Ota Naotaka

Compact, mixed-use urban structures are understood to lead to sustainable urban development and they are mainstream in contemporary urban planning both domestically and internationally. This study clarifies this trend in other countries through the revision of the German Land Use Ordinance (BauNVO). A comprehensive literature review revealed the following four points: 1) Even in Germany, there is a gap between the ideal and reality of urban planning, and there is much trial and error and debate in institutional design; 2) Currently, there is steady progress in expanding the permissibility of building uses and relaxing building density; 3) The mix of uses in rural spaces faces different challenges from those in urban spaces; 4) Political leadership is essential to realize the principles of the Leipzig Charter.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of districts where the decrease rate of residential households are high and the timing when these rates increase. Therefore, we categorized the districts of Himeji City using statistic data available to the local government. Moreover, we predicted the timing when residential households decrease in each district. As a result of these analysis, the districts in Himeji city are classified into 12 types and the pattens of decreasing residential households are classified into 4 types. In addition, the rate of decreasing residential households in commercial districts and industrial districts tend to be different from the rate in residential districts. Furthermore, the rate of decreasing residential households tend to be relatively slow in districts where vacant houses are likely to be redistributed into the market.