Geographical Studies on the Structural Change in the Metropolitan Areas in Japan

本研究旨在考察日本三大都市圈的结构变化。高桥伸夫首席研究员通过对城市、乡镇和乡村地方政府财政的地区差异及其变化的调查，阐明了地方政府财政的空间结构。选取东京都市圈边缘城市化迅速的茨木县作为研究区域，分析表明，在都道府县范围内，地方政府财政存在严重的地区差异。这些地区差异的特点是地方政府财政的城乡差异，城市地区的独立性较高，而农村地区的依赖性较强。这就是为什么政府资本通过政府财政调节机制优先分配给独立收入来源较低的地区。独立财源的增长反映了茨木县南部的城市化进程。政府财政制度使资本回流农村，农村的资本被民间金融吸引到城市。由于城市化带来了各直辖市财政收入和财政收入的变化，本文从政府财政的角度考察了该直辖市的大都市化过程。城市地区在义务性支出中所占的比例高于农村地区，因为城市地区与社会保障制度有关的支出比例较高。投资支出在南部地区更为重要，因为快速城市化需要积累社会基础设施，而山区北领地为当地工业发展提供了大量援助。

The purpose of this research was to examine the structural changes in the three metropolitan areas in Japan. Nobuo Takahashi, head investigator, clarified the spatial structure of the local government finance, through the investigation of regional difference and its changes in local government finance on cities, towns and villages. Ibaraki Prefecture is selected as study area, which is located on the fringe of Tokyo metropolitan area and has urbanized rapidly.From the analysis, it is elucidated that in the prefectural scale there has seriously regional variations in terms of local government finance. These regional variations are characterized by urban-rural contrast on local government finance, which is higher independent source of revenue in urban regions, and marked dependent source of revenue in rural regions. That is why government capital is distributed prior to the region which has lower independent source of revenue, through the government finance adjustment system. The growth of independent source of revenue reflects on urbanization process of the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture. Government financial system generates the return of the capital to rural regions, where the capital is attracted by private finance from rural regions to urban regions.Since the urbanization brings the change in revenual and expenditural contents in each municipality, a process of metropolitanization in that municipality is examined from a viewpoint of government finance. Urban regions take larger percentages of obligatory expenditure than rural ones, because the urban region has higher rate of expenditure related to social security system. Investment expenditure is more important in the southern part of the prefecture that is necessary to accumulate social infrastructures on account of rapid urbanization, and mountainous northern territory, which pays great deal of aid for the local industrial development.