A Study on Social Polarization of Metropolis in the Post-Bubble Economy Era

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Growing social polarization has been pointed out by the world city hypothesis, mainly formalized by S.Sassen and J.Friedmann. The aim of this study is to investigate an applicability of this hypothesis to recent Tokyo, by using of macro data such as population census and household survey. Major findings are as follows :i)The targeted period is divided into three stages : stable growth (1975-85). bubble economy (1985-91), and post-bubble economy (1991-).ii)Basic occupational changes, which have been found during the whole period, include an increase in both professional and semi-skilled workers, and a decrease in skilled manual workers. These changes are caused mainly not by professionalization but by industrial transformation such as de-industrialization. White-collar jobs in financial industries once increased in the bubble economy, but soon decreased in the post-bubble era.iii)In the bubble economy, an inequality in income distribution increased both between Tokyo and other regions, and inside of Tokyo. Yet after the burst of economic bubble, the distribution became more equalized. Such a change was mainly caused by land speculation during a period of world city formation.In conclusion, a simple "polarization hypothesis" can not be applicable to recent Tokyo. As Tokyo has been more firmly linked to global economy, the city experienced not a onesided formation of "world city" but greater fluctuations in both urban functions and stratification. Bubble effect and post-bubble effect, as well as de-industrialization effect and global economy effect, should be distinguished in class formation of global city.