Vol.65 No.5(2013)

Contents

Article

SHIMAMOTO Kazuyuki
Development of Published Maps of Osaka City and the Positioning of Small Maps in the Early Modern Era 1

Review

NOJIRI Wataru
What is Evolutionary Economic Geography? 21

Research Notes

KONDOH Akio
Existing Nonconforming Buildings in the Central Area of Kyoto City : Effects of the “New Urban Landscape Ordinances” 42

Focus

FUKAMI Satoshi
Perspective on Geoparks and Geotourism Based on Case Studies of Geoparks in Japan and China 58

Meeting Reports

279th Regular Meeting  71
132nd Research Seminar of Historical Geography Study Group  74
113th Research Seminar of Geographical Thought Study Group  76
5th, 6th Research Seminar of Political Geography Study Group  79

Abstracts

Development of Published Maps of Osaka City and the Positioning of Small Maps in the Early Modern Era

SHIMAMOTO Kazuyuki
Graduate Student, Kyoto Prefectural University

This paper illuminates how published maps of Osaka City developed in terms of their size, especially small maps, during the early modern era.
The small maps of Osaka City are approximately 70 cm or less in length along their long edge. When folded, they are as small or smaller than chu-bon （about 19×13 cm, a type of wahon gauge） size. The author studied 44 types of maps and classified them into six groups and nine types on the basis of four criteria : the lengths of their sides when unfolded, their composition, the descriptions of place names and land forms, and whether they were printed on one or both sides.
Small maps of Osaka City were first published at the end of the 17th century, and their numbers increased little until the mid 18th century, after which many maps were published, especially in the late 18th century and the Tempou and Kouka periods （1830―1848）. In the late 18th century, maps appeared with standard descriptions and the approximately 50 cm long on their long edge ; most of these continued to be published until the end of the early modern era, that is, the late 19th century. During the Kouka period （1844―1848）, maps appeared with the long edges approximately 70 cm long, and these maps depicted coastal areas near Osaka Bay more than did smaller maps.
Two important contexts were involved in publishing small city maps. The first was the popularization of visiting temples, shrines, and other tourist locations such as the Ise, Saigoku and Shikoku pilgrimages. Second, people’s interest in land development and landforms increased, such as in the reclamation of coastal areas near Osaka Bay and in the creation of Tempouzan hill. Bird’s-eye views and reclaimed field maps of these areas as well as small maps of Osaka City were published in the mid 19th century.
Using map symbols, most mid sized or large Osaka City maps provided information primarily about residences of samurai and merchants. In contrast, the small maps focused on information about visiting temples, shrines, and other tourist locations or developed areas ; these maps rarely used such map symbols. The publishers assumed that people’s interests diverged, and the different map sizes thus provided different types of information.
Existing studies of published maps of Osaka City from the early modern era have classified them into three time period phases. However, according to the results of this study, two additional turning points should be added, the Houreki period （1751―1764） and the Kouka period, and the time scheme be revised into at least five phases.

Key words: city map, published map, map size, small map, early modern era, Osaka

What is Evolutionary Economic Geography?

NOJIRI Wataru
Faculty of Economics, Momoyama Gakuin University

Recently, evolutionary economic geography has gained popularity in the field of economic geography in the West. Evolutionary economic geography deals with changes in the economic landscape through time via the concept of ‘routine,’ which is equivalent to a ‘genome’ in corporations.
Evolutionary economic geography has been inspired by the process of regional growth and innovation in the context of evolutionary economics. The evolutionary component of economic geography is based on concepts such as contingency, lock-in by increasing returns, and network externality from path-dependency theory ; variation, selection, and retention stemming from Generalized Darwinism ; and emergence, panarchy, resilience, and the adaptive cycle model from complexity theory.
The evolutionary theory of modern biology was not adopted without qualification in evolutionary economic geography. Instead, Generalized Darwinism was adopted as its ontology. For instance, the Lamarckian approach of acquired characteristics, in which genetic features are acquired as an adaptation of the individual’s post-birth environment and passed down to future generations, has been completely rejected in modern biology since the time of Darwin. However, in evolutionary economics, there is a view that a company constitutes ‘routines’ as part of the process of adaptation to its environment subsequent to its formation ; this concept is closely akin to the Lamarckian methodology rejected in biology. The wide gap between biology and this methodology is highly significant. Genes are likened to routines, while companies are likened to populations, leading to the application of concepts such as panarchy and resilience, which in turn grew out of the concepts of ecosystem and succession, respectively.
The development of biological methodology in economic geography grew out of criticism of the equilibrium concept of physical and mechanistic viewpoints in neoclassical economics. Alternatively, the concepts of restricted rationality, multiple equilibrium, irreversibility, increasing return, and self-organization are employed. Accordingly, corporate behaviors such as entry, development, and withdrawal in the market are viewed as selection and variation required for the adaptation of “routines” to market environment conditions. As a result of spinoffs and knowledge spillover, characterized by path dependence or contingency, cluster accumulation and network building take place.
These basic routines play an important part in organizations at the corporate level, and also impact cities and regions. There is a need to consider emergence at the macro-structure level in relation to the impact of low-level processes, and also the relationship of broad-based social structure and embeddedness. In adjusting the structures of complicated processes of production, distribution, and consumption in the global landscape, global production networks, the spatial division of labor, and institutional arguments at the national and regional level facilitate individual company strategies and industrial dynamism. In addition, evolutionary economic geography must avoid fixed concepts of path dependence or lock-in.
To achieve this, we need to prioritize location and region from a broader view of the spatial division of labor. We need to pay serious attention to the role of authority and policies in structuring economic organizations. In addition, understanding of the global socioeconomic structure in the national and socioeconomic context is required. Theories on the diversification of national and global institutions seem likely to be an important theme in evolutionary economic geography in the future.

