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Chapter 6:
JAPAN: Kobe and Niigata
I. Introduction
Kobe and Niigata in Japan represent the radical change in
port city development that came with the incorporation of Japan into the
world trading system in the late 19th century. In 1850, Kobe was scarcely
on the map, while Niigata was an important port city of a wealthy region
on the Japan Sea coast. Today Kobe is Japan's largest port, and Niigata
is by comparison a very modest port. The cause of this dramatically different
development, of course, is the different location of the two cities on
world routes. That difference continues to have major implications into
the present.
With the opening of Japan, Kobe grew very rapidly, becoming three times
the size of Niigata by the end of the century. Since that time, however,
the two cities' populations have grown at roughly the same rate. Other
changes have been more dramatic, however. Kobe has gained status as a
port administrative entity, which gives it greater control over its port
and its own development. Kobe's port has also developed much more rapidly,
largely due to its location on the Pacific Coast. Niigata is smaller,
less wealthy, and has less direct control over its port and its development.
Thus the location differences will be seen to be a major cause of the
differences in modern development, in the problems the cities face, and
in the means of addressing those problems. It is possible that Niigata
may become more important if the proposed development of the Japan Sea
Rim countries is successful. Thus, Kobe may show Niigata something of
its future, as well as providing a view of one possible future to other
less developed countries.
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II. Background
A. A Century of Japanese Growth
Like many countries, the history of Japan's population growth
has followed the course, as both cause and consequence, of modern economic
development. There was a long pre-modern history of very slow population
growth, a spurt to rapid growth with rates reaching 1-1.4 percent per
year in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, followed by
a modern rapid fall in fertility, bringing a return to very low rates
of population growth. Along with this population growth, Japan has become
a wealthy industrialized nation, with one of the world's highest levels
of per capita output and personal welfare. This broad pattern of population
and development provides the larger environment in which Kobe and Niigata
became modern port cities, so it is of some value to examine the national
development in more detail.
During the three centuries of the Edo period (Tokugawa Shogunate), from
1603 to 1867, the balance of high mortality and fertility implied that
the population grew only very slowly from about 17 to 35 million, for
an average annual rate of increase of 0.3 percent. In the next roughly
70 years, the decline of mortality caused the growth rate to increase,
reaching 1 percent per year to produce a population of 69 million in 1935.
In the immediate post World War II period, the annual rate reached 2 percent.
This brought the population to 84 million in 1950. Then came a radical
decline in fertility, reducing the growth rate to 0.9 percent by 1955-1960.
Today the population stands at about 124 million, with a total fertility
rate of 1.53, or substantially below replacement level. It is projected
that the population will actually begin to decline early in the next century.
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Although this slower rate of growth has some advantages, it also raises
a series of its own problems, especially arising in the field of the labor
force. Of the total population of 124 million in 1990, 64 million (monthly
average) were in the labor force. The unemployment level stood at just
1.4 million or about 2.2 percent of the labor force. This very low rate
of unemployment may appear an advantage compared to many countries, but
for Japan it also signals a labor shortage. The hardest hit are now the
small and medium sized firms, which find it difficult to raise wages and
benefits to attract more workers. The larger companies have the capacity
to increase these economic incentives, but this may also imply a reduction
in rates of investment or capital formation.
Japan has always been severely constrained by a lack of land and natural
resources. It has thus had to base its economic growth on intensive technology.
Only 14 percent of the land is cultivated, because of the steep mountainous
topography. Until a century ago, Japan was still a primarily agricultural
nation, with wet rice as the staple crop. Over the past century, however,
Japan has become a major industrial and economic power, based on an advanced
technology and extensive world trade. Modern technology applied to agriculture
has made Japan over 71 percent self sufficient in food production, and
Japan has become the world's leading fish producer. At the same time,
the lack of natural resources has made Japan dependent on the rest of
the world for close to 100 percent of its oil and for most mineral products.
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Economic growth
and industrialization have also meant rapid urbanization. With the severe
constraints on land, this has resulted in high population concentrations,
and extremely high density in some cities. It has also caused most of
environmental problems that are associated with rapid urbanization. Thus,
in addition to planning for economic' development, Japan has also had
to address a series of problems arising from rapid population 'growth
and urbanization.
The pattern of urbanization over the past four decades has shown a series
of different trends. In the 1950s there was a rapid movement of young
people out of rural areas to the central cities. This caused the double
problem of high congestion in the central cities and a loss of the young
labor force from the rural areas. After 1965, the migration reversed,
with a net movement of people out of the larger central cities to the
peripheral satellite cities. With this movement, the medium-sized cities
gradually gained in population. Fifteen years later, this trend was reversed
again, as the larger central cities experienced a net in migration, followed
by a period of greater balance between in and out migration to and from
the larger central cities. The patterns of migration and age imply that
the larger cities have less a problem with aging, since they have a substantial
in migration of young people. With the slowing of population growth rates,
however, all of Japan will soon face serious problems of an aging population,
and this will call for a new set of social policies.
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B. Location and History of Kobe and Niigata
Kobe faces the Pacific Ocean in the Osaka Bay. It occupies
a narrow shelf of land two to four kilometers wide, running east-west
along the sea for about 30 kilometers. To the north the shelf, it is bounded
by the sharp rise of the Rokko Mountains, which are made up of weathered
granite and rise to a height of nearly 1,000 meters. To the south, the
land drops sharply into the sea to form an excellent deep water harbor.
Niigata sits across Japan about 500 kilometers northeast from Kobe, at
the edge of the Japan Sea. The city is the capital of Niigata Prefecture,
which extends over 250 kilometers along the sea, and southward away from
the sea for about 80 kilometers at its widest point. The size of the city
itself, however, is more similar to that of Kobe, as it extends along
the sea for about 30 kilometers and inward for 20 kilometers at its widest
point.
For centuries, Niigata has been one of the important ports in Nagaoka
Han. Less important than the ports of Southern Honshu or Northern Kyushu,
it still occupied a position of importance in domestic trade. Its rich
and well watered soils also provided the base for a strong political system.
After the consolidation of Tokugawa rule in the middle of 19th century,
Nagaoka Han was a source of wealth for the ruling family. Under the Tokugawa,
Japan was closed to the outside world, and its ports transformed into
hubs for domestic trade. For the next three centuries, the major port
activity would be along the Japan Sea Coast and through the Seto Inland
Sea to Osaka. Niigata was a major center for the rich domestic trade that
built up during the Edo period. Records show over 3,000 ships entering
the port at the end of the seventeenth century. Although there was also
extensive domestic trade and port activities through the Seto Inland Sea
into both Osaka and Tokyo during the Edo period, Kobe was nothing more
than a small fishing village. Its neighbors, Osaka and Hyogo, were the
major ports of the Seto Inland Sea.
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Perry's Black Ships put an end to Japan's seclusion, and in
the process to Tokugawa rule. Non-Tokugawa Han, especially the Choshu
and Satsuma, had increased in wealth and power after 1830, and in the
middle of 19th century posed a serious threat to the Tokugawa. In a series
of political maneuvers and military clashes, in which foreign powers played
an important role, the Tokugawa were removed from power, and the Emperor
Meiji was restored to a ruling position. Japan was now opened to the outside
world and thrust onto a path of modernization. But the economic centers
of this outside world lay to the east and south, reached from the Pacific
Coast, and not to the west and north on the more isolated Japan Sea. Thus,
the modern period would see a rapid development of the Pacific port cities,
which would quickly overtake the Japan Sea ports in power, wealth, and
influence.
These
differences in location and in physical characteristics will be seen to
exercise a profound influence on the way these two cities develop, the
problems they face, and the ways they have addressed those problems. Both
cities were chartered as open cities on April 1, 1889, along with 29 other
cities, but already Kobe had a population three times that of Niigata.
Through the first half of the twentieth century, both cities' populations
grew at the same rate. Niigata continued to be an important port, but
Kobe rapidly overtook it in number of ships arriving and volume of cargo.
The development of the two port cities diverged dramatically after 1950.
Kobe has grown into the country's leading port in number of ships arriving
and volume of cargo. It is surrounded by a dense industrial hinterland
and serves as well the densely packed network of smaller ports along the
Seto Inland Sea. The Kobe City Government has achieved status as a port
administrative entity, giving it the authority to exercise direct control
over the port. Niigata has remained a smaller port city, in which the
prefectural government is the port administrative entity. It is surrounded
by a sparsely settled yet highly productive agricultural hinterland.
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C. Basic Comparative Statistics: Kobe and Niigata
The
basic figures showing this contrasting development are seen in table 1.
Figures 1, 2 and 3, and appendix tables also provide more detail of patterns
of growth within the cities. The populations of both cities have increased
by a factor of ten since they were opened about a century ago in 1889.
Kobe had a somewhat higher growth rate in the first half century, and
a slower growth rate in the second half. Both cities have increased their
area substantially, and this has contributed to the population growth.
(Maps in the appendix provide a clear picture of this areal growth.) Kobe
expanded earlier than Niigata, evidence of its greater economic expansion.
Niigata's more rapid 1950s population growth is closely related to the
recent rapid expansion of the city area. The economic growth is clearly
seen in the port activity, where the divergence in growth rates is greatest.
Kobe has become Japan's largest port in ships arriving and volume of cargo.
Niigata remains a very modest port by comparison.
