16
saturation or start to decline. The twenty-first century will be special era in the sense
that the human population will be reaching its peak.
Vision 2050 hypothesized that the world’s population will stand at 9.3 billion
people in that year, and at present there are no major changes to that.
2.1.2 Saturation of Man-Made Objects
Man-made objects are being supplied and accumulated constantly in human society.
The results of that accumulation are the forms of the modern city, but that is not to
say this accumulation can go on without limit. The saturation when it comes to
automobiles, buildings, and such in most developed countries is already striking.
Figure 2.1 shows how many residences and households there are in Japan. The
country is believed to have reached saturation in this area around 2015. Japan has 50
million households, and around 60 million places of residence. That figure has gone
well beyond one residence per household, with the number of residence exceeding
that of households by more than 10 million. There are instances of people also having vacation or other second homes, but in any case, there are said to be 8 million
houses that are vacant. In provincial cities, depopulation and an increase in the
numbers of vacant homes whose ownership is unclear are becoming social problems. The annual demand corresponding to these 50 million households and 60
million residences is from 1.0 to 1.2 million residences when dividing it by the
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 2015 2020 2025 2030
Total number of houses (Thousands of units)
Number of households (Thousands of households)
Fig. 2.1 Changes in the number of houses and the number of households in Japan. (Source:
Created based on “2013 Housing and Land Survey” (Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications) for 1958–2013, and “Household Projections for Japan (National Projections)
(January 2013)” (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research) for 2013–2030)
2 Progress on Vision 2050 Since 1995
saturation or start to decline. The twenty-first century will be special era in the sense
that the human population will be reaching its peak.
Vision 2050 hypothesized that the world’s population will stand at 9.3 billion
people in that year, and at present there are no major changes to that.
2.1.2 Saturation of Man-Made Objects
Man-made objects are being supplied and accumulated constantly in human society.
The results of that accumulation are the forms of the modern city, but that is not to
say this accumulation can go on without limit. The saturation when it comes to
automobiles, buildings, and such in most developed countries is already striking.
Figure 2.1 shows how many residences and households there are in Japan. The
country is believed to have reached saturation in this area around 2015. Japan has 50
million households, and around 60 million places of residence. That figure has gone
well beyond one residence per household, with the number of residence exceeding
that of households by more than 10 million. There are instances of people also having vacation or other second homes, but in any case, there are said to be 8 million
houses that are vacant. In provincial cities, depopulation and an increase in the
numbers of vacant homes whose ownership is unclear are becoming social problems. The annual demand corresponding to these 50 million households and 60
million residences is from 1.0 to 1.2 million residences when dividing it by the
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 2015 2020 2025 2030
Total number of houses (Thousands of units)
Number of households (Thousands of households)
Fig. 2.1 Changes in the number of houses and the number of households in Japan. (Source:
Created based on “2013 Housing and Land Survey” (Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications) for 1958–2013, and “Household Projections for Japan (National Projections)
(January 2013)” (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research) for 2013–2030)
2 Progress on Vision 2050 Since 1995