Key words : Evolutionary economic geography, Generalized Darwinism, path dependence, complexity, routine

Existing Nonconforming Buildings in the Central Area of Kyoto City : Effects of the “New Urban Landscape Ordinances”

KONDOH Akio
Faculty of Letters, Aichi University

Kyoto City’s “New Urban Landscape Ordinances” took effect on September 1, 2007, tightening architectural height restrictions across a third of the area zoned for urban development, approximately 50 square kilometers. Concerns have been voiced in response to this significant tightening of restrictions in the New Urban Landscape Ordinances in the context of private property rights and freedom of economic activity. The most serious problem among these is the fact that as a consequence of the tightening of height restrictions, an estimated 1,800 buildings across the city will become “existing nonconforming buildings” in violation of the new height restrictions.
In fact, however, this figure of 1,800 existing nonconforming buildings was no more than a provisional estimate made by Kyoto City, and was not based on any empirical investigation. This study, therefore, involved a detailed field survey in the central area, which has the highest concentration of existing nonconforming buildings, so as to gain a sense of the type, distribution, and quantity of existing nonconforming buildings.
The findings of this study confirmed 989 existing nonconforming buildings in downtown Kyoto, in an area where the city’s estimate was 443.
Classifying existing nonconforming buildings by type, 537 condominiums, 287 office buildings, and 97 commercial buildings together comprised 90% of the total. Also, the districts in which non-compliant condominiums were located corresponded very closely with districts that had experienced population increases since the late 1990s, indicating that the townscape conflicts accompanying the penetration of condominiums and the recent revival of the downtown population were two sides of the same coin. Of the office buildings, the majority are connected with Kyoto’s traditional industries, especially textiles, and are concentrated in the textile wholesale district along Muromachi Street.
These findings suggest the following points : （1） A detailed survey of the entire city is urgently required. （2） There is a need to re-investigate the particulars of the New Urban Landscape Ordinances, namely, whether the reporting of inaccurate information about existing nonconforming buildings did not in fact mislead discussion. （3） Until now, most debates over urban development and the preservation of urban landscapes have arisen out of antagonism between external developers and new residents on the one hand, and local industries and longstanding residents on the other. This example, however, indicates a complexity of interests that are not reducible to a simple dichotomy between new and old residents.

Key words: landscape administration, height restriction, central area, condominium, Kyoto City

Perspective on Geoparks and Geotourism Based on Case Studies of Geoparks in Japan and China

FUKAMI Satoshi
Faculty of Environmental Studies, Nagasaki University

In the twenty-first century, there has been an increase in geopark projects to encourage the sustainable development of regions. At the same time, issues and questions regarding the status and problems posed by geoparks and geotourism, particularly in Japan, have come under greater scrutiny from researchers and others working in the field. Having outlined the characteristics of geoparks and geotourism in previous studies, this paper will discuss desirable ways to develop geoparks in Japan. The paper will focus on case studies of geoparks in China, which has more geoparks than any other country. There are very few Japanese papers on geoparks in China. There also are no comparative research papers, based on questionnaires or interviews undertaken at Chinese administrative offices, discussing the common features and differences between geoparks in Japan and China.
The survey found that geoparks seem to be more popular in China than in Japan and that there are also different views toward geoparks in the two countries. In China, administrative branches of government and affiliated companies have well established cooperative relationships regarding natural landscape development. By contrast, the symbiotic relationship of human beings and the natural environment is more important to the development of geoparks in Japan.
It is interesting that such characteristics exist despite unified standards of membership and certification in the Global Geoparks Network. We think that it is important to emphasize regional diversity so that geoparks may become more deeply rooted in different regions and countries.

Key words : geopark, geotourism, sustainable regional development, regional diversity