Land Use Change in Tokyo Prefecture Viewed from the Medium Scale Topographic Maps

Abstract

Grid-type raster data files of land use in Tokyo Prefecture ca. 2005 have been compiled based on 56 sheets of 1:25,000 topographic maps of Japan, and compared with those of the earlier periods and those of the other prefectures, both of which produced by the present authors’ team at Hokkaido University of Education, and were analysed spatially and numerically. The study has shown a detailed pattern of land use in Tokyo Prefecture ca. 2005. It indicates that further urban expansion is unlikely in Tokyo Prefecture because of the scarcity of flat land and that the production of specialty vegetables is becoming an important part of agriculture there. The Japanese Government is said to stop printing the 1:50,000 topographic maps, which started in 1897, and may do the same with the 1:25,000 topographic maps due to the harsh situation of the national budget and because of the advancement of “digitalization.” It is therefore important to make use of the high-quality land use information on these maps in order to assist reevaluation of their value. It is hoped that this study contributes to such evaluation, and the survival of these maps, as well as to the study of land use/cover change.