Studies in Housing and Urban Analysis in Japan

This book presents research in the field of housing and urban analysis in Japan. It features carefully selected English translations of peer-reviewed articles published in journals in Japan, especially by authors involved in the laboratory supervised by Professor Yasushi Asami.

The topics covered include economic analysis of the housing market, analyses of residential environment and human behaviour/psychology, analyses related to urban policies such as intermunicipal cooperation, teleworking and solar photovoltaics installation, spatial analyses of urban entities and effective visualization.

Housing and urban analysis has developed using theory and methods in the fields of economics, regional science, geography, statistics, spatial psychology and urban sociology. Even though the methods of analysis differ from chapter to chapter, the ultimate goal of the research is the same. Namely, the target of the research is a better understanding of urban phenomena and effective improvement of urban space and society. The academic contributions in this collection of work are helpful for academics, practitioners and policy makers not only in Japan but also in other Asian countries.

Yasushi Asami, Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Yasushi Asami received Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and now is a professor in the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo. He also serves as an Executive Director and Vice President of the university as well as the Director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo.

Yukio Sadahiro, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo

He received the Doctor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1994. He is an editorial board member of International Journal Geographical Information, and has long been served as a reviewer of papers submitted to Geographical Analysis, Journal of Geographical Systems, Transactions in GIS, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, and so forth.

Ikuho Yamada, Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo

Ikuho Yamada is a professor at Center for Spatial Information Science at the University of Tokyo, Japan. She received her Ph.D. degree in Geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2004. Her specialties include urban analysis, spatial statistics, health geography, and GIScience. Her work involves the development and improvement of spatial analytical methodologies and their applications to health-related urban phenomena.

Kimihiro Hino, Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Kimihiro Hino, PhD, is an associate professor within the Department of Urban Engineering at the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. He earned his doctoral degree from the same institution and brings a decade of experience from his tenure at the (national) Building Research Institute. Dr. Hino’s research now focuses on preventing crime and promoting health through environmental design.