In industrial geography, we have often used the term “material-oriented location” and “market-oriented location”. But in most of papers, they have been used roughly without any analysis about the interregional flow of raw materials or products. If we use the terms for market-oriented location, we cannot explain the relation between the factory and the market area until we analyze the flow of industrial products. There are few papers which dealt with it up to now.
The author investigated cement distribution in Tohoku between the factory and consumers, and at the same time analyzed their relations to market area and the urban structure.
The results of analysis are summarized as follows:
(1) The ready mixed concrete industry is typical distributional manufacturing industry which is combined with manufacturing and transportation. It has rapidly developed through the financial support of the cement industry, and the entry of builders and gravel dealers.
(2) Though the demand percentage of ready mixed concrete in Tohoku, in railroad such as SHINKANSEN construction is higher than other districts, the demand percentage of buildings and the public works of cities occupied the highest position. And ready mixed concrete factories were mostly located in the market areas and the urban vicinity.
(3) In Akita, Yamagata and Fukushima where there are main cities in Tohoku, the ready mixed concrete factories are scattered near the national routes around the urban areas. But in Sendai which is the largest in this district, many of them are located in the specific section.
(4) Since the demand of ready mixed concrete is high mostly in the urban area, its supply areas should be regarded as urban regions. And the supply areas of ready mixed concrete also show the degree of urbanization. In this point, it is different from zone of commuting and trade areas of urban regions. For example in Miyagi Prefecture, the supply area of Sendai is the largest and this indicates the intensity of urbanization of Sendai.
(5) The consuming area in Sendai is divided into three zones. Zone I is similar to the central zone where the tall buildings have been constructing. Zone III is similar to the suburbs where the urban area has been expanded. And the flow of the ready mixed concrete shows the degree of urbanization in the city and the relation to the urban structure.
(6) From these analyses, the distribution patterns of cement in Sendai were changed from “distribution from station pattern” in the past to “redistribution from port pattern” now.
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