The table does not show, however, the great difference in war time destruction,
which will be seen later. Kobe was more than half destroyed by bombing
in the war. Niigata was untouched. Two thirds of Kobe's population was
evacuated during the war, brining the 1940 population of one million to
a mere 378,592 in 1945. A rapid in migration followed the war, bringing
the population back to one million by 1956. Niigata lost no population
during the war. It did experience an upsurge of population after the war,
but it was more modest, and the population was not returning to a destroyed
city.
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Table 1. Basic Comparative Data for Kobe and Niigata
| |
Kobe |
Niigata |
|
Population
|
1990
ave ann % growth
1940
ave ann % growth
1889
|
1,477,423
0.85%
967,234
3.94%
134,704 |
486,087
2.37%
150,903
2.45%
43,911 |
|
Area (sq. km.)
|
1990
1950
1940
1889 |
545
420
83
21
|
209
73
21
12 |
| Density (pop/sq.km:1990) |
2,173 |
2,328 |
| Range by ward/district |
821 - 11,892 |
332 - 10,582 |
|
Port Activity
No. Ships
|
1989
1960
1950
1940
1915 (ocean)
|
89,628
86,125
24,754
93,551
2,501
|
17,541
5,406
4,425
2,467
1,466 |
|
Cargo: milliom. tons
|
|
1989
1960
1950
1940
|
167
20
7
10 |
28
3
0.9
2 |
|
City Resources
|
|
Personnel (1991,Aprill)
Pers/l000 Pop
91/92 Budget (trillion yen)
Yen/Pop
|
20,994
14.2
1,849
1,251,000 |
5,168
10.6
241
495,000 |
|
Prefecture Resources
|
Personnel
91/92 Budget (trillion yen)
|
66,885
2,002 |
39,395
1,168 |
|
Comparative Ratio
|
Pref: City Budget
Pref: City Personnel |
1.08:1
3.2:1 |
4.9:1
7.6:1 |
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Figure 1. Population Change
Figure 2. Expansion of Kobe City Area
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Figure 3. Expansion
of Niigata City Area
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D. Patterns and Rates of Growth
1. Population
a. Kobe
(1) Population Growth
In 1889, Kobe's population was just
134,704. Four decades later, by the end of the Taisho period, the city
had reached 651,600, thus growing at almost 4.6 percent per year. In the
1930s, the city grew at greater than 5 percent per year, reaching a total
population of one million in the early 1940s. The war saw a great exodus,
leaving the city with a population of less than 400,000 in 1945. It regained
its population rapidly, however, growing at more than 8 percent per year
to reach a population of one million again in 1956. From that point, the
growth has slowed considerably and continues to decline. It now stands
at about 0.8 percent per year. This overall growth comes from three sources:
areal expansion, natural increase and in migration. Much of the growth
came from areal expansion, as the city quadrupled from 21 to 83 square
kilometers in a gradual process from 1889 to 1940. It then added another
447 square kilometers with major mergers in 1947, 1950-1951, and 1957.
Crude birth and death rates in 1950 were at 20 and 10 per thousand respectively,
producing a natural increase rate of 10 or one percent per year. By 1985
the birth rate had declined to 13, and the death rate to 7, reducing the
rate of natural increase to 6 or 0.6 percent. This was not distributed
evenly within the city, however. The pattern that emerges resembles a
doughnut, with the four central wards -- Nada, Chuo, Hyogo, and Nagata
-- showing consistent differences from the outer wards. For example, the
central wards actually experienced a negative rate of natural increase
in the 1970s, after the peak of modern growth. The largest declines were
in Hyogo and Nagata wards. Other wards showed great similarity in their
positive rates of growth. This also implies a difference in age structure,
with the four central wards showing a high proportion of the aged, and
the other wards having a higher proportion of young population.
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Net in migration contributed heavily to the population growth
before 1950, especially with the return of evacuees and overseas forces.
By 1955 this return had been completed, but net in migration continued
to contribute to the city's growth as the expanding economy attracted
a young labor force from the rural areas. By 1970 this in migration had
slowed considerably to near stability. The extensive housing development
in the new towns again increased net in migration in the 1980s. The four
central wards showed a net out migration since late 1960s. Three wards
where the new towns were constructed, Nishi, Kita, and Suma (only Kitasuma
which is located northern part of Suma), all have experienced net in migration
through but these four decades. The areas that were already developed,
such as Higashinada, Suma (except Kitasuma), and Tarumi, experienced a
net in migration until 1970, followed by a small net out migration after
that time. These migration patterns reflect primarily the development
of new housing projects.
(2) Households
As in all of Japan, this
four decades has also seen a rise in the number of households. Throughout
this period, except for the five years 1950-55, households have been increasing
more rapidly than the population as a whole. This implies a move to smaller
households, which has been common to all of Japan in the post war period.
For Kobe as a whole the average numbers of persons per household was 4.17
in 1950; it rose slightly to 4.23 in 1955, then declined steadily to 2.74
in 1990. Again, this pattern is not distributed evenly throughout Kobe
city. The more rural wards, Kita and Nishi, show higher average household
sizes, while the four central wards, Nada and Chuo, Hyogo, and Nagata,
are smaller than average and are constantly declining.
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(3) Density
With
rising numbers, population density increased for the city as a whole
over the past four decades. Overall density is now about 2,713 persons
per square kilometer. This is far below the peak density of 12,113,
reached in 1939 before the major areal expansion of the city. As with
other measures, there have also been differences in density among the
city's different wards. The four central wards reached a peak of
density during the early period of rapid economic growth, through the
early 1970s. Since then their density has been declining, to as low as
50 to 60 percent of the peak period. All other wards, except
Higashinada have shown a constant increase in density, reinforcing the
doughnut-like character of the city's population distribution.
(4) Age Distribution
As
in the rest of Japan, the population of Kobe City has been aging. The
proportion of the population over the age of 65 years has increased
from 4.2 percent in 1955 to 11.5 percent in 1990. As noted above, the
aged are not evenly distributed by ward, and the distribution has
changed with time as well. The four central wards received the new in
migrating young labor force in the late 1950s, but the next generation
of young workers moved out to the new towns in the other wards. Thus
the four central wards now have 13 to 17 percent over 65, while the
other wards have only eight to 11 percent over 65. Conversely, the
outlying or suburban wards, typically have more than 20 percent of the
population under the age of 15.
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(5) Population Movements
Kobe
City has seen a net inflow of population over the past 40 years. The patterns
of movement into and out of the city, and within the city itself, have,
however, changed somewhat over time. There has been a consistent moderate
outflow of population to Osaka and Tokyo, and a larger outflow to cities
such as Akashi, Amagasaki, Ashiya, and Nishinomiya. The inflow has come
largely from contiguous prefectures, and has always been greater than
the outflow. In the 1950s, 65 percent of the outflow from the city went
outside the prefecture, with only 35 percent moving within the prefecture.
By 1975 that had reversed, and two thirds of the outflow remained within
the prefecture. The inflow into the city has come primarily from contiguous
prefectures. All migration slowed by 1975, in part because of the decline
in the young entrants to the labor force, and in part because the young
workers tended to stay in the places of their birth.
Within the city, there was an early movement of the young labor force
into the four central wards in the 1950s, but that slowed and turned to
an outflow in the 1960s. By 1965 the overall urban pattern had become
established. The northern and western areas of the city were primarily
residential, the southern seaside area was industrial and port activities
and the central area had become mixed residential and commercial. The
movement out from the central area has given the city something of doughnut
pattern. That pattern can also be seen in the daily movement of people.
The four central wards, especially Chuo have a day time population that
exceeds their residential populations, while the other suburban wards
have smaller day time than residential populations. The doughnut extends
even outside the city as well. Kobe receives day time workers from surrounding
cities and prefectures, and has overall about a three percent excess of
day time over residential population. There is also a substantial daytime
outflow of the population from Kobe to Osaka.
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b. Niigata
(1) Population Growth
In 1950, Niigata's population was
220,901, and it grew to 486,087 in 1990. As in Kobe, the growth resulted
from annexation, natural increase, and migration. There was a somewhat
gradual expansion from 12 to 21 square kilometers in the half century
before the war. Then ten surrounding towns and villages in the period
1954 to 1961, adding 135 square kilometers, thus nearly tripling the city's
area.
As in the rest of Japan, the 1950 crude birth and death rates, at 26.9
and 10.8 respectively, produced a rate of natural increase of 16.1 or
1.6 percent. By 1989 the birth rate had declined to 10.3 and the death
rate to 5.5, reducing the rate of natural increase to only 4.8, or less
than half a percent. As in Kobe, the older central districts even experience
a negative rate of natural increase, while the surrounding districts with
younger families maintain a slightly high rate.
The heaviest wave of in migration occurred just after the war, producing
a 27 percent increase in the population between 1945 and 1950. After 1960
net migration contributed almost nothing to the growth of the city's population.
From 1960 through 1985 the 120,029 who migrated in were almost matched
by the 114,398 who left the city. The net in migration of 5,631 over 25
years amounted to only 1.7 percent of the 1960 population. Further, by
1985 out migration rose above in migration by a few hundred persons. Within
the city, the population distribution moved from heavy concentration in
the center to a more even distribution throughout the area. In 1955, for
example, over 70 percent of the population lived in the five central districts;
by 1985, this had declined to 41 percent. The three surrounding districts
held only 8 percent of the population in 1955, but this proportion rose
to 38 percent by 1985.
