From Residential Close Alleys into the Global Science Park for Design of Clothing: A Case Study of Jingu-mae District, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo@@@― 東京都渋谷区神宮前における住宅街からの変容過程 ―

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process in which residential close alleys developed into the global hub for clothing design by using the case study of Jingu-mae, in Shibuya, Tokyo, and to discuss this transformation from a standpoint of Urban Sociology. Since the 1990s, self-employed clothing designers have established the offices on the close alleys in Jingu-mae. Originally, these close alleys were for local residents. However, in the early 1990s, after the asset-inflated bubble burst, these close alleys began to be transformed into the global hub for self-employed clothing designers. The reason of this transformation is as follows. During the 1980s, when land prices went sky-high, many local residents who could not pay the rising fixed property tax moved out to other areas. On the other hand, some residents scrapped their house and rebuilt the low-rise and low-rents commercial buildings owned by them. So these buildings attracted some clothing designers, and they have gathered in these alleys and made a base for clothing design. They have a global network specialized for clothing design. And they have created advanced style with high knowledge and skills. So some large clothing companies, attracted by self-employed designers, made business alliance with them. Thus, these large companies could buy new design and sell it as a latest fad clothing. As a result, the close alleys in Jingu-mae have become as a global science park for design of clothing. The academic significance of this research is as follows. The first significance is to focus on the global network of self-employed designers, and focus on the new role as a global science park for clothing design of the close alleys in Jingu-mae. The second significance is to discuss these findings from a standpoint of income gap among Producer Services in the Global City.