Problems of the New Towns in Japan

Abstract

The new town in Japan is a sort of dormitory settlement in the metropolitan suburbs. Its main developer is the Japan Housing Corporation, whose representative achievement is the Tama New Town. The settlement is, however, too narrow, too expensive and too far away from the places of employment for the inhabitants to feel themselves as members of the community. The new town is a settlement of transients, which generates the condition of many commuting to the city without solving the problems of excessive urban growth. We should make a further inquiry into the new town as a contemporary type of urban settlement in this country.