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(2) Households
As in Kobe, households grew more rapidly than the total population,
producing a decline in the average size of the household. Average household
size was 5.1 in 1955, and it declined to 3.1 in 1985. The trend is the
same as in Kobe, but households in Niigata remain slightly larger than
those in Kobe, by about one-half person. The doughnut pattern we have
seen before exists here as well. Households in the central districts are
smaller than those in the surrounding districts. The areas of most rapid
growth in households are also those where the households are declining
most rapidly in size. In effect, the movement has been from the central
city with larger families to surrounding areas with smaller nuclear families.
(3) Density
Niigata's
overall density is now about 2,328 persons per square kilometer, or
about a seventh less than Kobe City. The central districts were those
of highest density in 1950, but the movement outward throughout the
period has produced a relatively even population density throughout the
city by 1985.
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(4) Age Distributions
As
in Kobe, the population of Niigata has been getting older over the past
40 years. In 1955 only 4 percent of the population was over 65; by 1985
that proportion rose to 9.5 percent. Within the city, however, the
proportion of the aged ranged from 5.8 percent in Ishiyama, a new
residential area, to 16.1 percent in Honcho, the central city district.
The central districts typically had more than 10 percent aged, and
conversely between 15 and 20 percent of the population under the age of
15. The outer districts, on the other hand, have less than 10 percent
of the population over 65 and more than 20 percent under the age of 15.
(5) Population Movement
The expansion
of Niigata out of the central districts has produced a doughnut pattern
that is evident in the daytime migration. In 1960 the day time population
was only 104 percent of the resident population, but by 1985 it increased
to 110 percent. The number of people moving into the city for daily activities
increased from about 13,000 to more than 43,000.
Most of the movement of population between Niigata Prefecture occurs between
Niigata City and the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, particularly Tokyo proper.
According to the 1985 data, this pattern represents nearly 50 percent
of the total population movement. Recently, more people are moving out
of Niigata City.
Regarding the movement of population between Niigata City and other areas
within Niigata Prefecture, the main flow is that between Niigata City
and surrounding areas (Nishi-Kambara, Kita-Kambara, Naka-Kambara, and
Sado-gun). According to the 1985 data, over 50 percent of the people moving
to Niigata City were from these areas, and over 60 percent of those moving
out were moving to these areas.
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2. Port Developments (See Figures 4-8)
a. Kobe
In 1987 Kobe's total output amounted to 4.5
trillion yen. This constituted 1.4 percent of the total Gross Domestic
Product of Japan, and 31.9 percent of the total product of Hyogo Prefecture.
According to the survey conducted by the Port and Harbor Bureau in 1984,
economic activities and industries related to the port function produced
about 38.8 percent of the city's wealth. Much of the rest of the wealth
also derives from the port, but through a complex and indirect set of
connections. In effect, Kobe is an immensely wealthy city, and the greater
part of its wealth derives from its port.
The development of the port has been the driving force behind Kobe's development
since the Meiji Restoration, and especially since the end of World War
II This can be seen readily in the number and size of ships entering the
port, the volume of their cargo, and their origins and destinations.
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Figure 4. Port Activity
Figure 5. A General View of the Osaka Bay Area in 1961
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Figure 6. The
Transition of the Kobe Port
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Figure 7. The Niitaga Port in 1889
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Figure 8. The Niigata Ports in 1991
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Port statistics were not kept for the first years of Kobe
port's activity. The first count available shows 576 ocean going ships
arriving in 1894. The number grew rapidly to over 3,900 in 1926. From
that point records distinguish foreign and domestic ships. In the same
year, there were already close to 20,000 ships calling at Kobe, carrying
some 11.5 million tons of cargo. The next ten or eleven years saw continued
increase to 106,630 ships carrying almost 17.7 million tons of cargo in
1936/37. The number of foreign ships entering the port rose slightly then
remained relatively stable at around 4,000, though their average size
rose from 5740 to 6250 tons in the same year period. The port offered
greater stimulation to domestic trade, however, as the number of ships
entering the port rose from 15,769 to 102,055 in this period. This trade
increase was taken up by smaller ships, however, as their average size
declined from 900 tons in 1926 to 250 tons in 1936. The greatest change
took place in one year, when the number of domestic ships recorded entering
the port rose from 19,864 in 1929 to over 77,636 in 1930, suggesting a
new method of counting ships that had previously not been recorded. In
that year the average size dropped from 907 to 280 tons. It was in this
period that the feeder line pattern matured, with smaller domestic ships
feeding both the import and the export traffic of the larger foreign ships.
From the peak in 1936, port activity declined first due to the world recession
and then to Japan's war involvement. At the lowest point, in 1945, the
records show only 26 foreign and 3,775 domestic ships, averaging 2499
and 304 tons respectively, and carrying an unknown amount of cargo.
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After the war port activity increased dramatically. The number of ships
entering at the port rose to 24,754 in 1950, and to 146,978 in the peak
year of 1971. Both foreign and domestic ships took part in this rapid
growth, with foreign ships rising to 10,463 and domestic ships to 136,515
in 1971. In both cases the average size of the ships increased steadily.
Foreign ships rose in average from 2499 tons in 1945 to 7975 tons in 1971,
while domestic ship size rose from 304 to 621 tons in the same period.
Following 1971 the number of ships has declined steadily, though their
sizes have increased. A container terminal was opened and received the
first of the container ships in 1967. Container shipment began in 1967,
and contributed substantially to the increase in ship size, as did the
ports capacities to handle modern specialized ships. Foreign ship size
increased to an average of 14,634 tons in 1990. Even domestic ships increased
the average size to 1549 tons by 1990.
It is in the volume of trade, however, that we can see the steady and
remarkable rise in port activity, especially in the past 40 years. In
the early period of growth, from 1926 to 1937, the volume rose from 11.5
to 17.7 million tons, for an average annual increase of 4.0 percent. Foreign
volume rose from 5.1 to 6.6 million tons, registering a 2.4 percent annual
growth rate. Domestic volume grew slightly more rapidly, from 6.3 to 11.1
million tons, for an average annual rate of 5.3 percent.
The post war period saw far more rapid growth and for a longer period.
From 1950 to 1990 the total volume grew from 6.8 to 171.5 million tons
for an average annual growth rate of 8.4 percent. Domestic trade grew
slightly more rapidly, at 9.3 percent per year, compared with 7.4 percent
for foreign trade volume. At the beginning of this period imports dominated
both domestic and foreign trade. Imports amounted to 75 percent of the
volume of foreign trade and, 67 percent of the volume of domestic trade
in 1926. Exports have continued to grow more rapidly than imports throughout
the period, however, until now imports and exports are almost evenly balanced
for both foreign and domestic traffic.
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b. Niitaga
Early in this century there was only a modest difference between
Kobe and Niigata in the size of their port activity. In 1915, when Kobe
registered 2,501 ships entering, Niigata had 1,466. In 1926 the number
had risen slightly to 2,034, showing an average size of 508 tons. The
number and average size continued to grow, reaching 2,467 ships and 935
tons in 1940. The numbers grew in the next decade to 4,425, but average
ship size declined to 253 tons. From that point there is a continued rise
in both figures. In 1989, the year of the latest available figures, 17,541
ships entered the port, and their average size was 2,743 tons.
Both foreign and domestic ships showed the same pattern of growth, though
figures are only available from 1956. At that time there were 453 foreign
ships, averaging 6,596 tons, and 5,049 domestic ships averaging an even
larger figure of 885 tons. Foreign ships then grew more rapidly in size
than did domestic ships, so that in 1989 the 815 foreign ships entering
the port averaged 14,703 tons, while the more numerous 16,726 domestic
ships entering averaged only 2,160 tons. Thus in the post war period foreign
ships only doubled their number, but they increased their average size
by a factor of about 2.5. Domestic ships trebled their number and also
increased their average size by a factor of about 2.5. That is, the growth
was not inconsequential, but neither was in anywhere near the growth of
Kobe's port activity.
The volume of cargo shows a similar contrast, with an additional point
of interest in the difference between foreign import and export activity.
The total volume of cargo grew from about 840,000 tons in 1926 to just
over 2 million tons in 1940. After a decline at the end of the war, growth
resumed, with a large spurt after 1960. By 1989 the total had reached
28 million tons. Both foreign and domestic trade cargo grew at about the
same pace, slowly before the war and very rapidly especially after 1960.
Domestic trade has grown more rapidly, however. Domestic cargo was just
over twice the foreign volume before the war; both figures were almost
equal through 1963, then domestic cargo grew more rapidly, reaching 1.
7 times foreign cargo by 1989.
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The source of the cargo volume shows substantial foreign and domestic
difference. In domestic trade, imports and exports are more nearly equal,
and their relative positions have changed over the years. In 1926, imports
were five times exports, only 40 percent greater in 1940, and were nearly
equal through 1970. Imports then grew slightly more rapidly until the
ratio of imports to exports in 1989 was roughly 10:8 or 1.25:1. In foreign
trade, however, Niigata has been almost exclusively an importing port.
It receives oil and liquid petroleum, which comes in large volume, and
sends little out to the rest of the world. Niigata has been primarily
an importer of foreign cargo since records have been kept, but since 1970
the imbalance has become overwhelming, with imports now showing 53 times
the volume of exports. This pattern of oil imports, however, has kept
the average size of ships rising, very much as they have in Kobe, though
for very different reasons. Kobe's growth in the average size of foreign
ships comes from the development of a modern container port handling both
exports and imports. Niigata's growth in average foreign ship size comes
largely from its position as an oil importer.
