13. The Inner City Disaster Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake hit directly the inner city at the center of urbanized area. Most of the inner city area is characterized with mixed-use of housing, commercial uses and small businesses, and wooden houses of no more than two stories at high densely. The earthquake hit these inner city areas especially hard, destroying closely-knit neighborhoods and robbing local people of not only their houses but also their daily living places such as workplaces and shopping districts. In these areas, people's daily lives and the city functions were closely connected. Therefore, for commercial and productive activities to recover, residents must to rebuild and return to their homes. On the other hand, without town activities and regeneration of communities, it would be difficult for people to start new lives. Take Nagata district for example. Some factories are operating and some shops have opened, in temporary facilities. Nevertheless, most of the residents haven't comeback. The local industry depends on a network of the small-scaled factories, which share in production functions, and without people returning to the town, shops can not start their businesses. From the economic point of view, the present situation of the district is still far from recovered, even if factories and shops re-opened. In general, in the inner city, houses are built up densely without enough infrastructure, such as roads and open space, and the ratio of living in privately owned row houses and wooden apartments is very large. The proportion of the aged population is also high. There are many that cannot reconstruct their homes through their own efforts. Many of them, however, would like to return to the area where they used to live before earthquake. There is not enough public housing provided in the inner areas, and it is difficult to acquire the enough land for public housing in this high-density area. Though private owners could rebuild, the rent would be raised. As it is relatively close to a downtown, landowners would sell their land to developers, then large-scale condominiums would replace low-rent apartment. Those low-cost row houses and apartments had supported the lives of the aged or relatively low-income people, and the urban population who came out from the rural areas or lived short time before they established the stable conditioned. So far, private rental apartments have rarely been rebuilt. As the result, a part of the housing system, which has provided the diversity of urban life, has been disappearing.
Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake hit directly the inner city at the center of urbanized area. Most of the inner city area is characterized with mixed-use of housing, commercial uses and small businesses, and wooden houses of no more than two stories at high densely. The earthquake hit these inner city areas especially hard, destroying closely-knit neighborhoods and robbing local people of not only their houses but also their daily living places such as workplaces and shopping districts. In these areas, people's daily lives and the city functions were closely connected. Therefore, for commercial and productive activities to recover, residents must to rebuild and return to their homes. On the other hand, without town activities and regeneration of communities, it would be difficult for people to start new lives. Take Nagata district for example. Some factories are operating and some shops have opened, in temporary facilities. Nevertheless, most of the residents haven't comeback. The local industry depends on a network of the small-scaled factories, which share in production functions, and without people returning to the town, shops can not start their businesses. From the economic point of view, the present situation of the district is still far from recovered, even if factories and shops re-opened. In general, in the inner city, houses are built up densely without enough infrastructure, such as roads and open space, and the ratio of living in privately owned row houses and wooden apartments is very large. The proportion of the aged population is also high. There are many that cannot reconstruct their homes through their own efforts. Many of them, however, would like to return to the area where they used to live before earthquake. There is not enough public housing provided in the inner areas, and it is difficult to acquire the enough land for public housing in this high-density area. Though private owners could rebuild, the rent would be raised. As it is relatively close to a downtown, landowners would sell their land to developers, then large-scale condominiums would replace low-rent apartment. Those low-cost row houses and apartments had supported the lives of the aged or relatively low-income people, and the urban population who came out from the rural areas or lived short time before they established the stable conditioned. So far, private rental apartments have rarely been rebuilt. As the result, a part of the housing system, which has provided the diversity of urban life, has been disappearing.
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