Edge City Denied? The Rise and Fall of Tokyo’s Outer Suburban “Business Core Cities”

Abstract

The tradition of planning for polycentricity in Tokyo saw outer suburbs designated as Business Core Cities (BCCs). However, as the national economy and population growth have stagnated and Tokyo’s needs as a world city have come to the fore, the outer suburbs have been left exposed. Despite attempts to reinforce outer suburban growth with the BCC policy, Tokyo’s is a story of edge city denied. At a time when attention has turned to planning for the increased urbanity of suburbs or arresting inner suburban decline, Tokyo speaks to a phenomenon of outer suburban decline barely conceivable in mature economies.