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E. Summary Comparison
The two cities show many similarities
in internal population dynamics, but they differ substantially in their
size and wealth, and in the historical process of their expansion. Both
cities have grown by a factor of ten since they were opened just over
a century ago. Until the recent post world war II period, both became
densely settled and highly congested in the inner city. More recently
both cities have added substantially to their area by annexing surrounding
towns and villages, population growth has slowed considerably, and there
has been a movement from the inner city out to surrounding suburban areas.
Their inner wards have become older in age composition and they have lost
the younger population to the newer residential areas outside the center.
Both cities have expanded their area by large factors (17 times for Niigata
and 26 times for Kobe), annexing surrounding villages and towns. Kobe
began this expansion in the early part of this century, accelerated it
after the war, and had achieved its current basic size by 1955. Niigata
expanded only by a small amount before the war, and experienced a very
large expansion between 1954 and 1961.
These similar patterns of population dynamics have given the two cities
some of the same problems. Both have experienced a decline in the inner
city areas, and now seek to revitalize them. Both have found industries
moving out of the inner city in search of space for needed expansion,
and both are trying to attract business back into the inner city. They
have also both experienced substantial economic growth, and have actively
participated in the nation's overall growth. They have build up very substantial
urban infrastructures and provided for their citizens a very high quality
of life.
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Their differences are also substantial and instructive. Kobe's
population is more than three times that of Niigata, and its area almost
three times larger. Both are quite densely settled, but Kobe's population
density is about one seventh greater than Niigata's. Kobe's regular budget
per capita is more than two times that of Niigata, and it has four times
as many city personnel. Kobe's port receives almost nine times as many
ships, and handles almost six times the volume of cargo that Niigata handles.
Further, Kobe's port is more evenly balanced between exports and imports
in both domestic and foreign trade. Niigata is far more an importing port,
with an imports to exports ratio of about 1.25:1 for domestic cargo but
and 53:1 for foreign cargo.
The difference in size and wealth is matched by legal differences
and Both also reflect a substantial difference in the independence or
influence of the city. This can be seen statistically in a comparison
of the two cities relative to their surrounding prefectures. Kobe's budget
is almost equal that of Hyogo Prefecture; Niigata's Prefectural budget
is almost five times that of the city. Hyogo Prefecture has just over
three times as many personnel as Kobe City, but in Niigata the ratio is
7.6 to 1. As a Port Administrative Entity with direct control of its port,
Kobe is far more independent than Niigata, where almost everything done
must be negotiated with the prefectural and national governments. As we
shall see later, both cities must engage in extensive negotiations with
both central and prefectural governments, but Kobe enters these negotiations
from a position of far greater strength than does Niigata. It would only
be expected that as Japan's leading port city, Kobe has substantially
more influence at the centers of national political and economic power
than does Niigata.
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Many of these differences can be traced to the difference in location.
The modern opening of Japan stimulated the growth of the Pacific Coast
ports, and left those of the Japan Sea in something of a backwater. There
are also physical differences, which we shall see will affect the types
of both problems and solutions the two cities have experienced especially
in the past four decades. Kobe is hemmed in by granite mountains, crowded
into a narrow two to four kilometer corridor. But this also implies it
has a sharply dropping sea floor, giving it a deep harbor. Further, its
mountains are inhospitable to farming, thus its immediate hinterland is
more open public land, with little claim upon it from politically influential
groups. Niigata occupies the edge of a
broad and fertile rice plain, with its port at the mouth of a long but
slowly meandering river. This implies a low shelving beach and heavy siltation
of its river mouth, both of which conditions hinder port development,
especially for the much larger modern ships. Further, its rich rice fields
are owned by many small farmers, who have gained a great deal of political
influence, especially after the post war land reform. This implies far
greater difficulties than Kobe would have in finding land for its expansion.
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III. Urabn Problems and Solutions
In this section, we shall proceed in two ways. First we shall
provide a brief overview of typical urban problems that the two cities
have faced in the past four decades. We shall also provide some objective
data to show to what extent those problems have been successfully addressed.
At this point the emphasis is more on the broad range of urban problems,
and the success in dealing with those problems. Next we shall identify
a selected number of special problems each city has faced and the special
projects they have used to deal with those problems. This in depth analysis
will focus on a few major problems distinctive to each city, and will
describe in some detail the way the cities addressed those problems. Many
of these conditions and challenges were similar in the two cities. They
derive from the general urban social and economic conditions of Japan,
including rapid urbanization and industrialization with the consequent
need to build the urban infrastructure and provide urban services. For
Japan the problems also derive from demographic changes that have produced
an increase in the age of the population. Many of these problems have
been met in roughly the same manner by the two cities.
A. Overview of Urban Problems
Like most cities of the world, Kobe and Niigata have faced
a series of problems. We can discuss these under three general headings.
First, all cities must provide a basic urban infrastructure, including
provision of drinking water, electrical power, sewage and garbage disposal,
and housing for individuals and for industries. Next they must provide
some basic social services, including education and health. Third, the
city must protect the environment for the citizens. All of this is done
in part with the city's financial and human resources, indicated in a
city's budget and official staff, which we introduced earlier in table
1. But government need not and usually cannot do everything a city and
its citizens need. Often it is the task of a city government to mobilize
a wide variety of other resources, from other government offices, from
private corporations, and from private groups or associations of citizens.
Thus when we speak of the city providing infrastructure and services,
we need not necessarily mean the city government alone, though the government
will, of course, have a rather heavy responsibility to provide what the
city needs.
Tables 2a-c provide some basic objective indicators of the extent to which
Kobe and Niigata have met this set of basic problems, whether through
government or other means. All of the problems and solutions involve complex
conditions and activities, and the figures in tables 2ac are only indirect
indicators of these very complex conditions. Nonetheless they do provide
us with some relative objective and comparable measures with which to
assess urban problems and solutions.
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Table 2a. Urban Physical Infrastructure
| Measure |
Kobe |
Niigata |
|
Clean Water (1989)
|
mill cu. m.
cu. m. per cap
% Pop Supplied |
185.5
127
99.9
|
70.9
145
99.1 |
|
Electricity (1989)
|
mil. kWh
kWh per capit |
6,805
4,644 |
2,003
4,121 |
|
Sewage (1991, March 31)
|
| % Pop. Served |
97% |
31% |
|
Garbage (1989)
|
kg per cap.
% Ann. Increase '86-'89 |
470
6.9% |
522
3.4% |
|
Housing (1988)
|
Number
Pop/House rati |
482,440
3.01 |
152,180
3.04 |
|
Transportation (1990)
|
Total Vehicles
Passenger cars
Km Roads
Km Roads/sq.km.
Vehicles/km road
Traffic flow*(km/hr)
Parking spaces
Pass. Car/space
|
487,424
291,192
5,085
9.3
96
29.2
42,545
6.8
|
227,475
129,567
2,272
10.9
100
23.9
7,985
16.2 |
* Traffic flow was measured during rush hour period
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1. Urban Infrastructure
Despite their differences in size and wealth, both Kobe and
Niigata have made substantial progress in meeting the basic infrastructure
needs of the population. Both have full coverage of clean water and electricity.
There is an interesting difference in the extent of sewage coverage, which
will require more detailed examination later. Kobe has near full coverage
of the population with its sewer service. Niigata is far behind, and its
31 percent coverage is even substantially below the national average of
about 44 percent. The city sees this as a problem to which it is allocating
much effort and resources. Both cities have extensive garbage collection,
covering all households, and both treat the garbage effectively. Kobe
burns most of its garbage, and uses the heat for the municipal swimming
pools, next to the incinerators. Kobe's garbage growth rate is higher
than Niigata's and is a source of serious concern for city officials.
In this, of course, Kobe does not differ from any city in the world. The
difference is with the developing countries, where population growth drives
much of the increase in garbage. In Kobe, as in the developed countries,
it is the high level and increase of consumption that drives garbage increase.
This implies that the increase is manageable and can be addressed through
various environmental programs, such as recycling and source reduction
projects. Kobe recently began a program to purchase used paper at 3 yen
per kilogram, and this has led to a 30 percent reduction in the volume
of paper in the garbage.
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The
populations of both cities are well housed. The ratio of population to
individual and family dwellings is very low, almost the same as the ratio
of population to households, indicating what is clearly evident in both
cities. Everyone is housed. There are both public housing projects for
low income families, and an extensive private housing market.
Finally, both cities have well developed transportation systems, but there
is an important difference between the two, which is largely the result
of their locations. Both cities have extensive internal road systems,
with rough equality at about 10 kilometers of road per square kilometer
of city area. The vehicular population is quite dense, with 96 vehicles
per road kilometer in Kobe and 100 in Niigata. Here Kobe is slightly less
densely packed with vehicles. It has other slight advantages as well in
traffic. In passenger cars per household Kobe has 0.5 to 0.8 for Niigata.
