Hokkaido University Research Profiles

Japanese
Social Infrastructure

Consolidated Compact City Planning

Methodology for urban consolidation in an era of a declining population

Our laboratory is the first in Japan to propose and implement the concept of a consolidated compact city, which is a top-priority issue for cities in the age of a declining population. In Yubari, a city where the population is rapidly shrinking, we have proposed the concept of a consolidated compact city, implementing a project to consolidate the urban area in collaboration with the city and local residents.

Content of research

This is the first attempt in Japan to implement a consolidated compact city project. In Yubari, we are promoting reorganization into an urban area of an appropriate size through downsizing, while creating a system of relocation and settlement to form local communities, and reduce the maintenance and management costs of urban infrastructure facilities. In the course of creating a compact city, we promote consolidation of the urban area for the first 10 years while maintaining local communities, and then consolidate local communities into a central urban hub over the next 10 years. This allows residents to continue living in Yubari at ease, even while the consolidation process is under way. In cooperation with Yubari City, we have already completed the relocation and consolidation of residents in the Mayachi district of Yubari.
Our efforts have been published in research papers and the mass media, and we have received many inquiries from cities facing similar issues.

  • The current image of the urban area (2020) >>>
    Compactification by district

  • The future image of the urban area (2030)
    Consolidating the urban area along the north-south axis

  • Mayachi District Consolidation Project
    (2013-2014)

Potential for social implementation

  • ・Facing depopulation, many local cities will have to respond to the need to create compact cities to cope with the declining population.

Appealing points to industry and local governments

This is the first study in Japan that presents a future vision and concrete measures for urban consolidation and puts the vision into practice. This project does not aim to downsize the city, but rather to promote its consolidation while prioritizing the lives of residents and communities to realize a compact city for the benefit of residents. It is expected that this project will be expanded to other cities in the future.

2022/5/27Released