A Short History of Transport in Japan

A Short History of Transport in Japan from Ancient Times to the Present is a unique study: the first by a Western scholar to place the long-term development of Japanese infrastructure alongside an analysis of its evolving political economy. Drawing from New Institutional Economics, Black offers an historically informed critique of contemporary planning using the example of Japan’s historical institutions, their particular biases, and the power they have exerted over national and local transport, to identify how reformed institutional arrangements might develop more sustainable and equitable transport services. With chapters addressing each major form of transport, Black examines the predominant role of institutions and individuals – from seventeenth-century shoguns to post-war planners – in transforming Japan’s maritime infrastructure, its roads and waterways, and its adoption of rail and air transport. Using a multidisciplinary, comparative, and chronological approach, the book consults a range of technical, cultural, and political sources to tease out these interactions between society and technology. This spirited new contribution to transport studies will attract readers interested in institutional power, the history of transport, and the development of future infrastructure, as well as those with a general interest in Japan

A Short History of Transport in Japan

A Short History of Transport in Japan from Ancient Times to the Present is a unique study: the first by a Western scholar to place the long-term development of Japanese infrastructure alongside an analysis of its evolving political economy. Drawing from New Institutional Economics, Black offers an historically informed critique of contemporary planning using the example of Japan’s historical institutions, their particular biases, and the power they have exerted over national and local transport, to identify how reformed institutional arrangements might develop more sustainable and equitable transport services. With chapters addressing each major form of transport, Black examines the predominant role of institutions and individuals – from seventeenth-century shoguns to post-war planners – in transforming Japan’s maritime infrastructure, its roads and waterways, and its adoption of rail and air transport. Using a multidisciplinary, comparative, and chronological approach, the book consults a range of technical, cultural, and political sources to tease out these interactions between society and technology. This spirited new contribution to transport studies will attract readers interested in institutional power, the history of transport, and the development of future infrastructure, as well as those with a general interest in Japan

Instrumentalization in the Public Smart Bikeshare Sector

This thesis is concerned with understanding how smart technologies are conceived, created and implemented, and explores the ways these processes are shaped by historical, geo-political, economic and technical contexts. At its core the thesis is concerned with understanding how technical citizenship and democracy can be preserved within the design process against a backdrop of increasing neoliberalism and technocracy. This is investigated by means of a comparative study of smart public bikeshare schemes in Dublin, Ireland and Hamilton, Canada. These schemes are configured and systemized using a variety of technical and ideological rationales and express the imaginaries of place in significantly different ways. Utilising a conceptual framework derived from Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology, the thesis unpacks and problematizes the innovation process in order to understand how the outcomes of these schemes support the way of life of one or another influential social group. The philosophical orientation of the study is critical constructivism which combines a form of constructivism with more systematic and socially critical views of technology. The axis of comparison between the schemes is democratization and the manner in which the rationalizations and embedded cultural assumptions characterizing particular places operate to support or resist more egalitarian forms of participation. Methodologically, Feenberg’s critical framework is supported both by theory-driven thematic coding and critical hermeneutics which is an interpretative process that compliments the theoretical framework and positions issues of power and ideology within a wider, macro-level context. Data sources supporting the research comprise interviews, a variety of documentary sources and the architectures and technical specifications of both smart bikeshare systems. The findings from the research illustrate that despite the pervasiveness of a neoliberal orthodoxy conditioning technology production, citizen-centric design is still possible within a climate of consensus building and cooperation. As such, the thesis adds to the body of knowledge on philosophy of technology, critical urbanism, smart city development, democratic engagement and collaborative infrastructuring. In addition, the conceptual framework, developed in response to the empirical cases, represents an elaboration of Feenberg’s work and so the thesis also makes an important contribution to the analytic and methodological potential of critical theory of technology

L'intermodalité-voyageurs au prisme de la mondialisation : vers la structuration d'un méta-réseau intégré

