Ungleichheit in der global city Tōkyō: Aktuelle sozialräumliche Entwicklungen im Spannungsfeld von Globalisierung und lokalen Sonderbedingungen (review)

Since John Friedmann's formulation of the "global-city hypothesis" in the 1980s, it has become one of the most influential conceptual frameworks for the study of contemporary urban issues. Friedmann and subsequent researchers, first and foremost Saskia Sassen, argue that in "global" or "world" cities, form and function are predominantly determined by the forces of international capital and that their socioeconomic structure is characterized by class and ethnic polarization.¹ In displaying high levels of income inequality they are especially prone to social polarization as well as residential segregation, both of which produce social inequalities. Depending on the viewpoint, Tokyo's position varies considerably in this discourse. Either Tokyo is equated with extremely socially polarized cities such as New York or London (Sassen) or (as is argued by the proponents of the so-called developmental state model) Japan is characterized by a different form of capitalism which prevents the emergence of social disparities through direct intervention by the state in the economy.

However, although studies on global cities have been published extensively in recent years, empirically substantiated literature on the impact of globalization on Tokyo's spatial socioeconomic structure is very rare. Lützeler sets himself the task of analyzing changes in the sociogeographical structure of Tokyo to find out whether the Japanese capital indeed lacks signs of increasing social polarization and segregation. He interweaves urban research theories with data gathered during several long-term stays in Tokyo during the late 1990s and updated through 2005 in order to develop a comprehensive analysis of the social structure of present-day Tokyo. In doing so, he proposes to scrutinize both the conventional image of a uniquely homogeneous and egalitarian Japanese society as well as Tokyo's position in global city theory.

Lützeler's book consists of four chapters. In the introduction, he gives a well-argued overview of recent developments in global city and urban polarization theories and discusses the extent to which they could be applied to Japan. He outlines existing research on the internal structure of Japanese cities, primarily Tokyo, which was inspired by inner-city discourse and factorial ecology, a method of analyzing urban spatial structures by means of factors relating to housing and socioeconomic characteristics in order to divide the city into a number of distinctive, smaller areas.

In chapter 2, Lützeler investigates the extent of social inequality and economic differentiation in Japan as a whole and asks whether the residential population of Tokyo is more polarized than the population in the remainder of the country. He analyzes statistical data such as income distribution and demographic factors such as foreign population and female employment rates to explore regional dimensions of societal inequality. His findings show that compared to New York and London, the ratio of social polarization and residential segregation in Tokyo is rather low. Lützeler therefore suggests Tokyo is more like the major cities of continental Europe instead (pp. 147–53).

Chapter 3 is dedicated to a detailed macro-level investigation of changes in the sociospatial pattern of Tokyo's 23 wards. Lützeler gives a summary of the historical foundations of present-day Tokyo and points to three key events that accelerated transformations of sociospatial patterns: the Meiji Restoration, the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923, and the bombing of Tokyo during World War II. He then skips ahead and concentrates on developments from the 1980s onward. Lützeler uses cluster analysis to illustrate the changes in Tokyo's demographic structure, which he relates to the city's housing market, its housing situation, as well as housing politics. Using the example of Chūō and Bunkyō wards, he points out that reurbanization and gentrification processes in the last two decades have brought social upgrading. As a result, some areas of central Tokyo have gradually been transformed into a space of high-rise office buildings and high...