Introduction For decades local cities in Japan

Introduction For decades, local cities in Japan have experienced a hollowing-out problem. Since the 2016 revision of the “three town development laws,” including the City Planning Act, the Act on the Measures by Large-Scale Retail Stores for the Preservation of the Living Environment, and the Law on the Improvement and Vitalization of the City Center, government policies have moved toward promoting a “walkable compact sustainable city” in which workplaces and public services are in relative proximity to the homes of employees (Architecture Institute of Japan, 2015). Despite these laws, the number of fragile lands and vacant buildings used are increasing (Ohgai and Emoto, 2004). They function as disincentives for urban regeneration (Setoguchi et al., 2004). In particular, a large- scale vacant lot from an abandoned, extensive retail store or factory or caused by the relocation of a public facility to the suburbs can exacerbate the hollowing-out problem (Asano, 2002). The presence of these vacant spaces affects the future planning associated with the development of a compact city. Although large vacant lots exist in various parts of Japan, an overview of the effect of these lots has yet to be presented (Sakai, 2014).
Research method In this study, the conditions used to determine a “large vacant lot” are as follows: 1) the total site area is over 0.5ha; and 2) it Forskolin cost is located within 1km from the nearest peak land-value intersection. From the results of the questionnaire survey, large vacant lots are classified into two types: land that has already been converted for other usages (hereafter referred to as converted land) and land that has not been converted yet (hereafter referred to as idle land).
Generation situation of large vacant lots in local cities Municipalities in the three major metropolitan areas and three prefectures devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake were removed from the list of our target group. The question items are shown in Table 1. Answers from 239 municipalities were obtained; of those, 97 restated that they have vacant lots to meet the condition of this study (Table 2). The total number of large vacant lot is 178. The number of lots categorized as converted land and idle land are 97 each (Table 3). Regionally, the largest number of lots by group, 44 (24.7%), is in the Tohoku Region (including Niigata Prefecture). The second largest number, 35 (19.7%), is in the Tokai and Koushin Regions. Regarding site space, the largest number of lots, 27, measure 5000–10,000m2 (Fig. 1).
Typical use of large vacant lots The features of lots categorized as converted land are discussed in Kinetochore section. Since May 31, 2013, according to land and facility use, 18 (20.2%) are for commerce or business, while 16 (18.0%) are historical or cultural facilities (Table 4). The other uses include medical, welfare, and residential.
Utilization of large vacant lands for compact cities Based on the opinions offered by researchers, governors, and consultant companies, 25 cases were selected for a case study used to analyze the utilization of large vacant lands for compact cities (Table 8).
Conclusion The features related to the utilization of vacant lots can be described as follows:
Notes
Acknowledgements We wish to acknowledge all the efforts of and guidance provided by the members of the regional machizukuri subcommittees, the Urban Regeneration subcommittee, and the person in charge of the Department of Urban Development and Improvement in each of the 423 municipalities. In particular, we would like to thank the following people: Assoc. Prof. Shu Higuchi, Nagaoka University of Technology; Motomu Ishimaru, NTT DATA Institute of Management Co., Ltd.; Toshihiro Ishimura, Land Brain Co., Ltd.; Toshiki Kobayashi, the Institute of Land Management; Assoc. Prof. Satoko Cho, Niigata Institute of Technology; Prof. Naomi Uchida, School of Economy, Saitama University; Prof. Shinji Nojima, Fukui University; Prof. Junichirou Asano, Toyohashi University of Technology; Assoc. Prof. Akira Uchida, The University of Kitakyushu; Prof. Bunpei Nakade, Nagaoka University of Technology: Prof. Tsuyoshi Setoguchi, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University; and Megumi Takenoyama, Fukken Co., Ltd.