Despite this density, good roads and an effective traffic management system,
permit a relatively smooth and speedy flow of traffic, with a slight advantage
in Kobe, where the average speed during the rush hour is 29 kilometers
per hour, against about 24 in Niigata. Kobe also has more than twice as
many parking spaces per car than does Niigata. Congestion is, of course,
a relative term. In comparison to many large cities in developing countries,
the traffic of these cities moves rather well, but the residents may feel
there is considerable congestion. Even the research term felt a greater
sense of congestion in Kobe than in Niigata, despite the slight advantage
Kobe has in the statistics.
In fact the figures showing Niigata with greater vehicular density are
a bit misleading and understate the difference between the two cities.
Kobe receives many cars, vans and trucks from surrounding towns and cities
because it is a port in a densely built up industrial and residential
area. Thus Kobe's location gives it more actual traffic than is seen in
the number. of vehicles registered in the city. Niigata receives far less
of this type of external flow into the city, thus appears less congested
than Kobe. At the same time, because Kobe is in this more densely built
up areas, and because it is a more wealthy city, it has built up a more
effective infrastructure for dealing with its traffic flow. In fact, Niigata
is just now expanding its internal road system to ease congestion especially
in connection with the East Port traffic.
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Kobe's greater sense of congestion also comes from the larger
population, and from the extensive facilities that can more than larger
population. Niigata is served only by the Japan Railway system. Kobe is
served by the Japan Railway, plus four other rail companies. There is
even a fifth small rail company, an extra governmental company partly
owned by the Kobe City Government, which serves to link together the four
railways coming into the city. Further, Niigata is served internally by
a private bus company; The Kobe City Government provides a municipal bus
and subway systems. Thus Kobe's greater size and density and its central
location in a densely built up region imply a much more complex transportation
system than we find in Niigata, which is by comparison a more isolated
city. Kobe appears more congested because there are more vehicles and
people flowing through the city. But it also has a slightly more developed
transportation system so that those greater numbers actually flow a bit
more smoothly than do the smaller numbers in Niigata.
2. Social Services
Both cities provide extensive social services. The enrollment
rate for primary, middle and high schools is virtually 100 percent.5 Class
levels are regulated nationally, and both cities easily meet national
levels. Both cities also have a set of universities and other tertiary
schools, which provide professional and technical instruction to students
from allover Japan and from many foreign countries as well.
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Table 2b. Urban Social Services
| Measure |
Kobe |
Niigata |
|
Education (1990)
Student/teacher ratio
|
Primary School
Middle School
High School
|
24
19
16
|
25
21
20 |
|
Tertiary
|
Number
Students |
26
60,613 |
9
13,061 |
|
Health (1989)
|
Pop/Hosp. Bed
Pop/Medical Doctor
Diarrheal Dis./100,000* |
66
420
1.4 |
50
380
0.6 |
* Includes dysentery, typhoid, paratyphoid, legally classified
together by the Japanese government under its diarrheal disease law.
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Here again, however, we can see a difference in the two cities
that results for their different locations. It parallels the transportation
difference in that it reflects the greater centrality of Kobe and the
relative isolation of Niigata. The ratio of Kobe to Niigata students is
roughly 3 to 1 at the primary, middle and high school levels, but it is
4.6 to 1 for tertiary students. This is not due to a difference in the
number of colleges and universities, for that ratio is also about 3 to
1. Further, both cities have about the same proportion of high school
students who go on to college or university (35 percent for Kobe and 28
percent for Niigata in 1990). The difference derives from Kobe's relatively
greater centrality to all of Japan, and Niigata's relative isolation.
Kobe is more likely to draw college and university students from allover
the country than is Niigata.
Both cities also have an extensive medical and health infrastructure with
a hospital bed for every 50-66 persons, and a medical doctor for roughly
every 400 persons. There is also a very low incidence of diarrheal disease
infection, which is used here as only one indicator of a more extensive
and complex set of services the city provides to keep their citizens healthy.
In all of these figures, however, Niigata shows a slight edge over Kobe.
Table 2c. Urban Environmental Quality
| Measure |
Kobe |
Niigata |
|
Parks (1990)
|
Number
Area (ha)
ha./l00 sq.km.
|
1092
1958
360 |
454
168
80 |
|
Air Quality*
(1990)
|
CO: ppm (10)
N02: ppm (.06)
S02: ppm (.04) Ozone:days>.06ppm
Part.: mg/cu.m. (.10)
|
0.9
.02
.007
35
.04
|
0.4
.01
.006
32
.03 |
*The figures show the daily averages
of the multiple monitoring points around each city. Figures in parentheses
show the national maximum allowable standards.
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3. Environmental Quality
Both cities have extensive systems of parks and open spaces,
and providing parks and recreational space is a high priority for both
cities. Kobe appears to be somewhat better served than Niigata, but direct
quantitative comparisons are difficult. Niigata has a long shore line
that is essentially a high quality swimming and fishing beach, and it
is surrounded by extensive open farm land. Kobe has a less developed recreational
shoreline, though there are plans for a substantial extension of the shore
in connection with the new Akashi Strait Bridge being constructed to connect
Kobe to the Awaji Island. But Kobe also has extensive forests in the Rokko
Mountains minutes north of the city center. These forests are part of
the Setonaikai (the Seto Inland Sea) National Park system, which give
the residents easy access to fine mountain forests. Thus the cities have
very different natural recreational areas, but both are very well served.
Both cities have had problems with industrial pollution in the past. Niigata,
for example, is city experiencing the Second Minamata Disease. For both
cities, the increase of both industrial output and automobiles brought
rising levels of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and
floating particles. National and local governments began monitoring air
quality in 1970 and have taken a series of measures to improve air quality.
The figures in table 2c show that both cities are well within the national
standards for air quality, and both have seen declining levels of air
pollution over the past year.
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4. Sewers
The sewage issue for the two cities deserves special attention
for a number of reasons. First, Kobe has developed an extensive sewer
system, which not only covers virtually all of its citizens, but it distinguished
on special technical grounds as well. It is the only differentiated sewer-drain
system among Japan's large cities. The drain system is designed to carry
surface runoff alone. This has a double advantage. The runoff can flow
without treatment into the rivers and sea. Perhaps more important, however,
is the fact that heavy rains do not overload the system causing sewers
to backup. Kobe's sewer system dates to 1872 when an Englishman, Mr. John
William Hart, designed a 1900 brick sewer system, which the city built,
and which is still good operating condition. In 1950 planning began to
extend the system, and in 1957 a Sewage Department was established. At
that time only 1 percent of the households were covered by sewers. The
city picked up household waste, loaded it onto barges and sent it out
to be dumped into the sea. From 1957 to 1970 coverage rose to 35 percent.
In 1971 a new five year city plan aimed to have full coverage of specific
areas. Within ten years coverage rose to 87 percent. Today it stands at
97 percent and the city has plans to complete coverage in a few years.
The city is also adding a third stage to its sewage treatment to remove
a series of chemicals to meet its own higher standards of environmental
control. The extension of the sewer system was also accompanied by an
increase in clean water provision and a series of other public health
measures, including closer inspection of restaurants and markets, and
better garbage treatment. The result was a marked decline in the incidence
of diseases covered by the diarrheal disease law: dysentery, typhoid and
paratyphoid. In 1950 the incidence stood at 64.1 per 100,000, rising to
115.0 in 1960, then falling drastically to 3.1 in 1970, and 1.7 in 1980,
and to 1.4 in 1989.
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The second point of importance concerns the contrast in coverage in the
two cities. Kobe has almost complete sewer coverage, but in Niigata only
31 percent of the population is covered. Niigata considers this an important
problem and the city has active plans to increase coverage to 67.6 percent
of the population by 1999. Despite the low level of coverage, however,
Niigata does not have a high incidence of diarrheal diseases. Niigata
also has a history of declining infectious diseases, which moves out ahead
of its sewer extension. While waiting for sewer extension the city government
has a number of active projects to deal with the problem of these water
born diseases. First, households without sewer connections use septic
tanks, which an inspector, contracted by the city, examines once every
three months. The inspector advises of the need for pumping out a full
tank, and the owner pays ¥10,000 (about US $70) for the service. The
material is taken by tank truck to one of three sewage plants for treatment
by biotic processes before being discharged into rivers or the sea. The
city has an extensive educational campaign for household waste that includes
the distribution of fine mesh screens for sink wastes, and special packets
to absorb oil, which are then disposed of in normal garbage.
B. Inventory of Solutions
The two cities achieved these past levels of development
and welfare through fairly standard urban administrative procedures. These
are not necessarily unique to Japanese cities, by any means. Compared
to other countries covered in this larger study, however, it must be noted
that Japan enjoys immense advantages from its great wealth. Much of the
rapid development of the city's physical infrastructure could be accomplished
because the cities and the central government had the necessary financial
resources. The city also had the technical capacity to identify problems
and to establish goals in urban facilities, health and education, and
environmental quality. In some cases these goals were laid down by the
central government and simply given to the cities as standards. In other
cases, such as Kobe's sewer system and some of its health projects, the
city takes the lead in identifying problems and setting goals. It has
come to be a standard procedure for these city governments to look into
the future and to set for themselves goals for advancing city interests,
promoting economic activities and human welfare.
We can see something of this standard operating process by briefly reviewing
the current inventory of projects each city has. These show city administrations
looking forward to find ways to address both current and expected future
problems. This, too, is made easier by the great wealth of the country
and our two cities.
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1. Kobe
If promoting greater internationalization is a major aim in
Niigata, this is something Kobe City has already achieved in very large
measure. Thus the emphasis in Kobe is less on becoming something new,
and more on sustaining the advanced position it has already achieved.
