Past—Present—Future: Urban Spatial Succession and Transition of Rail Transit Station Zones in Japan

Abstract

In today’s environmentally conscious society, advocated by a global point of view, land and building use around rail transit stations have changed in the urbanization process. Promoting urban construction and development centered on rail transit stations not only meets the actual needs of urban sustainable development but is also an important means to guide the development of innovative cities. Therefore, it is meaningful to study the characteristics of urban spatial succession, development rules, and future trends based on this new perspective. We analyzed the relationship between rail transit networks and urban form in Japan using GIS by investigating changes in land and building use around rail transit stations over 30 years in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s (from 1985–2010) using factor analysis and cluster analysis, and we discussed the impact of land consolidation planning and the setting and site selection of new stations based on urban development to understand the development trends inside and outside station zones and urban spatial succession. The results showed the following: (1) There are certain relationships between the development of urban form and traffic demand, and the rail transit network in Japan has the characteristics of high accessibility and aggregation of a small network; (2) Commercial development with a high plot ratio is dispersed and diverted by high-density rail transit stations in the commercial center of Japan; and (3) Commercial sub-centers form complexes by integrating multi-line transfers and form regional linkages through clustered commercial development. Regional business centers realize the agglomeration and radiation of functions through the compound development of station zones. This case study on rail transit zones and urban spatial succession in Japan has important enlightenment significance for urban construction toward optimizing the location and development of suburban rail transit lines, promoting the compact development of cities, exploring new ways to build more reasonable transport, planning city design and layout for rail transit station zones, and providing decision-making references for urban regeneration and sustainable development.