Chapter 6
Generation of Urban Morphologies
Through Long-Term Evolution
of Socio-Ecological Urban Systems:
Regional Characteristics and Sustainable
Management of Megacities
Yuta Uchiyama and Kengo Hayashi
6.1 Objectives and Background
Because megacities consist of such vast urban areas with an enormous population,
they are easily affected by changes to their ecological environment—their climate,
geographical features, and vegetation. For that reason, they are sometimes seen as
having a high disaster risk (Kraas 2008). But it is not just during events such as
disasters when a megacity’s ecological environment experiences major dislocation:
The ecological environment is also believed to influence the change of its urban
morphology. This phenomenon, however, how the characteristics of a megacity’s
ecological environment influence its urban morphology, has not been comprehensively established.
At the same time, to a certain degree, a city’s urban morphology also regulates
how its human inhabitants conduct their lives. For that reason, one method that urban
planners employ in order to lead cities to a more desirable state is guidance to the
“right” urban morphology. However, because differences in ecological environments influence cities’ urban morphologies in different ways, when planners espouse
any one specific urban morphology, we can expect to see differences arise in
different cities around the world in the applicability and effectiveness of their
urban planning policies.
Y. Uchiyama (*)
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
e-mail: uchiyama.yuta@k.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp
K. Hayashi
Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_6
105
Generation of Urban Morphologies
Through Long-Term Evolution
of Socio-Ecological Urban Systems:
Regional Characteristics and Sustainable
Management of Megacities
Yuta Uchiyama and Kengo Hayashi
6.1 Objectives and Background
Because megacities consist of such vast urban areas with an enormous population,
they are easily affected by changes to their ecological environment—their climate,
geographical features, and vegetation. For that reason, they are sometimes seen as
having a high disaster risk (Kraas 2008). But it is not just during events such as
disasters when a megacity’s ecological environment experiences major dislocation:
The ecological environment is also believed to influence the change of its urban
morphology. This phenomenon, however, how the characteristics of a megacity’s
ecological environment influence its urban morphology, has not been comprehensively established.
At the same time, to a certain degree, a city’s urban morphology also regulates
how its human inhabitants conduct their lives. For that reason, one method that urban
planners employ in order to lead cities to a more desirable state is guidance to the
“right” urban morphology. However, because differences in ecological environments influence cities’ urban morphologies in different ways, when planners espouse
any one specific urban morphology, we can expect to see differences arise in
different cities around the world in the applicability and effectiveness of their
urban planning policies.
Y. Uchiyama (*)
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
e-mail: uchiyama.yuta@k.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp
K. Hayashi
Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_6
105