That is, of course, no easy task itself, since there are no models for
Kobe to emulate in deciding what it is to do next. For example, urban
planners look forward to the city becoming something they call an "urban
resort city", a place that is warm and friendly, comfortable and culturally
exciting, and attractive to both visitors and residents. At the same time,
city officials can look ahead to some very new and serious problems identified
by simple extrapolations of current trends. Two of the most important
of these are problems that arise from aging and the problem of garbage.
City officials can easily see the time when the population aged 65 and
over will constitute 20 percent of the population. This will require a
new set of social services with different taxing and financial structures.
There is also the problem of garbage. Officials see a growth in excess
of 6 percent per year, implying a doubling of the amount of garbage in
a mere 14 years. Where will it go? They recognize that already Tokyo Metropolitan
Government must ship its garbage 300-600 kilometers to the north. Kobe
now burns about 80 percent of its garbage, but current trends will require
building a new plant every five years. For both the general aims of the
urban resort, and dealing with the specific problems of aging and garbage,
the future is uncharted. There are no good models to emulate. Thus much
time and effort is spent in thinking ahead to try to work our scenarios
and the implications of both the changes that will come and the projects
that will be needed to deal with those changes.
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Like Niigata, Kobe keeps current lists of specific projects to operationalize
its broad aims and to address, as well as to keep ahead of its problems.
A recent publication lists 38 projects, but these are almost exclusively
physical infrastructure projects, all of which have implications for social
services and quality of life. The largest is the completion of the Port
Island extension and of the Rokko Island, two major projects that are
covered in detail later. These include industrial areas, port facilities,
and sport and recreational parks. Another is the proposed airport for
Kobe City, a project on which the national government is to make a decision
this fall. The Kobe Harbor Land Project will develop a portion of the
shore and in the process revitalize the inner city. Housing developments
are extensive, and these include special facilities for the aged. One
project, Shiawase-no-mura or the "Village of Happiness", is
specifically to integrate the aged and physically disabled into the regular
life of the city and aimed to offer enriched social welfare for every
citizen in Kobe City. It provides special working operations as well as
rehabilitation hospital, sports facilities and multi-purpose facilities.
In 1989 the city hosted the FESPIC (Far East and South Pacific Games for
The Disabled), which has been associated with Shiawase-no-mura.
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2. Niigata
Officials in Niigata identify their problems and aims under
five major categories or goals. The first is to integrated the city into
the larger global environment, which officials describe as attempts to
internationalize the city. In one sense this is fundamental to other aims,
since it involves an increase in industry and economic activities that
will provide the city with the jobs and the wealth that will permit it
to address other problems. The second aim is to make the city a comfortable
place to live, including good transportation, city services, good recreation
and a clean environment. Third is to advance cultural activities to increase
the city's distinctive identity. Fourth is to increase equality, especially
along gender divisions. Finally is the aim of advancing human welfare
through social services. Much of this the emphasis in this aim concerns
the problem of increasing aged population. This broad set of aims, including
both physical and social dimensions, is then translated into a series
of specific projects. These are the means by which the broad aims are
operationalized, by which human and financial resources are allocated
to activities designed to achieve these aims.
At present Niigata City has a list of 52 projects designed to operationalize
its broad aims. Some of these projects are one or two years in duration
with relatively small budgets. An example is the plan to build a convention
center and an international trade center for retail trade fairs, or to
host the Asian Ping Pong Games. Others are long term projects with potentially
very large budgets. The most important of these is the expansion of international
airport to accommodate the larger aircraft of the transcontinental routes,
or to petition the central government to provide an express way to the
east to connect Niigata to the main North-South Tokyo-Northern Honshu
expressway. There are also plans for building an industrial complex, the
expansion of the East Port, the revitalization of the old inner city,
and the extension of the sewer system. Some projects are only planning
activities for more specific projects in the future and have not got to
the stage of proposing budgets.
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A rough three part classification can be made of these 52 projects, following
the classification of table 2a-c, recognizing that many project actually
serve multiple ends. Urban physical infrastructure accounts for eleven
of the projects. These include the airport, convention center, the trade
center, port development, and the extension of the sewer system. Ten projects
can be classified as social services. These include inviting an international
university to Niigata, developing nursing homes, building the foundation
for an aging society, including counseling centers for old people. There
are also plans for a women's counseling center to promote women's status,
and for developing an overall health care system. Under the category of
environment and quality of life there are five specific projects. These
include the development of a riverside park, planting trees throughout
the city and increasing amenities along the sea shore. Fully half of the
projects have very clear multiple aims. There is, for example, a project
for the development of an "intelligent city", which will provide
a high quality of urban living plus the basis for high technology industries.
One of the more ambitious projects calls for creating think tank for developing
ideas for the Japan Sea Rim development. In fact the Japan Sea Rim emerges
as a central elements in much of Niigata's current planning, for it offers
the city the opportunity to regain some of the relative stature and influence
it enjoyed before the advance of the Pacific Sea cities.
Both cities show a strong tendency to look ahead and to plan for the future.
Kobe City has been especially noted for generations of farsighted city
leaders. This vision is part of the cultural and political conditions
that have made Japan a wealthy nation. But the process is self reinforcing
as well. Wealthy nations and wealthy cities have the leisure and resources
to look to the future and to plan for new achievements. Many of the world's
cities are overwhelmed with population growth and poverty and thus find
it difficult to support visions of the future. These are not handicaps
that face city officials in Kobe and Niigata.
To Top
c. In Depth Analysis
1. Kobe
For
the city of Kobe, we shall examine in greater detail four sets of
projects: port development, the new towns, the inner city development,
and projects dealing with the problem of aging. Although these can be
distinguished as separate projects, they are in fact all part of an
integrated urban planning activity. For example, the port development
aimed first at improving the port facilities to relieve the congestion
of the port. But to develop the port, earth was removed from the top of
some of the mountains to create artificial islands in the sea just off
the city. The cleared land in the mountains was used for the creation
of new towns, which provided housing and industrial communities to
relieve the population congestion in the inner city. This caused the
population to move out to the new towns, resulting in the decline of
the central city. Then a new waterfront project was created to expand
port and recreational facilities and to bring population back into
portions of the inner city.
a. Port Development
We have seen that Kobe became one of Japan's leading ports
through the first half of the 20th century. It was heavily damaged during
the war and had to undertake extensive reconstruction. By the end of the
1950s much of this reconstruction had been competed, but it was evident
that the port needed much more development. It had become a bottleneck
in Japan's development process, with ships waiting for long periods to
load and unload cargo. In addition, the post war flood of people back
into the city caused excessive crowding in the old inner city. Thus the
two problems of port congestion and urban population crowding were integrally
linked together.
Through the early 1960s city officials developed ambitious plans to expand
the port. It was at this time that the idea of an artificial island just
off the city emerged as the most promising solution, since it could solve
both problems of port congestion and urban crowding. To build the island,
the weathered giant of the Rokko Mountains could provide excellent fill.
Shoveling off the tops of the mountains would provide space in which to
construct new town for residential as well as industrial and other specialized
activities. The basic strategy was in part an extension, though on a much
greater scale, of past work the city had undertaken in reclaiming land
for port development on the city's shoreline. This began in 1953 with
reclamation for the expansion of the East and West ports. Together they
involved the creation of 543 hectares of new waterfront, and required
the movement of 63 million cubic meters of earth, which was taken from
the mountains north of the city. Plans for the construction of the 436
hectare Port Island took shape in 1963-65 and the excavation work began
in 1966.
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To implement
these plans the city engaged in extensive negotiations with the central
government, which agreed to finance portions of the port development and
housing projects. The central government built the sea wall. The city
moved the earth and did all the land reclamation. Housing was provided
by the central government, the city, and private developers. For the construction
of container terminals, the central, the Kobe City and the Osaka City
governments jointly created a new unit, the Osaka/Kobe Trading Port Development
Corporation, whose formation required much negotiation, but proved to
be highly appropriate for the task. The Kobe City Government was also
permitted to offer municipal bonds on the international bond market to
raise capital for the project. This proved to be especially beneficial,
since the bonds were offended in the late 1960s, when world trade was
expanding and prices were relatively stable. By the time the port facilities
were ready to be sold, world prices had risen sharply due to the oil shocks
of the 1970s. Thus Kobe realized substantial profits from its venture.
The Kobe Port Development Corporation built the container terminals and
now leases them to shipping companies. The city owns the finger wharves
as well as a set of container terminals along the shoreline.
Building the Port Island and the New Towns involved an immense engineering
activity, in which the city gained a world wide reputation for port development.
It would ultimately require the movement of 80 million cubic meters of
fill. Earth from the mountains north of the city was moved southward to
the sea through the city in underground conveyor belts and loaded onto
barges that dumped the fill in the sea to form the artificial island.
Earlier earth had also been moved for the Eastern Waterfront reclamation
in a specially constructed lowered roadbed beside the Sumiyoshi river
and an underground conveyor belt. Thus the massive north-south earth moving
traffic did not interrupt the normal east-west traffic of the city.