Globalization sees world as a pertinent scale in the analysis of growing mobilities. Defined as network system, passenger intermodality seeks to improve transcalar trips and is thought as a tool for a new mobility paradigm : from a monomodal networks multiplicity to the meta-network integration, thanks to places of interchange, linking scales. Taking world as a whole, this study is primarily focused on passenger intermodality related to airport ground access. Indeed, airports, linking cities, regions and the world reveal the burning issues and stakes of a potential integrated intermodal network. Thought as a worldwide system, based upon gateway-status airports, this new meta-network doesn’t materialize. Still highly fragmented, dominant dynamics are macro-regional ones, which lead networks and services integration. The networks emergence drifts from a pioneering source : Rhinelander model, either imitated (Europe, Americas) or perfected (Eastern Asia). Three features define this model : making the use of networks easy for users from the start to the end thanks to interchanges. Secondly, actors adopt a broad systemic and territorial viewpoint. Customer’s needs and path are thought as a whole. Third, rules of (de)regulated markets demand innovation. Passenger intermodality is concerned with territorial marketing strategies within a globalization made of competition between metropolises. Regarded as a marketed product, intermodality produces interdependences between system’s actors then discovered. Optimal gestion makes intermodal system success, as proven by german model. At last, we underline complexity of passenger intermodality, linking three facets of globalization : by networks (including services), by speeches and pictures, by entrepreneurial strategies. Passenger intermodality, as a prism for globalization dynamics, is a mean to think of key concepts of geography and social sciences: place, individual, world.La mondialisation induit l’émergence du monde comme échelle désormais pertinente pour l’analyse de mobilités en croissance. L’intermodalité-voyageurs entendue comme un système actoriel favorisant les déplacements transcalaires, devient alors l’outil majeur d’un possible changement d’analyse des mobilités. La juxtaposition de réseaux monomodaux fait place à un méta-réseau déployant des interfaces multiples entre petites et grandes échelles. Ce travail à l’échelle mondiale se concentre sur les manifestations intermodales liées à l’accessibilité aéroportuaire. En effet, les aéroports, joignant la petite échelle, le monde, à la grande échelle (la ville, la région ou le quartier), concentrent les enjeux de la mise en place d’un réseau intermodal intégré, érigé en système. Centré sur les plates-formes aéroportuaires dotées du statut de gateway et se déployant uniformément à l’échelle mondiale, ce nouveau méta-réseau ne se concrétise pas. Il apparaît encore largement fragmenté, dominé par des dynamiques d’échelles régionales ou supra-nationales, marquées par une intégration plus ou moins avancée des réseaux-supports et des réseaux-services. L’émergence de tels réseaux provient d’une même matrice : l’imitation (Europe, Amériques) voire le perfectionnement (Asie Orientale), plus ou moins assumés et selon des conditions diverses, du modèle pionnier rhénan. Trois facteurs principaux expliquent la force de ce modèle. Au fondement de son efficacité pratique apparaît le principe de transcalarité, définie comme la capacité des utilisateurs à profiter de toute la capillarité des réseaux. Ce modèle s’appuie également sur une approche systémique et territoriale, favorisant les interactions entre acteurs. Ceux-ci envisagent globalement les besoins du client et l’ensemble de son cheminement. Ce changement d’attitude est rendu possible par l’introduction des règles du marché, troisième facteur de ce modèle. Dès lors, l’intermodalité-voyageurs s’inscrit dans des stratégies de promotion territoriale au sein d’une mondialisation compétitive et inter-métropolitaine. Considérée alors comme un produit, elle génère des interdépendances entre acteurs. La gestion optimale de ces interdépendances fait le succès du système intermodal. Cette recherche met ainsi en évidence la complexité de l’objet intermodalité-voyageurs, à la confluence d’une triple dynamique de mondialité : rétistique et servicielle, discursive et iconique et enfin capitalistique par les firmes. L’intermodalité-voyageurs permet enfin de réfléchir à des concepts-clés de la géographie et des sciences sociales : le lieu, l’individu, le monde

Frontiers of Real Estate Science in Japan

This open access book presents recent research and hot topics in the field of real estate science in Japan. It features carefully selected English translations of peer-reviewed papers and excellent articles published in the Japanese Journal of Real Estate Sciences, as well as papers presented at the Japan Association of Real Estate Sciences (JARES) annual conference. The topics covered include market analyses of vacant houses, policies for reuse of vacant houses, property tax policy, issues of land for which the owners are unknown, disaster and real estate values, the siting optimization plan and its influence on real estate, big data and ICT technology for the real estate business, and public real estate management. Real estate science in Japan has developed in step with international research in the fields of law and economics, regional science, civil engineering, environmental science, architectonics, and related areas. At the same time, it has evolved into a unique discipline that focuses on policy-oriented practical science with arguments for the reform of outdated laws, regulations, and traditional customs. Asian countries are currently growing rapidly and are catching up with developing countries. The lessons learned and know-how accumulated by JARES is helpful for practitioners and policymakers not only in Japan, but also in other Asian countries

