Michael Binns 26/04/2007
Japan Essay
Problems In Tokyo
The main problem in Tokyo is the population density. As about 83% of Japan is too mountainous for people to build houses or places for people to live. Most of Japans 127 million inhabitants are crowed onto only 17% of the island. Tokyo is so crowed that some parts of the city have more than 20,000 people living in 1 square kilometre. At the moment the water supply in Tokyo is stable but if the population of Tokyo continues to increase so will the need for water and Tokyo will not be able to cope with the demand. After 2 oil crises’ Tokyo has stopped reeling on oil and now uses electricity and gas, as it’s main fuel. Japan used to suffer from chronic air pollution now the state of air pollution has improved but there are still problems from car exhaust fumes. One of the biggest issues for the local authorities in the metropolis is waste, both industrial waste and household waste, and in particular non-combustible waste, not because the technology is not available to process such waste, but rather because of problems in the geographical location of processing facilities. The local administration has to cope with its citizens' "NIMBY" (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) attitudes. The average weight of daily waste per person has almost doubled in the past two decades, and in the metropolitan areas is twice as great as that in the metropolitan areas. In Tokyo, 1.1-1.3 kg of waste per person has to be collected daily. In the city of Tokyo alone, two-thirds of the total waste (2.6 million tons per year) is processed (burnt), while the other one-third is used for landfill in the Bay. In the next decade, more effective collecting and processing systems will be needed, and the administrative principle will be that the waste should be processed where it is produced, i.e. in our own backyards. Transportation is also a major problem for Japan the train and subway systems are constantly running at their full capacity. Tokyo also has problems with its road network with the way it’s designed all routes work outwards from the city with no effective bypass system. Finally, natural hazards, namely earthquakes, have always been a top priority planning issue in Tokyo. The breaking up of the ground, the collapse of smaller buildings and elevated highways, and multiple fire hazards are well simulated in civil engineering. Fire drills are compulsory in schools, but the effects are yet to be seen. Surprisingly, Tokyo remains an open, defenceless city in the face of a nuclear threat. Making the national urban system more impregnable is crucially important in this regard.
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Teacher Reviews
Here's what a teacher thought of this essay
Overall, this is an interesting piece of work, examining the potential to move the capital city in Japan. This essay attempts to evaluate different areas in Japan for their potential to house a new capital city. This essay would benefit from greater depth in the evaluation and requires some references for the facts that are given. 4 stars
