintains that this struggle should be seen as a struggle over the urban commons and therefore as a contemporary manifestation of primitive accumulation. Considering (anti-)gentrification as a “class struggle” or as a value struggle in the context of the global city, it shows that gentrification is a necessarily unsettling and unstable process.

    Since the late 1990s Japanese major cities have witnessed a shift from decline to growth of its population in urban core areas. Chuo ward in Tokyo and Kita ward in Osaka demonstrated a particularly high increase. This study aims to examine the impact of resurgence in urban core population growth on local communities from two perspectives. First, analysis of census data in Chuo and Kita ward revealed that substantial part of the population growth in 2000s consisted of growth of professionals. Second, a questionnaire survey of new condominium residents in these wards showed that the social class of respondents is remarkably higher than the average for Chuo and Kita wards. Furthermore, the social class of respondents affected patterns of socialization with neighbors, consumption behavior, and social and political attitudes. These findings suggest that increased condominium construction in urban core areas can promote inflow of upper-middle class residents, what consequently brings a possibility of changes in local networks, neighborhood commercial zones and urban politics.

    The purpose of this paper is to clarify the safety consciousness of Security Town residents in what is called a “Japanese gated community”. Gated communities, residential areas that limit the entrance to the inside by enclosing the area with fencing, using security guards and installing CCTVs, are widespread throughout the world. Recently, Security Towns are increasing in Japan, highlighting growing security needs. We investigated the consciousness of security of Security Town residents in survey and through interviews, and analyzed the data. This paper highlights the three findings. First, 76％ of Security Town residents emphasize crime prevention in choosing their residence. However, residential motivations are different, and security is not considered the top motive. Second, Security Town residents have not eliminated their fear of crime, especially compared to national data. However more than eliminating their fear of crime, living in such an area serves as a warning to suspicious persons or strangers. Finally, Security Town residents put a certain confidence in the security, which is maintained by regional council.

    Homeless people have increased in mega cities of developing countries like the Philippines. This article aims to analyze homelessness in Metro Manila. The main focus is devoted to three issues on homelessness: where homeless people come from, where they live in Metro Manila and why they live there.

    First, this article analyzes the social processes which bring the needy to the streets using the push-pull hypothesis. It concludes that the squatter area is the biggest source of homeless people. Second, it analyzes the spatial distribution of homeless people. Management and control of public space by the government is strengthened, public space is privatized. As a result, squatter areas in public space are evicted from the inner-city and moved to the suburbs. Without a home many squatters are left behind in the inner-city and pushed to the streets. Thus squatter area is decentralized and homeless people are centralized. Third, it analyzes the politics behind the occupancy of public space vis-a-vis the government and homeless people. In the developing countries, public space has been seen as the pseudo-public space which can be occupied conventionally by the needy. However, control of public space is strengthened, demolition of squatter area is implemented, and many people are pushed to the streets. This article analyzes the politics behind the use of public space in relation to the government, the squatter, the vendor and the homeless people. It concludes that homeless people are the most vulnerable in both the occupancy and the elimination of public space. The pseudo-public space is disappearing and hence homeless people are converging with their counterpart in European countries.

    This paper reveals the transformation from a manufacturing base for military and school uniform into a manufacturing hub of the world for high quality casual clothing, and discusses this transformation from a stand point of urban sociology.

    The research object is Kojima area, Kurashiki city, Okayama Prefecture, West Japan. Kojima was salt field until 1580's. After the reclamation projects in the Seto Inland Sea, Kojima area moved toward a transformation into cultivation area of cotton until 1800's. In addition, after the WWI, Kojima area developed as a manufacturing base of army uniform. Furthermore, after the WWII, Kojima developed as a manufacturing base of school uniform.

    However, in the decades after 1970, local economy of Kojima declined due to excess production of school uniform. So that, some manufactures in Kojima area shifted to production of high quality clothing made by denim, with their original technologies and new design skills. These shifts have made a success due to increase the demand for high quality clothing from the design sectors in Paris, Milan, London, New York and other major cities in the world.

    In conclusion, this paper discusses this regional transformation from a stand point of urban studies. Therefore, we will understand that contemporary urban clothing culture developing not only based on design sector in the global cities, but also manufacturing sector in the local cities of western Japan.

    This article seeks to clarify the role of cultural production in the manufacturing industry and its spatial restructuring through the case study of “Mono-Machi” movement: the community development through the manufacturing rejuvenation lead by the local manufacturers in Taito, Tokyo. It is an attempt to form a new business relationship and to put high added value on the local product through the place branding. This article analyses that movement as a socio-spatial transformation of post-industrial urban economy.

    It has been a central question of sociology how social ties had been affected through modernization. And then, urban sociology focusing on ‘urbanization and community' took over the problem, and gave answers that communities were lost, saved or liberated. In this study, we focus on the conditions of the emergence of urban communities as symbolism.

    Therefore, I conduct a case study of Shinjuku-Okubo district, an inner city of Tokyo, through the methodology of Activity Approach. This study describes and analyzes the activities of Kyojukon, a citizenʼs group having acted in the district since 1992, and then, I remake two research questions: 1) Is it sure that the activities of Kyojukon have ambivalent moments, structuration with increasing homogeneity, and fluidization with increasing heterogeneity? 2) Is it identified as the condition of the emergence of an urban community that the link of collective events has been derived from the activities? In conclusion, this study leaves notes of future tasks of writing an urban ethnography.

    This report considers redevelopment of the US military base sites which have not been focused on in any research. The statement regards that Okinawa may be overly developed; and the US base military sites may exceed the overdevelopment. This report focuses on the reason why the overdevelopment is triggered, and the roles that the Okinawa Prefecture and local governments play.

    In 1972, Okinawa was returned to Japan by the United States, and Okinawa Development Finance has provided nearly ten trillion yen to Okinawa at present. Special Measures Law for Development of Okinawa had approved this financial endeavor, as the purpose of the law was to redress the economic gap with other regions in Japan.

    After 1998, so called compensating development had started, which is the linkage of Okinawa's development and security regarding the military bases. However, to tell the truth, the division among Okinawa and other regions had been almost compensated in the 1990's. This political decision triggered the overdevelopment of public policy in Okinawa and the dependent economy of Okinawa toward the military bases.

    2012 is a turning point of the exploitation of Okinawa military sites. Redevelopment of the US military base sites has additionally linked policy issues of bases and development of the region as compensation for the independence of the returned lands from the military bases. This policy has the potential to accelerate the overdevelopment. The main statement deals with the reality of ongoing redevelopment of the US military base sites and the role of the Okinawa Prefecture and local governments.