TSUTSUMI, Jun 2003b.
Regional characteristics of building supply in a newly developed city in Japan.

In IGU Urban commission, Monitoring cities of Tomorrow, Ljubljana University Press, Now Printing.

Abstract:

In this paper the author undertook 'property management analysis' which required the investigation of the long-term process of building supply. The author analyzed how many renovation cases were identified that brought by newly advanced land purchasers, while other renovation cases were brought by original land-owners without land-ownership change. These objectives are pursued by undertaking a case study of Sapporo city.
As for the building supply in Sapporo city, two peaks were identified. The first period was in the years around 1972, which was the year of the Winter Olympics, held in Sapporo city. The transportation bureau of the city built a subway by 1972, which created the high urban land demand along the subway line. Along it many old and large-lot buildings were found which were mainly provided by Japanese major financial groups by 1972. The second peak was during the year after 1985. Several high-rise buildings were built in the CBD, but their locations tended to be away from the subway line for two reasons: higher land price; and no space for new buildings along the subway line where already occupied by 1972. It's a significant characteristic of Sapporo compared to other big cities where we can find high-rise buildings in the highest priced district along the main streets of the cities.

Four major patterns of building supply were identified.
'Type A' included 28 cases out of a total of 63 and was mainly brought about by companies from Tokyo and Osaka who actively purchased some lots so that they could build their own buildings. Distribution of this type tended to be an eastern part of the subway line where each lot was relatively smaller.

On the other hand, distribution of 'Type D' was quite different compared to that of 'Type A'. The lot size of 'Type D' was relatively larger. 'Type D' also included 28 cases and was brought about by the same land-owners who continued to keep their land and have renovated the original old buildings (mostly low-rise single use) to larger ones by themselves. The locations of newly built buildings brought about by this type of change were scattered among the CBD.

'Type B' concerned five complicated cases. Some individual shopkeepers who originally opened their shops (e.g., camera shop or small inn) in the CBD decided to join the large project financed by groups in Tokyo that already purchased larger adjacent lots. As a result, they became co-holders of land on which new buildings stood.

Finally 'Type C' included only two cases. These two cases were not based on the decisions of land-owners but some reorganization programs conducted by the local government. It's true there appeared new larger buildings, but they could be considered as exceptional cases.

Chapters:

I Introduction
II Outline of Sapporo city
III Characteristics of building supply in Sapporo city
IV Discussion for the process of building supply in Sapporo
V Summaries

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