Tuesday 5 June 2012

Section 5: Solutions

In an effort to combat the ageing population, encouraging and appealing to young couples to start a family is vital. I think clearing enough space for proper housing is essential. Advertising campaigns that persuade young couples to move out into the suburbs and into rural areas is the first effort to encourage couples to start a family and, thus, keeping a balance in Tokyo's age demographic.
The rate of building of further high rise apartments should halt, and in replace, make more room for suburbs and communities. Tokyo, should harbour examples from Victoria's own advertising campaign 'Good Move' which is encouraging couples and families to move to rural Victoria to combat the ever growing population in urban areas. Tokyo's aim should be appealing towards couples and encourage their movement into the outer areas of the city, and in the same time, establishing communities. Moving offices, workplaces and any essential income earning institutes should also make a move out of the city as this is a major influence for whether people make the decision to move.
Clearing space is a major issue for Tokyo as most of the city occupies skyscrapers, high rise office buildings and apartments, therefore, the rate of urban sprawl in Tokyo is very low. Encouraging this, however, can be greatly beneficial socially and economically. It also could answer Tokyo's ongoing traffic congestion and transportation problems in the central part of the city, as more people are dispersed in the outer areas of the city, rather than being packed into one central district.
In the past, Tokyo has been faced with chronic air pollution, water pollution and traffic congestion. Now, its condition has eased, as well as its economic stability and overall recovery from the recent earthquake and nuclear meltdown. Nonetheless, there is still a considerable amount of air and water pollution, and getting around in Tokyo is still hectic, but, the Government and that people of Tokyo have made a vast improvement over the previous years. 
Shinjuku.jpg

Monday 4 June 2012

Section 4: Impacts

As mentioned in the previous post, Tokyo's population is expected to decline by 30% by 2060. The issues that Tokyo's faces are not too great and many of the issues such as air pollution, traffic congestion, and economic growth and stability from the recent earthquakes have been improved over the course of the previous years. Tokyo is a post-industrial city that is well off in terms of economic stability, as well as socially and environmentally. Nonetheless, Tokyo still faces a number of issues that is always associated with having the title of a 'megacity.' This includes, waste management, lack of urban space, relative poverty and overcrowding.

poverty-tokyo.jpg

Issues such as overcrowding, traffic congestion, are not likely to be great problems foreseen in the future of Tokyo as the population is likely to drop, but, nonetheless there will still be some problems to overcome. However, major issues such as employment problems due to the ageing population, housing in-affordability and some forms of relative poverty could likely climb in the near future. Tokyo's ageing population is becoming a serious problem as birth and mortality rates decline, as more and more people delay starting a family and primarily focus on their careers and city lifestyle. As the amount of retirement increases, the employment rate is likely to drop as the numbers of  the young and skillful declines. With no income, comes relative poverty, where affording basic necessities become a hard task.

Imperial_Palace_Tokyo_Panorama.jpg

Economic:
competition for open space among developers
economic stability and growth from the recent natural disaster

Social:
ageing population
overcrowding
relative poverty
racism against foreigners (population mostly homogeneous)
gender discrimination

Transport:
traffic congestion
overcrowding in public transport

Living:
housing in-affordability
more high-rise apartments than proper housing
limited living space
affordability for most things is expensive

Environmental:
poor waste management
air pollution
water pollution




Bibliography - Access Date: 6/5/2012
http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Geography/Human/Population___Settlement/Problems_In_Tokyo_L17094.html
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/260551/economy/finance/global-markets-asia-stocks-tumble-tokyo-hits-28-yr-low-amid-global-rout
http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap1201/taylor.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050204576217811215894944.html
http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu11ee/uu11ee0g.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/world/asia/22poverty.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090113101312AAdMmEN