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The Port Island was designed to hold a new modern container port facility,
housing for 20,000 people, new commercial activities such as fashion and
design industries, and recreational facilities. It was completed in 1981
and today ranks as a major landmark of the city. It is connected to the
city center by a fully automated rail line, the Portliner, as well as
by bridge and road. It has one of the city's leading hotels, an international
convention and exhibition halls, sports facilities, and amusement park,
as well as the port and housing facilities.
The Port Island was sufficiently successful to suggest the continuation
of this basic strategy. A new island, the Rokko Island, was planned and
construction begun in 1972 and will be completed in 1992. It is 580 hectares
and will ultimately require the movement of 120 million cubic meters of
earth, which is also being taken from the Rokko Mountains. In addition,
the Port Island is being extended by an additional 390 hectares, requiring
92 million cubic meters of earth, to be completed by 1996. Finally, the
city has plans for an airport, to be located on another artificial island
just off the Port Island, which will be 300 hectares in area and require
the movement of another 92 million cubic meters of earth. The final decision
on the airport will be made by the central government in the fall of 1991.
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b. Inland Development
As
part of its plan for housing the population and attracting industries
to the city, Kobe has developed an extensive complex of new towns,
which will total over 4,000 hectares. They began with Suma New Town in
1961 as the first new town, and continue today, with plans reaching to
the end of this decade. There are two major locations for the new
towns, one to the west and one to the north behind the Rokko Mountains.
Table 3 lists major areas with their size, population where relevant,
and scheduled or actual dates of completion.
Table 3 Major Inland Development in Kobe City
| Name |
Ha. |
Pop. |
Completion |
| |
|
|
|
1. Suma
2. Seishin Resid.
3. Seishin S. Resid.
4. Academic
5. Seishin Ind.
6. Kobe Hi-Tech
7. Distrib. Center
8. Kobe Mult. Indus
9. Sports Complex
10.Agriicultural Park |
895
642
342
303
276
94
114
250
56
31 |
113,000
61,000
24,000
20,000
--
--
--
--
--
-- |
1991
1992
1994
1992
1991
1990
1992
2000
1992
1984 |
| North |
|
|
|
11. Kobe Research. Pk
12. Fugiwaradai Resid.
13. Sports Park
14. Fruit/Flower Pk
|
498
281
33
100 |
24,400
26,600
--
-- |
2001
1993
1995
1992 |
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The development of new towns began with Suma residential
area, in the West. It was designed as a residential area to relieve population
congestion in the inner city and is built on land excavated to provide
fill for earlier land reclamation projects for shoreline wharf construction.
Started in 1961 and will be officially completed this year, though it
is expected that housing construction will continue on a smaller scale.
Suma was designed on more traditional lines of a single purpose residential
town, with the idea that workers would move into the city daily for their
work and move back for night time residence. Later the development of
these areas took on a new character, more appropriately designated the
New Town concept. After the Suma New Town, most areas are planned as multiple
use areas, where residence, recreation and employment are linked together
outside of the central city.
To the west there were a series of new towns for industrial activities,
for a series of colleges and universities, and for sports. The comprehensive
sports complex was completed in 1985 to host an world student Olympic,
the Universiade. Most of the new towns on the west were designed and constructed
by the city, under its Development Bureau. This area also includes a park
which offers multiple facilities for the citizen. This includes sport
complex and recreational facilities such as baseball stadiums, tennis
courts, multi-purpose open-space and renting small land for gardening.
To the North there is another smaller complex of town whose organization
is more complex. The development of this area, including a portion outside
of the city, was originally planned by the central government, with Kobe
city participating in the research, industrial park and housing complex.
The central government's plan also includes a series of new towns in the
prefecture, outside of Kobe City boundaries. For these projects, work
is done not by the Urban Development Bureau, but by the Civil Engineering
Bureau, since the basic planning is done outside of the city government.
The city has, however, made its own modifications to the plan by adding
a 100 hectare fruit and flower farm, which will also serve recreational
needs. It is also adding a ' smaller sports complex which also includes
winery. This sports/winery place was built for the purpose of offering
recreational facilities for the citizen as well as promotion wine production.
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c. Inner City Development
As we have described in previous section, a series of inner
city problems emerged in the four central wards, especially Hyogo and
Nagata. The factors contributing to this condition are the negative population
growth, the large increase of aged population, the departure of factories
to surrounding areas, and the increase of superannuated firms. Younger
generation households, about 30 to 40 years old, who wish to own their
houses move out to surrounding areas. Thus, we find the increase in the
proportion of aged population, single households, and relatively lower
income population tend to live in the inner city area. We also see large
numbers of people dependent on social security as well as unemployment
allowances.
In terms of the housing problem, we find mostly wooden houses, which have
become superannuated. Furthermore, the decrease of population and the
increase of aged population contributed to the decrease of shopping areas
as well as the under-utilization of social service.
Recently large cities in the developed countries are facing this inner
city problem. And soon large cities in the less developed countries will
share this problems. Thus it is very useful and informative to introduce
the problem of inner city problem in this project.
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Kobe city has developed a planning framework in 1989, "the Kobe Inner
City Comprehensive Development Basic Plans", to address this problem.
The plan sets out four targets. 1) the creation of comfortable living;
2) promoting the establishment of urban oriented industries; 3) creating
an attractive area; and 4) enriching social welfare.
For more urgent problems needing short term action, the four central wards
are divided into four major parts, central/south, west, east and central/water
front. Each ward is again divided into three zones depending on the actions
needed. 1) Where the physical infrastructure is deteriorated, it will
be fixed and improved; 2) where the area has lost population and activity,
urban renewal projects will be undertaken; and 3) where a completely new
activity is required there will be advanced transformation of the area.
There are also a series of more detailed and specific projects designed
to revitalize the inner city. These include a Harbor Land project, a Inner
Industrial Complex project, and a Canal Town project. The city also has
a plan to build a subway on the coast line, which will serve many of the
inner city project areas.
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d. Aging
Aging is a problem that confronts all Japanese cities. Kobe
is now participating in national level discussions on the problem and
trying to plan for a future that will be very different from the present.
The city is developing special projects to address the problem, and also
attempting to develop new plans and visions that will later be translated
into specific projects. The current specific projects include the development
of nursing homes, improving medical geriatrics services, developing senior
citizen community centers, and organizing assistance for the homebound
aged who do not yet need full nursing home care. City officials also recognize
that there are more profound problems of taxation and financing, which
will require basic reforms in both the city's and the nation's taxation
system. In these uncharted. areas, the city uses a series of brain storming
task forces at different levels, and also encourages local citizens to
present ideas for the future.
2. Niigata
Niigata's
Mayor, Mr. Yoshiaki HASEGAWA describes his vision for the city under three
major categories: Internationalization, Culture and Social Services. For
future economic and social development, Niigata would have to become more
integrated into the international, or global, market place. It could do
this by exploiting its location advantages on the Japan Sea. With a high
speed rail link and a four lane express road connecting the city to Tokyo,
Niigata could offer attractive alternatives to Yokohama and Tokyo for
surface connections to Europe and North America. He explained, for example,
that a freezer container took 40 days by sea between Europe and Yokohama,
but could make the journey overland by rail and ship in only twenty days.
With a larger international airport Niigata could offer the same advantages
for air travel between Europe or North America and Japan. Internationalization
would also require, however, that Niigata develop its own distinctive
identity or culture. Finally, Niigata was already well known for its social
services, but it would have to develop these even further to meet future
problems. One of the most pressing would be the problem of aging.
Other city officials reflected these same broad aims and in interviews
explained how the broad aims were being translated into specific projects.
We can use the Mayor's three part classification to examine some of the
city's major projects in greater detail.
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a. Internationalization or Globalization
Internationalization requires first of all that Niigata has
more adequate transportation facilities linking it with the outside world.
There are, however, few things the city can do directly to develop such
facilities since the port is under the direction of the Prefecture, and
the external rail, road, and air links are under the control of the central
government. Thus a major set of projects for the city involve negotiations
and political petitions to the central government. Some of these efforts
have been successful in the past and others are currently being undertaken.
The high speed rail link to Tokyo, the famed Bullet Train, was opened
in 1982, and the four lane express highway was completed in 1985. Currently
the city is petitioning the central government for an expansion of the
international airport to enable it to accommodate the larger planes of
the transcontinental routes. It is working with the prefectural government
to request permission from the central government to increase ocean exports.
Finally, it is proposing that the central government build expressways
to the East, to link Niigata more closely with the nation's overall expressway
system. Although the city must rely on the central government for much
of these developments, there are some things that can be done, both with
the prefectural government and by itself, which can improve its situation
and help induce the central government to assist in its international
development.
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(1) Port and River Development
One of the more important of these activities is port development.
This has been undertaken by the national and prefectural governments over
the past decades to address some of the basic physical limitations imposed
by Niigata's location. For example, Niigata main port for the past three
centuries has been at the mouth of the Shinano River, Japan's longest
river. The river flows north out of the mountains, across the broad rice
plain to the city. Roughly at the city boundary the river makes a broad
turn to the northeast, running parallel to the coast for more than 6 kilometers
before turning north to enter the sea. This meandering course have presented
two major problems. One is siltation, which requires constant dredging
to keep the port open, and imposes limits to the depth of the port even
with extensive dredging.
To meet the challenge of siltation, the government built another port,
the East Port, about 12 kilometers east of the Shinano River mouth. This
port was dug directly out of the coast, and does not lie on one of the
two rivers that enter into the sea at Niigata. This precludes the need
for continual dredging and permitted the construction of a deeper port.
