Divided Tokyo: Housing Policy, the Ideology of Homeownership, and the Growing Contrast Between the City Center and the Suburbs

This chapter examines the generation of Tokyo’s division over time by focusing on the changes in national and municipal policies on urban planning, land use, and housing, as well as the outcomes of these long-term trajectories since the 1950s onward. By comparing with the Western urban discourse, we clarify the process of how Tokyo became divided in terms of residential conditions. The national government focused on the growth of major metropolitan areas, stimulating suburban development and homeownership in the suburbs from the 1950s to the 1980s. However, after the late 1990s, the target shifted from the suburbs to the city centers. Alongside global competition among cities, the long-term recession of the Japanese economy, and social changes, continuous investment to grow central Tokyo has increased in importance. In contrast, suburban neighborhoods are facing challenges related to an aging population and an increase in housing vacancies. Although government intervention is necessary, there are limited possibilities for the outer suburbs to revitalize and re-grow. The sharp contrast between the growth in city centers and the shrinking suburbs, and specifically the divided Tokyo, will become more obvious in the next decade.