Bicycle Sharing Systems: Fast and Slow Urban Mobility Dynamics

In cities all around the world, new forms of urban micromobility have observed rapid and wide-scale adoption due to their benefits as a shared mode that are environmentally friendly, convenient and accessible. Bicycle sharing systems are the most established among these modes, facilitating complete end-to-end journeys as well as forming a solution for the first/last mile issue that public transportation users face in getting to and from transit stations. They mark the beginnings of a gradual transition towards a more sustainable transportation model that include greater use of shared and active modes. As such, understanding the way in which these systems are used is essential in order to improve their management and efficiency. Given the lack of operator published data, this thesis aims to explore the utility of open bicycle sharing system data standards that are intended for real-time dissemination of bicycle locations in uncovering novel insights into their activity dynamics over varying temporal and geographical scales. The thesis starts by exploring bicycle sharing systems at a global-scale, uncovering their long-term growth and evolution through the development of data cleaning and metric creation heuristics that also form the foundations of the most comprehensive classification of systems. Having established the values of these metrics in conducting comparisons at scale, the thesis then analyses the medium-term impacts of mobility interventions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, employing spatio-temporal and network analysis methods that highlight their adaptability and resilience. Finally, the thesis closes with the analysis of granular spatial and temporal dynamics within a dockless system in London that enable the identification of the variations in journey locations throughout different times of the day. In each of these cases, the research highlights the indispensable value of open data and the important role that bicycle sharing systems play in urban mobility

Des éco-quartiers aux "smart cities" : quel rôle pour l'électro-mobilité ? Une comparaison France-Japon. Projet SMARTMOB. Rapport final

Ce rapport est complété par une série de cinq monographies, couvrant les quatre smart communities japonaises et celle de Lyon Confluence :[A - KEIHANNA : Keihanna Eco-City Next-Generation Energy and Social System.- 31 p.] - [B - KITAKYUSHU : Kitakyushu Smart Community Creation Project - 35 p.] - [C - Lyon smart community - 21 p.] - [D - TOYOTA SMART MELIT. Smart Mobility and Energy Life In Toyota City.- 36 p.] - [E - YOKOHAMA : Yokohama Smart City Project.- 34 p.]L’origine de cette recherche réside dans le lancement en 2010 par le Ministère japonais de l’Economie, du Commerce et de l’Industrie (METI), d’un programme d’expérimentations dénommé « Energie de Nouvelle Génération et Systèmes Sociaux » (Next Generation Energy and Social Systems), incitant des collectivités locales à candidater, en lien avec des consortiums d’entreprises, pour mettre en œuvre des démonstrateurs visant à mieux gérer la production et la consommation d’énergie au travers des « réseaux électriques intelligents » (smart grid), dans le but notamment de réduire les gaz à effet de serre (GES). Ces démonstrateurs sont conçus comme une opportunité pour vérifier en situation réelle et à grande échelle l’efficacité de solutions techniques nouvelles, favorisant le développement des énergies renouvelables et la sobriété énergétique. Le programme comprend un volet « Systèmes de transport et de mobilité », introduisant ainsi un lien original avec un secteur émetteur de CO2 et consommateur d’énergie. Le focus mis sur l’électromobilité justifie en grande partie cette prise en compte, mais souligne également l’importance, y compris en France, de favoriser une plus grande intégration des approches entre le transport, l’urbanisme, l’énergie et l’environnement. L’appel à propositions du GO6 du PREDIT a mis l’accent sur les situations de crise et de ruptures, tout en observant les tendances émergentes (prospective sur le long terme). En proposant une veille et une analyse comparative France-Japon sur le développement des smart communities, cette recherche s’inscrit bien dans les termes de l’appel : cela concerne tout à la fois les questions énergétiques et environnementales, l’évolution potentielle des comportements (axe 1), et les politiques publiques d’innovation (axe 2). La recherche s’est en effet fixée comme objectif d’étudier les processus sous-jacents à la mise en œuvre d’expérimentations de grande taille mais correspondant aux attentes des villes, à la recherche d’un modèle de développement bas carbone, et aux entreprises, fortement attirées par le développement de technologies vertes, qui vont constituer un marché en rapide expansion dans le monde entier. Cette apparente conjonction d’intérêts ne doit cependant pas cacher que des stratégies multiples puissent être mises en œuvre par les nombreux acteurs impliqués. L’intérêt de cette expérimentation à grande échelle, sur des territoires diversifiés y compris à l’étranger et notamment à Lyon, réside à la fois dans ses composantes technologiques particulièrement variées, et dans les modalités d’implication des populations elles aussi très variées