The West port on the Shinano River mouth is 10 meters at its deepest;
the East port is 14 meters deep. At present the port contains one container
terminal, and the prefecture is now proposing that it build a second.
To address the flooding problem, the central government dug a short cut
to the sea where the river turns to the northeast. This canal runs for
about 1.5 kilometers and is about 200 meters wide. This permits heavy
runoff to flow directly to the sea, preventing flooding of the central
city.
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(2) Urban Development
The
existing urban areas in Niigata City are now struggling with the
following problems: a shrinkage and graying of the daytime population,
relative decrease in commercial functions, and traffic congestion in
downtown areas, insufficient network of roads, and a shortage of green
belts and open space. To respond to these problems, Niigata City is now
undertaking a series of projects to use its land more effectively,
increase local activities, improve housing situation, and strengthen
the linkage between urban functions. These projects also aim to make
the city more attractive to international economic centers.
a) The West Port Area
The
area of the West Port has for years played important role for the
growth of Niigata
City. A large amount of investment has been made in this area
throughout the past century. The urban system has been concentrated in
this area as well. In recent years, however, this area has suffered
from the stagnation of port activities, aging buildings and population,
loss of population, the decline of business activities, the
deterioration of the environment, and the chronic problem of traffic
congestions. To cope with these problems, the city has been attempting
to integrate the urban systems, such as markets, businesses, port
activities and distributional activities. The city has also been
improving the living situation and environment so that people are
coming back to the city. One specific aspect of this inner city
development is a plan to build two new bridges at the mouth of the
Shinano River.
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(b) Development Of South Side Of The Niigata Station
Niigata
City is now developing the southern part of the Niigata Station (15.4
ha), to balance the earlier development of the north side. This station
was relocated from an area north of the river to one south of the river
when the new high speed rail link was built. This new redevelopment
project aims to bring comfortable urban living as well as urban
function for commerce and business to the south side of the Niigata
Station.
(3) Japan Sea Rim Development
Many of the projects the city undertakes to promote internationalization
can be considered service and planning or intelligence gathering projects,
rather than physical infrastructure projects. For example, the city's
Department of Economic Affairs undertakes market analysis and other information
gathering, and proposes increasing collaboration with the Soviet Union
on trade information. The city now collects extensive data on the companies
that engage in trade, and tries to act as a middleman to encourage more
companies to increase productive and trade activities. The city also organizes
trade fairs for the Japan Sea Rim Countries. There have been seven since
1972, or almost one every two years. This year, the city is planning on
holding two trade fairs, in July and November. City officials consider
Russia to be the major partner in this development, in part because it
is one of Japan's oldest trading partner in this part of the world. At
present about 200 Russian ships enter the port, or about one-quarter of
all ships entering.
The development of the Japan Sea Rim appears to be the major idea being
promoted at this time. Niigata is taking the lead in organizing local
and international study groups to consider possibilities of development
of the Japan Sea Rim countries. This includes China, Japan, North and
South Korea, and the Soviet Union. The city supports an active interdisciplinary
study group at Niigata University, which is undertaking studies, and organizing
joint meetings with scholars and city officials in the rim countries in
Japan and the U.S.S.R. The city is also planning for a periodic meeting
of mayors of some of the major rim country cities. Here there is an emphasis
on using nongovernmental organizations to develop links between citizens
as well as officials of the countries.
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b. Cultural Activities
To help develop a sense of distinctive identity among the
population, the city undertakes a number of special projects and it works
hard to gain citizen participation and to have the citizens take the initiative
in urban activities. Funds are now being raised for a symphony hall. There
are programs to promote local traditions. Sports are being promoted at
the citizen level. There are now, for example, 550 local baseball teams,
sponsored by businesses and other groups. They practice and play in the
early mornings, usually starting about 5 am in the summer, when it gets
light. The city has recently built a large sports complex with an outdoor
stadium and indoor gymnasium. There are also programs to promote cultural
exchanges with the Japan Sea Rim countries. The city has had an exchange
with Harbin in China, for example. Niigata now has a Chinese garden and
has sent people to build a traditional Japanese garden in Harbin.
The city is building an extensive system of parks and recreational facilities
for the citizens. There is a river front park now running 11 kilometers
along the Shinano River. It is being extended and will ultimately occupy
both sides of the river all the way to the sea. The long sea front is
being developed into an extensive park for fishing and swimming. A new
aquarium occupies a prominent place on the sea front and has regular dolphin
performances. The sea front is also lined with a rise of sand dunes planted
with rich pine forests, which the city has developed into an extensive
park system.
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C. Social Services
Like Kobe, Niigata faces a major problem in the aging of its
population. It is already well known for its high quality of social services.
There are many services for the aged, including free tickets for taking
public baths for those over 65 and the providing "moving bath transportation"
provided for the homebound. Like Kobe, however, much of the problem lies
in the near future, and the city is working with the national government
to develop plans for managing its aged population.
Niigata City is currently in the process of improving services for the
elderly. Improvement plans are centered on the extension of in home services,
and the construction of Special Nursing Homes (which can also be used
by the elderly in neighboring towns).
Niigata City is also planning to create a "Home Nursing Network" by which
city offices, Special Nursing Homes, health care facilities, medical institutions,
and volunteer groups will form an integrated unit. The city also holds
culture courses at senior citizens welfare center as part of its effort
to encourage the elderly to become more active in society. A Committee
to improve conditions for the elderly has been established. This committee
aims to help design programs to benefit the elderly.
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IV. Comparative Analysis
A. Port and Population Growth
The major difference between Kobe and Niigata is clearly not
that of population growth. Both cities have increased their populations
by a factor of ten over the past century. Both experienced very much the
same historical trajectory in population growth. They increased through
areal expansion, in migration and natural increase. Both had a period
of rapid growth following World War II, which caused problems of crowding.
These were readily solved through urban development, which was probably
made easier because in both cases the population growth rate slowed drastically
in two decades. By 1965 the cities had expanded areally as much as they
would, fertility declined as it did in all of Japan, and the in migration
slowed.
The real difference thus lay not in population growth, but in the growth
of the port. Kobe's port grew very rapidly and continues to do so. Niigata's
port growth has been much more modest. It is clear that the major cause
of this difference lies in the location of the two cities with reference
to world trade. Kobe's location on the Pacific coast is largely responsible
for its becoming Japan's largest port in number of ships entering and
volume of cargo. By contrast, Niigata became relatively more isolated,
because it lay outside the major trade routes that sprang out of the growth
stimulus of the Western World.
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B. The Consequences of Growth
We may now ask what have been the consequences of this difference
in port growth rates. In summary we can say that the consequence have
not been very serious, and that there have been some substantial advantages
of the growth. It is difficult to see major disadvantages to the growth.
We shall first discuss this basic points of the consequences, then turn
to another aspect of the differences, the impact of physical conditions
of the specific place of each port.
In general it is possible to say that the consequences of the difference
in growth rates have not been very serious. Neither city has experienced
the kind of rapid growth that overwhelms urban administrators in the developing
countries. Further, both the cities and the nation as a whole have experienced
sufficient economic growth to give them the economic power and human resources
to address their problems relatively easily. They have both been able
to afford the urban development needed to provide a high quality of life
for their citizens. Both cities experience some decline of the inner city,
the aging of the population, and the exodus of some industrial activities.
Both have, however, been able to address these problems and it is easy
to predict a future in which the next generation of problems will be effectively
solved.
In addition to the resources the cities can mobilize because they are
part of a wealthy industrialized nation, there is another characteristic
of the administration that appears to be highly advantageous. Both cities
have officials of long tenure in city government. This is, of course,
a common characteristic in Japanese organization, both government and
private. City officials in both cases have been in the city for a long
time. Their lives and careers are committed to the city, and over the
years they have gained a great deal of experience with the city's problems
and how best to deal with them. We cannot test this theory with great
rigor, but it is difficult not to gain the impression that the long tenure
of city officials has helped greatly to make city administration highly
effective.
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Unlike
many cities in the developing world, in Kobe and Niigata we can see definite
advantages to the rapid growth of the port. This has made Kobe a very
wealthy city, with substantial independence and influence in national
political and economic circles. The city's wealth lies not only in finances,
however, but in its administration and the human resources it can bring
to bear on problems. Niigata's slower growth has made it more dependent
on external centers of power, both in the prefectural and national governments.
Often in our interviews with Niigata city officials, we heard them speak
of the need for more people. Niigata needs 800,000 to a million people
to give it the critical mass that will give it more power, wealth and
influence in the nation. It needs more people and more development to
give it the kind of independence and autonomy that Kobe has.
If it is easy to see the advantages of growth, it is not easy to see the
disadvantages. It is possible that Niigata is somewhat less congested
than Kobe. Although the streets and the shops are full of people, there
is less traffic and the crowds are smaller than in Kobe. Kobe clearly
has more serious problems with city congestion than does Niigata. Citizens
of Niigata enjoy somewhat cleaner air, and a wide expanse of natural shoreline,
with a broad vista of the sea untouched by ships, wharves and cranes.
Behind the city they also enjoy the broad vistas of rice fields undisturbed
by factories and belching smokestacks. This may be an advantage for the
city, though it must be admitted that Kobe's citizens also have access
to wide expanses of natural forests and mountains. Thus if there is an
advantage to slower growth, it is not a striking one. |