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 ―

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.