Metropolitization in Densely Populated Asia: The Case of Tokyo

Abstract

Metropolitanization has created various problems throughout the world, and East Asia is no exception. East Asian countries have the largest combined population in the world, together accounting for 1.4 billion people. The region, consisting of different political, social and economic regimes, has the one common characteristic of high population density. Because of this, many cities in this region have been confronted with severe competition between urbanization and food production, which both require the use of precious land. This problem will likely continue.